LOS ANGELES – Dodgers manager Don Mattingly won a rare argument without even raising his voice. Once he got them to overturn their original ruling, they couldn't get Jim Tracy to hush.
Los Angeles had a runner at second base with two outs in the seventh inning when first base umpire Mike Estabrook said that Colorado Rockies center fielder Dexter Fowler had made a sliding catch on Shane Victorino's sinking liner.
Mattingly came out to contest the call and after all of the umps huddled, they reversed the call. But the Dodgers still lost 2-0 on Monday night.
"I was just trying to get them to make sure they check with each other," Mattingly said. "The only thing I could do, really, was to get them to conference-up and try to get it right. And once they do that, it's in their hands."
TV replays showed that the ball hit the grass before ending up in Fowler's glove.
"I caught it 100 percent. No doubt," Fowler said. "Shane was still running, and I was like, 'Aren't there three outs?' I told the first base umpire he made the right call. I walked into the dugout and skip asked me: 'Hey, did you catch it?' And I told him: 'Yeah, I caught it.' I'd never seen that before — we go in the dugout and then have to go back out."
Tracy threw a tantrum on the field and was ejected by third base ump and crew chief Mike Everitt after slamming his cap to the ground. Tracy remained on the field for several minutes in an animated discussion with Everitt. But the Dodgers failed to capitalize after play resumed, as Adam Ottavino retired Mark Ellis on a flyball with runners at the corners.
"I think I'm a pretty tolerant guy, but there's a limit to everything," Tracy said. "Quite frankly, I think he caught the ball and there's no question about that. I've seen the replay a few times, and even if he trapped it, I understand and appreciate the fact that the umpires are doing the very best they can to get the calls right. And yet, on that particular play, I find it hard to believe how three other guys can weigh in being as far away from that as they were."
Ottavino (3-1) took over in the fifth inning for a tiring Drew Pomeranz and gave up one hit in three innings of relief — the disputed single by Victorino.
Carlos Gonzalez had a sacrifice fly in the first and rookie Jordan Pacheco added an RBI single in the third for the Rockies, who prevented the Dodgers from overtaking NL West-leading San Francisco following the Giants' loss at St. Louis.
Ottavino also got his first big league win at the Dodgers' expense in a relief outing on June 1 at Coors Field.
Matt Belisle, who came in having allowed 18 earned runs over 19 2-3 innings in his 17 previous appearances at Dodger Stadium, escaped his own jam in the eighth by striking out Luis Cruz with two men on. Rafael Betancourt pitched a perfect ninth for his 18th save in 22 chances.
Dodgers lefty Chris Capuano (10-8) allowed two runs and nine hits in seven innings and struck out seven.
Capuano gave up singles to two of his first three batters before Gonzalez hit a sacrifice fly for his team-high 74th RBI. In the third, Capuano gave up three straight one-out singles — including a run-scoring hit by Pacheco — but minimized the damage by retiring Ramon Hernandez on a double-play grounder after an intentional walk to Gonzalez.
"Cappy got better as the game went along," Mattingly said. "It seemed like he was in trouble a little early, but then he found his groove and was kind of rolling along. He kept his pitch count down and gave us a chance. We had a couple of chances early with Shane and Mark getting on, but we weren't able to do anything with them."
Pomeranz gave up singles to his first two batters, but escaped his jam by striking out Juan Rivera with two men in scoring position. Two innings later, he walked his first two batters before retiring Matt Kemp on a double-play grounder and striking out Hanley Ramirez with Victorino at third base.
"I didn't do my job today," Kemp said. "Victorino gets on and then and Mark gets on base, which is what they're supposed to do. That happened two innings in a row, where the first two batters get on and I don't drive in any runs or even move them over. We just didn't get any bid hits tonight. Their job is to get us out, and that's what they did."
NOTES: Los Angeles designated OF Tony Gwynn Jr. for assignment and recalled OF Jerry Sands from Triple-A Albuquerque. ... The Dodgers hired Janet Marie Smith as Senior VP of Planning and Development, the same job she had with the Atlanta Braves, Boston Red Sox and Baltimore Orioles. She will oversee upgrades and enhancements to Dodger Stadium, which opened in 1962.
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