The Los Angeles Dodgers produced the most dominant and the most frustrating stretches of their 2026 season in back-to-back series, first sweeping the New York Mets with an elite three-game pitching performance before dropping two of three to the Colorado Rockies in a snow-delayed Denver series that ended with accusations of cheating flying between the dugouts.
The Dodgers' starting rotation across the Mets sweep was a thing of beauty. Jacob Brodyski opened the series with eight innings, two hits allowed and no runs surrendered — the best start of his career. Yoshinobu Yamamoto followed with seven and two-thirds innings, four hits, one earned run and seven strikeouts. Shohei Ohtani closed the series with six innings, one earned run, two hits and 10 strikeouts on the mound.
The combined line for the three starters: 21 and two-thirds innings, two runs allowed, a 0.83 ERA, and a Mets offence that was held to three runs across the entire series. It was the kind of starting rotation performance that has defined the Dodgers' last six seasons and one that briefly appeared to set the tone for April dominance.
Colorado was a different story. Three inches of snow fell at Coors Field before the first pitch of game one, forcing the Rockies' ground crew to use a plow to clear the playing surface. First pitch temperature was 34 degrees, with the thermometer dipping to 27 later in the evening. The Dodgers scored five runs on Tomoyuki Saganu in the opener to take the series lead.
Game two went sideways. Will Klein entered the game in the sixth for the Dodgers with a one-run lead. The first batter hit a double on the first sweeper he saw. The second batter made it worse. Colorado ran out to a comfortable lead from there and won the game, forcing LA to chase a split.
Game three was the spark for the cheating-accusation noise that followed. The Dodgers' clubhouse was reportedly unhappy with how the Rockies were positioning themselves at the plate, and internal grumblings made it into the broader media by Sunday night. Colorado — a franchise that has spent much of the last decade as the NL West's afterthought — held the Dodgers to a loss in the rubber match and took the series.
The result still leaves Los Angeles in first place in the NL West, but only half a game ahead of the rampant San Diego Padres. With Arizona suddenly in shooting range and San Francisco showing signs of life through their bench-clearing incident with Cincinnati, the division is tighter than anyone expected through three weeks.
The Dodgers have Oakland next, then a weekend with Philadelphia. The team that swept the Mets and the team that dropped two in Denver are somehow the same team — which is the early story of the 2026 season in Los Angeles.
