Ohtani and Paxton lead the Dodgers to a 9-5 win over the Rockies

DENVER (AP) — Shohei Ohtani had three hits, James Paxton pitched seven smooth innings and the Los Angeles Dodgers defeated the Colorado Rockies 9-5 on Monday night in the opener of a four-game series between the top and bottom teams in the NL West.

Miguel Rojas and Jason Heyward also had three hits apiece for the first-place Dodgers, who finished with 14. Freddie Freeman walked five times, one shy of a major league record.

“Over the last few weeks, I know we haven’t been swinging the way we wanted to, but it felt like the bats were getting better and better as each day went on," Freeman said. "Today, we just kind of put it all together.”

Ohtani doubled twice, drove in a run and had his third multi-hit performance in his past four games, a stretch in which he has seven hits in 15 at-bats. The two-time AL MVP entered second in the majors in extra-base hits, tied for fifth in hits and sixth in batting average.

Paxton (7-1) permitted just one run and two hits in his longest outing of the season. He had a season-high eight strikeouts and walked only one in his first career start at hitter-friendly Coors Field.

“If you’re thinking about it being Coors Field and the ball flying and you’re worried about that, you’re not focused on the pitch you’re throwing," Paxton said. "You can’t be distracted by stuff like that.”

Los Angeles left 13 runners on base, equaling a season high.

The loss was the Rockies’ sixth in their past eight games and 12th in 16 games in June. During that stretch, they’ve been outscored by a 109-66 margin.

Jacob Stallings, Greg Jones and Hunter Goodman homered for Colorado, which got four runs in the ninth inning off reliever J.P. Feyereisen. Jones’ home run, which came as a pinch hitter in the ninth, was his first career hit.

Cal Quantrill (6-5) gave up seven hits and three earned runs in five innings. The 29-year-old right-hander entered 6-1 with a 1.91 ERA over his previous eight starts.

“They just make it hard," Quantrill said. "If you get the first two guys out, they’re going to make sure that that third guy is a tough out. There are some things I could have done better today, but on the whole, we battled. We just weren’t able to make it happen.”

TRAINER’S ROOM

Dodgers: SS Mookie Betts (fractured left hand) was placed on the 10-day injured list, with manager Dave Roberts saying the 2018 AL MVP will miss roughly six to eight weeks. … Los Angeles recalled OF Miguel Vargas from Triple-A Oklahoma City.

Rockies: Reinstated RHP Jake Bird (right elbow inflammation) and RHP Justin Lawrence (right shoulder strain) from the 15-day IL. … Placed LHP Josh Rogers (rotator cuff strain) on the 15-day IL, retroactive to June 14. … Optioned RHP Angel Chivilli to Double-A Hartford.

UP NEXT

Dodgers RHP Walker Buehler (1-4, 4.64 ERA) pitches Tuesday against LHP Austin Gomber (1-4, 4.36).

AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb

Colorado Rockies' Michael Toglia reacts after striking out against Los Angeles Dodgers starting pitcher James Paxton in the seventh inning of a baseball game Monday, June 17, 2024, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)

Los Angeles Dodgers' Shohei Ohtani scores on a single hit by Jason Heyward off Colorado Rockies relief pitcher Geoff Hartlieb in the eighth inning of a baseball game Monday, June 17, 2024, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)

Los Angeles Dodgers' Shohei Ohtani heads up the first base line after connecting for a double off Colorado Rockies relief pitcher Jake Bird in the sixth inning of a baseball game Monday, June 17, 2024, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)

Los Angeles Dodgers' Jason Heyward, left, scores on a double hit by Miguel Rojas as Colorado Rockies catcher Jacob Stallings, right, turns to apply a late tag in the seventh inning of a baseball game Monday, June 17, 2024, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)

Los Angeles Dodgers' Jason Heyward follows the flight of his single to drive in two runs off Colorado Rockies relief pitcher Geoff Hartlieb in the eighth inning of a baseball game Monday, June 17, 2024, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)

Los Angeles Dodgers' Shohei Ohtani, right, slides safely into second base for a steal as Colorado Rockies second baseman Adael Amador, left, fields the throw in the eighth inning of a baseball game Monday, June 17, 2024, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)

Los Angeles Dodgers starting pitcher James Paxton works against the Colorado Rockies in the fifth inning of a baseball game Monday, June 17, 2024, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)

Los Angeles Dodgers' Shohei Ohtani gestures to the dugout after reaching second base by hitting a double off Colorado Rockies relief pitcher Jake Bird in the sixth inning of a baseball game Monday, June 17, 2024, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)

HUNTSVILLE, Texas (AP) — A Texas man who admitted he kidnapped, sexually assaulted and fatally shot an 18-year-old woman in 2001 was executed Wednesday evening.

Ramiro Gonzales, 41, was pronounced dead at 6:50 p.m. CDT following a chemical injection at the state penitentiary in Huntsville for the January 2001 killing of Bridget Townsend, authorities said.

Gonzales kidnapped Townsend from a rural home in Bandera County, northwest of San Antonio. He later took her to his family’s ranch in neighboring Medina County, where he sexually assaulted her before killing her. Her body wasn’t found until October 2002, when Gonzales led authorities to her remains in southwest Texas after he had received two life sentences for kidnapping and raping another woman.

The U.S. Supreme Court declined a defense plea to intervene about 1 and 1/2 hours before the execution was scheduled to start. The high court rejected arguments by Gonzales’ lawyers that he had taken responsibility for what he did and that a prosecution expert witness now says he was wrong in testifying that Gonzales would be a future danger to society, a legal finding needed to impose a death sentence.

“He has earnestly devoted himself to self-improvement, contemplation, and prayer, and has grown into a mature, peaceful, kind, loving, and deeply religious adult. He acknowledges his responsibility for his crimes and has sought to atone for them and to seek redemption through his actions,” Gonzales’ lawyers had written Monday in their unsuccessful request to the Supreme Court for a stay of execution. After re-evaluating Gonzales in 2022, Gripon said his prediction was wrong.

Earlier this month, a group of 11 evangelical leaders from Texas and around the country asked the parole board and Gov. Greg Abbott to halt the execution and grant clemency. They had said Gonzalez was helping other death row inmates through a faith-based program.

In video submitted as part of his clemency request to the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles, Gonzales admitted responsibility.

“I just want (Townsend’s mother) to know how sorry I really am. I took everything that was valuable from a mother,” said Gonzales, who was 18 years old at the time. “So, every day it’s a continual task to do everything that I can to feel that responsibility for the life that I took.”

The victim's brother wasn't persuaded. In various petitions and posts on Change.org, David Townsend criticized efforts to portray Gonzales as anything other than a convicted murderer who committed “unforgivable acts."

“Our family seeks not revenge, but closure and a measure of peace after years of heartache — a quest that is hindered, not helped, by decisions that allow the perpetrator of our pain to remain in the public eye,” he wrote.

On Monday, the parole board voted 7-0 against commuting Gonzales’ death sentence to a lesser penalty. Members also rejected granting him a six-month reprieve.

Prosecutors described Gonzales as a sexual predator who told police he ignored Townsend’s pleas to spare her life. They argued that jurors reached the right decision on a death sentence because he had a long criminal history and showed no remorse.

“The State’s punishment case was overwhelming,” the Texas Attorney General’s Office said. “Even if Dr. Gripon’s testimony were wiped from the punishment slate, it would not have mattered.”

Gonzales’ execution was the second this year in Texas and the eighth in the U.S. On Thursday, Oklahoma is scheduled to execute Richard Rojem for the 1984 abduction, rape and killing of a 7-year-old girl.

Lozano reported from Houston.

Follow Juan A. Lozano on X: https://twitter.com/juanlozano70

This image provided by the Texas Department of Criminal Justice shows Texas death row inmate Ramiro Gonzales. The Texas man convicted of fatally shooting of an 18-year-old Southwest Texas woman whose remains weren’t found until two years after she vanished is facing execution. Gonzales is scheduled to receive a lethal injection Wednesday, June 26, 2024 at the state penitentiary in Huntsville. (Texas Department of Criminal Justice via AP)