Kuhl and Iglesias power Rockies to shutout win

*Photo from Sportsnaut*

   On the mound, Chad Kuhl remembered last season, and used it as motivation. Jose Iglesias homered, Kuhl starred on the mound, and the Colorado Rockies defeated the Los Angeles Dodgers with a 4-0 shutout victory on Monday night in Denver.

   Last season, Kuhl was demoted to the bullpen with the Pittsburgh Pirates, and kept that in mind as the game kept going. He was non-tendered, and signed a deal with the Rockies, and got his first career shutout, lowering his ERA to 3.49 so far this season.

   Asked about coming out for the 9th inning to finish the game, Kuhl said that "I’ve been in the ninth before, just out of the bullpen. It wasn’t my first time, technically, in the ninth inning. I was able to keep my emotion and adrenaline in check and still execute pitches."

   The start for Kuhl marked his first career shutout, and the win improved his record to 5-5 on the season. Kuhl of course allowed zero runs, yielding only 3 hits and walking no one, striking out 5 hitters over the course of the shutout.

   The Rockies got on the board early in this one. In the first inning, Connor Joe came around to score on a single from CJ Cron, putting the Rockies ahead by a 1-0 score. One inning later, it became 2-0 on an RBI single from Elias Diaz. It stayed that way until the 6th inning, when Iglesias hit a two run home run, opening the lead to a 4-0 score.

   Rockies manager Bud Black said of Kuhl that "From pitch one until the end of the game, I thought he stayed within his delivery. He was on point as far as not overthrowing the ball in certain situations. There were a couple that I saw, but he just stayed within himself the whole game."

   Getting the start for the Dodgers was Tyler Anderson, who got the loss to fall to 8-1 this season. Anderson allowed 4 runs on 10 hits over 6 innings pitched, recording two strikeouts. After that, two innings from the bullpen held the Rockies down, with Phil Bickford and David Price appearing in relief.

   Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said that "I don’t recall exactly how many runs we scored in the Atlanta series, but I thought we ran into some good arms. And I thought the at-bats all series long were good. Tonight was one of those nights we’d probably like to have back, but the last six games prior to tonight, I thought the intent, the at-bat quality, was good up and down."

   Up next, the Rockies and Dodgers continue their series on Tuesday night. Kyle Freeland gets the start for the Rockies, while Clayton Kershaw starts for the Dodgers.