DENVER — Position players came and went, pitchers paraded to the mound and the regular-season finale Sunday between the Los Angeles Dodgers and Colorado Rockies resembled a Cactus League game.
And it was no more consequential, since both Colorado and Los Angeles are bound for the postseason, but the Dodgers did close the season with a milestone 6-3 win.
It was their 104th victory, tying for the second-most triumphs in the franchise’s long history.
When the Dodgers were playing in Brooklyn, they won 105 games in 1953 and 104 games in 1942.
Rockies center fielder Charlie Blackmon went 1-for-2, played three innings and finished with a National League-leading .331 average. Eight Rockies players have won a total of 10 batting titles.
Dodgers third baseman Justin Turner also went 1-for-2 and finished second at .322.
Joc Pederson’s second double increased the Dodgers’ lead to 6-1 in the seventh. His pinch-hit double scored a run with two outs in the fifth, an inning in which Jeff Hoffman issued three walks and Scott Oberg came on and issued a bases-loaded walk to Charlie Culberson, giving the Dodgers a 5-0 lead.
The Rockies (87-75) broke through in the sixth on Ryan Hanigan’s run-scoring single with two outs that made it 5-1 and ended Colorado’s 12-inning scoreless streak. The hit scored Trevor Story, who led off with a pinch-hit double.
Mike Tauchman tripled home a run in the seventh and scored on Raimel Tapia’s double, trimming the Dodgers’ lead to 6-3.
The Dodgers (104-58) scored single runs in the first, third and fourth innings. Corey Seager doubled in the first against Kyle Freeland (11-11) and scored on Cody Bellinger’s ground-rule double with two outs. Blackmon lost Bellinger’s deep drive in the sun, and the ball hit on the warning track and bounced over the fence.
Los Angeles’ Enrique Hernandez hit a sacrifice fly in the third. It came with the bases loaded and one out after Seager singled, Turner doubled and Bellinger walked.
Freeland gave up five hits and two runs in three innings in his first start since Sept. 11.
In the fourth, an infield single by Seager, who went 3-for-3, netted a run. The hit came off Hoffman after he walked Yasiel Puig and gave up a single to Chris Taylor.
The third of six Los Angeles pitchers, Kenta Maeda (13-6) pitched two scoreless innings in his fourth relief appearance of the season. Josh Fields earned his second save with a scoreless inning.
The Rockies also used six pitchers, who issued a combined nine walks.
NOTES: The Rockies drew 2,953,650, their largest attendance at Coors Field since 2001. … The Rockies switched starters with LHP Kyle Freeland getting the assignment instead of LHP Tyler Anderson to keep Anderson ready for a long-relief stint if needed in Wednesday’s wild-card game at Arizona. … Rockies CF Charlie Blackmon is the first player to lead the majors in hits, runs, triples and total bases. Hall of Famer Stan Musial in 1948 led the National League and Snuffy Stirnweiss in 1945 led the American League in those categories. … Dodgers RHP Ross Stripling threw 23 pitches in two scoreless innings, giving him five scoreless innings in his two starts this season. … Rockies C Ryan Hanigan caught for the first time since he strained his left groin Aug. 20.
