DENVER — When the Dodgers arrived in Colorado on Sunday night they had a golden opportunity to pad their narrow division lead against with the worst team in the majors.

The best the Dodgers could do was hold serve, needing Thursday’s 9-5 win over the Rockies to earn a split of the four-game series and send them on to San Diego for this weekend’s crucial series with the second-place Padres.

The Dodgers, who scored 20 runs on 30 hits in their two wins at Coors Field and six runs on 14 hits in their two losses, struck early in Thursday’s matinee, with Mookie Betts opening the game by walking on five pitches. Freddie Freeman followed with a two-run homer run, his 16 th of the season, to center field.

The Rockies got one of those back runs in the bottom on the inning. Leadoff hitte

See Full Page