Major League Baseball
LA Dodgers 5, Colorado 3
When: 8:10 PM ET, Saturday, September 30, 2017
Where: Coors Field, Denver, Colorado
Temperature: 64°
Umpires: Home - Doug Eddings, 1B - Jeff Nelson, 2B - Cory Blaser, 3B - Ryan Blakney
Attendance: 48103

DENVER -- Their celebration began in the clubhouse before the Colorado Rockies took the field Saturday night and lost 5-3 to the Los Angeles Dodgers.

The Rockies erupted with joy at 5:28 p.m. local time after watching former Colorado starter and now St. Louis Cardinals closer Juan Nicasio strike out Milwaukee's Brett Phillips with the tying run on second base to seal a 7-6 comeback win over the Brewers.

The loss assured the Rockies of the second National League wild card and a berth in the postseason for the first time since 2009 and the fourth time in the 25-year history of the franchise.

What followed was a rather anti-climactic game of no consequence in the standings. That's because the Dodgers were assured of home-field advantage throughout the postseason when the Cleveland Indians lost Saturday before the Dodgers won their 103rd game to set a record for the Los Angeles era of the franchise.

"What we've done -- certain people tried to minimize what we accomplished in the regular season," Dodgers manager Dave Roberts. "But as a group, it takes a lot to win 103 baseball games. To have home-field advantage throughout the playoffs says a lot about the guys in the clubhouse. So now it's up to us to get to that point and take advantage of home-field advantage. We've done everything we can do up to this point to give us the best chance to win."

The winning pitcher was Brandon Morrow (6-0), the third of seven Dodgers pitchers. Closer Kenley Jansen, pitching on his 30th birthday, got the final four outs for his 41st save in 42 opportunities.

Tyler Chatwood (8-15) took over in the seventh after Colorado starter German Marquez gave up three runs in six innings, the first on a groundout in the third and the final two on Yasiel Puig's game-tying two-run homer.

Chatwood hit the first two batters he faced with pitches. A groundout moved the runners into scoring position for Chris Taylor, whose grounder to second gave the Dodgers a 4-3 lead. Chase Utley doubled home a run in the ninth, driving in Puig, who scored four runs.

The Rockies took a 3-0 lead in the second on Carlos Gonzalez's 14th homer, an RBI double by Jonathan Lucroy and run-scoring single by Charlie Blackmon off Clayton Kershaw, who gave up seven hits and three runs in four innings of a 57-pitch tuneup for his schedued start Friday in Game 1 of the NL Division Series.

The Rockies could be Kershaw's opponent if they win a wild-card game Wednesday at Arizona. Regardless, Colorado celebrated in its champagne-soaked clubhouse after this game, no one more giddy than Gonzalez -- the only remaining player from the last Rockies team that went to the playoffs.

"Man it's just special," Gonzalez said, "I was spraying champagne here eight years ago and then getting the opportunity to do it again means a lot for me. I thought I was going to be able to do it a couple times more then it took a long time. I went through a lot of struggles, losing seasons, rebuilding seasons.

"I've seen so many good players leaving this house like Todd Helton retiring, Troy Tulowitzki getting traded, my name was always involved in all that stuff. But I always believed I was going to be able to stay here and celebrate with my teammates and the fans. They always show me love. That means everything for me."

NOTES: A threat of rain delayed the start of the game by 21 minutes. ... Dodgers RHP Yu Darvish threw 40 pitches off the mound at Coors Field, where he has never pitched, to get a feel for where he might start the third game of the Division Series. ... Dodgers CF Chris Taylor was back in the lineup after leaving Wednesday's game with a left knee contusion and not playing Friday. ... Rockies CF Charlie Blackmon's two hits raised his major-league leading total to 212, the fourth most in franchise history. ... The announced crowd of 48,103 was the Rockies' 14th sellout of the season. ... Rockies RHP Adam Ottavino made his first appearance since Sept. 23 and struck out the side in the eighth inning.
Top Game Performances
Starting Pitchers
LA Dodgers   Colorado
Clayton Kershaw Player German Marquez
No Decision W/L No Decision
4.0 IP 6.0
2 Strikeouts 2
7 Hits 6
6.75 ERA 4.50
Hitting
LA Dodgers   Colorado
Yasiel Puig Player Carlos Gonzalez
2 Hits 2
2 RBI 1
1 HR 1
5 TB 5
1.000 Avg .667
Team Stats Summary
 
Team Hits HR TB Avg LOB K RBI BB SB Errors
LA Dodgers 8 1 12 .250 13 6 5 1 1 2
Colorado 11 1 15 .306 24 10 3 1 1 0