In the high-stakes world of the Los Angeles Dodgers, it’s one thing to lose to a struggling team; it’s another for it to cause a public rift between a player and the manager.
The Dodgers seem poised for another run at the World Series, with a league-best 15-6 record. The Colorado Rockies became the first National League opponent to hand the Dodgers their back-to-back defeats on Saturday and Sunday (4-3 and 9-6, respectively). But following their Saturday loss, when a Dodgers star raised suspicions about the Rockies’ consistent hitting, manager Dave Roberts was quick to shut down the notion.
“I saw some bad breaking balls. I don’t think there was anything fishy there. I think there were some bad pitches,” observed Roberts during the pre-game media session, reported Saez on X.
The game at Coors Field turned in the Rockies’ favor at the bottom of the sixth on Saturday.
The franchise took the lead by dominating the Dodgers’ reliever Will Klein. After the match, catcher Dalton Rushing called the Rockies’ sixth-inning dominance a ‘little fishy.’ However, Dave Roberts chose to disagree, according to Christian Saez of the DNVR Rockies.
During his sixth-inning outing on April 18, the Rockies’ hitters responded aggressively to Klein’s breaking balls, getting three hits. Hunter Goodman and Ezequiel Tovar clocked two consecutive hits against Klein’s sweepers. Goodman doubled to center, while Tovar’s infield single started a rally. Troy Johnston followed it with a two-run double of Klein’s slider.
Overall, Klein gave up two runs on three hits with zero strikeouts that cemented the win for the Rockies. Per Roberts, it was just an ineffective outing from Klein.
Dave Robert’s just addressed this in pregame media with us:
“I saw some bad breaking balls. I don’t think there was anything fishy there. I think there were some bad pitches” https://t.co/pmk2kwAMjM
— Christian Saez
(@DNVRSaez) April 19, 2026
Though the rest of the Dodgers’ bullpen managed to hold off the Rockies to a single-run lead, their offense failed to turn the game in their favor.
Despite having a high-powered lineup, the team struggled to capitalize on opportunities, going 0-for-7 with runners in scoring position in their April 18 loss. In fact, Doc noted that his hitters “chased a lot more” than usual, which kept the Rockies in the ballgame. LA loaded the bases with nobody out in the 8th but failed to score, and could not capitalize in the 9th with the tying run in scoring position.
After the consecutive wins, the Rockies now stand second last at the NL West rankings with a 9-13 record.
After his last outing, Klein’s ERA this season stands at 3.12 across 8.2 innings in 6 games with 9 strikeouts. But as Colorado hitters gained success against Klein, Dalton Rushing dubbed it odd.
What did Dalton Rushing say?
Rushing made his fifth start behind the plate in 2026 on Saturday. Last season, Rushing logged 41 appearances behind the plate for the Dodgers.
With the Rockies having one of the worst offenses in the league and having scored only 83 runs so far in the season, Rushing found their sudden prowess against Klein suspicious.
He was possibly surprised that Klein’s breaking balls failed to make an impact on the Rockies’ lineup as they got first-pitch hits.
After all, Will Klein’s adjusted breaking balls, paired with his high-spin fastball, transformed him into a high-leverage reliever for the Dodgers in 2025. This had helped him with four scoreless innings in the team’s 2025 WS campaign.
“I just, I think it’s odd some of those hitters that do what they do, they go up there, and they were only on the first pitch that was thrown. So it’s a little fishy,” noted Rushing.
According to the Dodgers’ reporter, Fredo Cervantes, Rushing also took responsibility for the costly inning himself. He pointed out that his pitch calling could have also played a role.
“I think they had a good game plan as an opposing team, and maybe I pitched into their game plan. As far as calling pitches, I’m not 100% sure,” observed Rushing.
Dalton Rushing is rapidly developing his game-calling reputation through intense preparation while playing behind Will Smith. Reportedly, he leads morning strategy meetings with Dodgers pitchers, discussing how to attack opponents.
While his 2025 rookie season was a bit rocky as he adjusted to the backup role, so far in this season, he has adapted to “situational baseball” and game-planning, with the Dodgers’ staff describing him as “adept” in that category.
Against the Rockies, Rushing recorded a homer and one RBI in his 4 at-bats on Saturday. He has batted with an average of .476 in 6 games, hitting 5 homers and 9 RBIs so far this season.
Rushing views his role as a backup as a “valuable opportunity” to learn from the best in the business, embracing the challenge to improve defensively and refine his game-calling skills.
