ROCKIES 11, BRAVES 5
ATLANTA -- Ian Desmond tripled and drove in five runs, Kyle Freeland pitched six strong innings and the Colorado Rockies coasted to an 11-5 victory over the Atlanta Braves on Friday night.
The Rockies have won six of seven, and they're 28-14 since June 28, tops in the NL over that span. And they've done it without the benefit of many blowouts: Friday's game snapped a franchise-long, 25-game streak in which the Rockies scored six runs or fewer.
Sean Newcomb struggled for his second consecutive start as Atlanta's NL East lead dropped to one-half game over Philadelphia. Colorado began the night 1½ games out of the West lead.
Ronald Acuna Jr. reached on an infield single in the first against Freeland and scored on a sacrifice fly, but that was all Atlanta could muster against him.
Freeland (11-7) gave up 3 hits and 4 walks and struck out 4, improving to 5-1 with a 2.20 ERA over 12 starts since June 16. Freeland's 2.96 season ERA leads all NL left-handers with enough qualifying innings.
Newcomb (10-6) struck out Freeland to escape a bases-loaded jam in the second, but he wasn't as fortunate with bases full in the third as Desmond tripled into left-center to make it 3-1.
Desmond helped get the Rockies on the board again in the four-run sixth. He singled, stole second and scored on Chris Iannetta's single. Charlie Blackmon's two-run triple chased Newcomb, who gave up 9 hits, 7 runs and 3 walks in 5 1/3 innings.
Newcomb had gone 8-1 with a 2.27 ERA in 14 starts following an Atlanta loss, but he was coming off a no-decision last Sunday against Milwaukee in which he gave up 5 runs and a single-game career-high 12 hits in 4 innings.
Dansby Swanson had an RBI double for Atlanta in the seventh. DJ LeMahieu added an RBI single and Desmond had a two-run single in the eighth.
LeMahieu drove in a run off Charlie Culberson, a utility man making his first career pitching appearance, in the ninth. The Braves added three runs in the bottom half of the inning.
PHILLIES 4, METS 2 Aaron Nola struck out 11 in seven impressive innings to stay unbeaten at Citizens Bank Park, pitching host Philadelphia past New York.
CUBS 1, PIRATES 0 Kyle Schwarber smacked a solo home run off Trevor Williams in the second inning, and Chicago earned its second consecutive one-run victory over host Pittsburgh.
NATIONALS 8, MARLINS 2 Max Scherzer pitched six scoreless innings for his major league-leading 16th win, and Ryan Zimmerman and Matt Wieters homered as host Washington beat Miami.
REDS 2, GIANTS 1 Phillip Ervin led off the 11th inning with a home run over the center field fence, lifting Cincinnati over visiting San Francisco.
CARDINALS 5, BREWERS 2 Kolten Wong and Marcell Ozuna drove in two runs apiece, Jack Flaherty pitched six shutout innings and host St. Louis beat Milwaukee.
AMERICAN LEAGUE
YANKEES 7, BLUE JAYS 5 (7) Neil Walker hit a three-run home run, Giancarlo Stanton added an impressive opposite-field blast and New York rallied for a rain-shortened victory over visiting Toronto.
INDIANS 2, ORIOLES 1 Carlos Carrasco pitched seven scoreless innings and moved into a tie for the AL lead with his 15th victory, Jose Ramirez hit his 37th home run and host Cleveland beat Baltimore.
RED SOX 7, RAYS 3 Xander Bogaerts hit a two-run triple and added a pair of doubles, and Boston scored 7 consecutive runs after allowing 3 in the first to beat visiting Tampa Bay.
RANGERS 6, ANGELS 4 Rougned Odor drove in three runs with a single and a sacrifice fly, Joey Gallo ripped a two-run double and host Texas beat Los Angeles.
TWINS 5, TIGERS 4 Pinch-hitter Joe Mauer hit a go-ahead, three-run home run in the seventh inning, and Minnesota beat visiting Detroit.
WHITE SOX 9, ROYALS 3 Jose Abreu and Nicky Delmonico hit three-run home runs in a seven-run, seventh-inning outburst, lifting host Chicago over Kansas City.
Sports on 08/18/2018