DENVER -- Injured and reeling during their midsummer trip to Coors Field, the Los Angeles Dodgers didn't look like a playoff contender.
They sure do now.
Shawn Green drove in five runs, Ron Coomer homered twice and Odalis Perez pitched six strong innings as the Dodgers beat the Colorado Rockies 10-2 Saturday.
Los Angeles has won seven of its past nine games, including the first two games of the three-game series. In July, the Dodgers lost two of three at Coors Field and headed into the All-Star break with 12 losses in 16 games.
"We did not resemble a club that would look like it would be playing meaningful games in the month of September," Dodgers manager Jim Tracy said. "And yet, we've been a very resilient team the past few years and have not allowed adversity come into play to where we have allowed it to become an excuse and throw our hands up in the air."
Los Angeles got off to a fast start with Green's two-run homer in the first inning and didn't let up, allowing its bullpen a rare rest at hitter-friendly Coors Field. The Dodgers had 13 hits after getting 17 Friday.
"It's really nice to have a day offensively where you score some runs," Tracy said. "It was an opportunity for us to give a very special group of guys some rest and not have them even have to stand up."
The Rockies, within three games of the wild-card lead July 20, have lost seven straight and 12 of 13 to fall 10½ games behind the Dodgers, who began the day three games behind Philadelphia in the NL wild-card race.
Colorado has lost seven of its past eight after being one of the best home teams most of the season.
"We aren't doing enough to win," center fielder Preston Wilson said. "We're not hitting enough, we're not pitching enough and we're not doing enough. That's the bottom line."
Green followed his homer in the first inning with a three-run double in the fifth that broke open the game.
Coomer hit a solo homer in the fourth inning and added a two-run shot in the seventh for his first multihomer game this season, the eighth of his career.
Perez (12-10) allowed two runs and five hits to win for the sixth time in seven decisions. He even had two hits after entering the game with a .063 average.
"It was a good day all-around," Green said.
No doubt.
The Dodgers rallied from a five-run deficit in Friday night's 8-7 win, but this time they took an early lead and never gave the Rockies a chance.
Green got things started with a two-run homer that bounced off the top of the wall in right. His 13th of the year came after Darren Oliver (10-11) walked Paul Lo Duca on four pitches.
Colorado got a run in the bottom half on a double play, but Coomer made it 3-1 in the fourth on a homer that was initially called foul because it went over the top of the pole in left.
Coomer left no doubt in the seventh inning with his fourth, a two-run shot to left-center that put the Dodgers up 10-2.
Los Angeles scored twice more in the sixth inning when Colorado third baseman Garrett Atkins couldn't handle a grounder by Lo Duca and was charged with an error. The crowd booed after Perez scored his second run to put the Dodgers up 8-2.
"When you don't get runs, everything else is magnified," Rockies manager Clint Hurdle said. "You make errors, you don't get to balls you normally do. It just doesn't look right and today the game didn't look right."
Oliver allowed six runs and eight hits in 4 1/3 innings for his fifth consecutive loss after a three-game winning streak.
Notes
Dodgers OF Dave Roberts missed his second straight game with a stiff neck. ... Los Angeles' Jason Romano ended an 0-for-12 slump with a single in the second inning. He was robbed of another hit in the fifth when Atkins made a diving stop and just beat him with the throw. ... Green has 46 doubles, one short of Wes Parker's 1970 Los Angeles record. John Frederick's franchise record of 52 was set in 1929, when the team was in Brooklyn.
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