LOS ANGELES -- The Los Angeles Dodgers pulled out all the stops, aside from going to their closer in a non-save situation at home.
But eventually they ran out of stops to pull.
The Dodgers and Colorado Rockies combined to use 58 players, including 24 pitchers -- setting participation records for both teams -- in the Rockies' 5-4 win in 16 innings of a game that began Tuesday night and ended Wednesday morning, five hours and 23 minutes after it began. Because rosters are expanded in September, each team can have as many as 40 players on hand. They didn't have quite that many, so the game did eventually come to an end.
Dodgers manager Don Mattingly had scant options among his remaining pitchers by the end. With a 7 1/2-game lead in the division, he didn't want to use closer Kenley Jansen if it wasn't a save situation. So in the end, he had a choice between a guy who had been a mediocre starter at Triple-A all season, Joe Wieland, or a demoted starter who hadn't worked in 12 days, Mat Latos.
He went with the latter, and Nolan Arenado made Latos pay by hitting his NL-leading 39th home run of the season to center field.
"You want every one. Each one has a chance to get you where you want to go, so you're trying to win every game," Mattingly said. "You play that long, obviously you're trying to win."
The Dodgers, who had already rallied to tie it in extra innings once, had some action in the bottom of the 16th inning. Scott Schebler hit a drive to the base of the wall in center field, and the Dodgers got two runners on with one out. But the tying run in the person of rookie Corey Seager eventually got stranded at third.
How it happened: The Dodgers rallied to match the Rockies' run in the 11th, with the rookie tandem of Schebler and Seager coming through just as they had Monday night. Schebler walked with one out and Seager eked a single up the middle to get him to third. Schebler scored on Chris Heisey's infield single to third base. The Rockies tried to give it away earlier, but they stuck around long enough to rally for a run in the 11th. Justin Morneau cracked a triple off the center-field wall -- with Heisey getting turned around trying to catch it in a light mist -- and the Rockies scored on DJ LeMahieu's single to center.
The Dodgers had plenty of chances. Colorado loaded the bases with one out and couldn't score off reliever Jim Johnson in the 10th. Jose Reyes, who rarely strikes out, swung at a ball in the dirt to do just that. The Dodgers rallied for a couple of runs to tie it in the seventh inning, scoring the tying run on a gift. Colorado left fielder Corey Dickerson couldn't get to a towering fly ball near the left-field line and neither could Arenado or Reyes. Colorado nearly gifted them the winning run in the ninth, too, when LeMahieu simply dropped an easy out at second base and a reliever threw a wild pitch, but the Dodgers stranded the winning run at third with one out.
The Dodgers are pretty certain Seager is going to be a good major league player for a long time, but he has had some rough moments in the field. He made his third error in 11 starts. This one came at a bad time. After the first two batters in the fourth inning reached on singles, Seager got to LeMahieu's grounder deep in the hole and he had no play. But he tried to force a throw to third base before Justin Turner reached the bag. The ball got past Turner for an error, allowing Arenado to score. The Rockies added two more runs on RBI groundouts.
Mattingly said the play wasn't necessarily Seager's fault, that Turner should have gotten to third in time to cover the bag.
It rained briefly, but intensely in the middle innings, and that's usually a pretty good indication that Brett Anderson was on the mound. He is the bringer of rain on this Dodgers' staff, having worked in foul weather several times this season. Anderson pitched well, allowing just the three runs, two of which were earned, over six innings. He struck out seven batters.
What it means: The Dodgers could have gained ground in both races, because the San Francisco Giants and New York Mets both lost. Their magic number to clinch the NL West is now 11, and they are a half-game ahead of the Mets for home-field advantage in the first round of the playoffs.
Notable: Several times, Colorado starter Chris Rusin tried to quick-pitch Dodgers batters. Turner seemed to be discussing the topic with plate umpire Laz Diaz and also stepped out during his fourth inning at-bat. After Turner walked, Adrian Gonzalez hit into a double play. Turner made an aggressive takeout slide and flipped Arenado, who was covering second because Colorado was shifting on the play. That seemed to create some animosity between the teams, with the umpires hearing from both, but nothing became physical beyond the initial play. ... Outfielder Scott Van Slyke was unavailable to start because of some soreness due to a cyst on his right hand, but he briefly appeared as a pinch hitter before Colorado went to a right-handed pitcher and the Dodgers countered with Andre Ethier. ... Mattingly used young catcher Austin Barnes to pinch hit for Joc Pederson -- who has 25 home runs -- with two runners on in the seventh. Why? Because Pederson has struck out in nearly 30 percent of his at-bats this season and the tying run was at third with one out. Barnes hit the towering and shallow pop-up that fell between three converging Rockies fielders near the left-field line for his first major league RBI.
Up next: The series concludes Wednesday night at 7:10 p.m. PT. Alex Wood (10-10, 3.81 ERA) opposes Colorado lefty Jorge De La Rosa (9-6, 4.28 ERA).
