DENVER -- The Rockies’ Charlie Blackmon savored his 86th game at Dodger Stadium -- a competitive, 6-4 defeat on Friday night.

“You always know it’s going to be a really nice night,” Blackmon said. “It’s going to be great weather. It’s going to be a good crowd. It’s going to be a pretty competitive team you’re playing against.”

It seemed like a good night for a stroll around the park, or at least the bases. Blackmon did it twice, but only one jog counted.

The first time – Blackmon’s first-inning leadoff at-bat against Ryan Brasier, the first of eight Dodgers pitchers – was an optimistic endeavor, just in case Mookie Betts really didn’t hold on while crashing into the right–field wall. Betts made the catch, and replay backed it, but, hey, he figured just in case …

“It was a good swing,” Blackmon said, smiling. “It got in on me a little bit, so I didn’t know exactly where it was going to end up. I think it was about going to make it to the fence, but you never know.”

The second counted. The solo shot off Daniel Hudson in the fifth was Blackmon’s 10th homer of the season, and 226th of a career spent wholly with the Rockies.

“It felt good, especially after coming up a little short in the first inning,” said Blackmon, whose homer gave the Rockies a 2-0 lead that survived until previously effective Kyle Freeland gave up an Andy Pages homer to open the fifth, and later in the inning the 52nd homer of Shohei Ohtani’s historic season, for two more runs. “Super-tight game. That was a big run for us, and it feels good to do it the first game out on the road, too."

There was a notable quality about Blackmon’s two four-base trots. There was little in the way of celebration, as if he’d done it before and will do it again.

But with eight games left in the one-year, $13 million contract he signed last year to be a veteran presence and give younger outfielders time to grow, how many games will he have to repeat the act? Was this the first game of his last road trip? Or maybe the first game of his last road trip in a Rockies uniform?

The man behind the beard isn’t telling, or giving away anything with his actions.

The game saw homers from Sam Hilliard in the sixth and Michael Toglia in the ninth. It saw Freeland account for himself well but falter the third time through the lineup (six innings, seven hits, four runs). Freeland said Ohtani’s homer on a full-count pitch that was up but not a strike was “a very good mistake … better swing.” Many of the Rockies discussed the pitches they hit and missed as they dressed and left the clubhouse.

Most were gone before Blackmon, still wearing his game-face eyeblack, completed his lengthy postgame workout that has been a staple of his career.

“That’s a pretty good attitude to have all the time, right?” said Blackmon, batting .248 with a .706 OPS primarily as the designated hitter and the team’s most effective leadoff hitter. “Don’t take things for granted. You never know. I approach the game that way pretty much every day, so I don’t have to change a whole lot.

“I haven’t made any decisions yet.”

Meanwhile, outfielders like Brenton Doyle, who sat out Friday with left knee soreness but will soon continue his big year, and Nolan Jones, who didn’t start or play and has no choice but to look for a rebound in 2025, are two seasons into their quests to pick up where Blackmon may leave off. Jordan Beck debuted this year, and '25 could see debuts of Rockies No. 3/MLB Pipeline No. 85 prospect Zac Veen, Rockies No. 4/Pipeline No. 89 prospect Yanquiel Fernandez and club No. 16 prospect Benny Montgomery (who missed much of this season with a left shoulder injury).

Blackmon described a performance Friday of a team that could be moving forward.

“There were a lot of good pitches thrown tonight -- it wasn’t like we missed a lot of pitches,” Blackmon said. “We did a pretty good job when we got a pitch in the middle of the plate of doing something with it.”

Freeland said it would feel odd if the '25 Rockies don't include Blackmon.

‘To this day, I don’t think anyone will ever outwork Charlie Blackmon,” Freeland said. “He’s an incredible player, incredible leader. In my eyes, all-around Rockies baseball.

“I hope I get to see him continue to do his thing, but I don’t know what the future holds.”