DENVER -- Carlos Gonzalez's towering home run made an impression. His fly ball to shallow center made the difference.
Gonzalez hit a bases-loaded bloop single that dropped between charging center fielder Cameron Maybin and backpedaling shortstop Andrelton Simmons in the ninth inning Saturday, driving in the decisive run in the Colorado Rockies' 3-2 victory over the Atlanta Braves.
"I knew it had a chance" to fall in, Gonzalez said. "It was perfect, just good enough to get the winning run. I'll take that every day."
Misfortune befell the Braves at the outset of the rally by the Rockies, who have won their last five games against Atlanta.
Reliever Jason Grilli (3-4) tumbled to the ground and suffered a ruptured left Achilles' tendon as he ran toward first to cover the bag when Drew Stubbs, the first batter he faced, hit a grounder that first baseman Chris Johnson ranged to his right to field.
Grilli appeared to take a bad step and crumpled to the ground, grabbing his lower left leg in pain. Stubbs was safe on what was ruled a hit. Team trainers and manager Fredi Gonzalez ran on to the field to tend to Grilli, who remained on the ground for several minutes. He was helped to his feet, taken away on a cart for further treatment and replaced by David Aardsma.
The team said in a tweet after the game that Grilli was expected to miss the rest of the season.
"The pain he was in on the field was cruel," Fredi Gonzalez said.
Charlie Blackmon was hit by a pitch and after Nolan Arenado struck out, Troy Tulowitzki walked to load the bases. Gonzalez, who hit a towering drive that cleared the center field wall earlier, lofted a fly ball to shallow center that the Braves simply couldn't get to before it fell with Stubbs coming in to score the winning run.
"I had three strikeouts going into that at bat so I'm just trying to find a way to get on base, to get the next guy up and to help us win a ball game," said Tulowitzki, who learned after the game that he had been named to his fifth All Star game as an injury replacement. "Sure enough, I did that, and we got some luck on that last play."
Tulowitzki went hitless on the day, snapping his career-long 21 game hitting streak. But he reached base with the walk, and now has reached base in a career high 37 straight games.
"The history was fun while it lasted," Tulowitzki, referring to the end of his hitting streak, which was the longest in the majors this season. "My teammates had fun with it. I had a good time with it."
LaTroy Hawkins (2-1) pitched a scoreless ninth for the victory.
The Braves loaded the bases with one out in the eighth but couldn't convert against reliever Christian Friedrich, who induced Simmons to fly out to shallow center and struck out Ryan Lavarnway, who homered earlier.
"We had opportunities," Jonny Gomes said after the Braves lost their fourth in a row, including three to the Rockies heading into Sunday's series finale. "It's an interesting ballpark. They hit some triples over our head. Blooped some in. I've been here before and there isn't a method to the madness."
Matt Wisler settled down to pitch six solid innings after being jolted in the first by Gonzalez's two-out, two run homer that soared into the stand of evergreens beyond the center field wall. Gonzalez hit a homer to nearly the same place the night before.
POST-BREAK ROTATION
Atlanta set its rotation for the second half of the season with Julio Teheran scheduled to start next Friday against the Chicago Cubs when play resumes following the All-Star break. He'll be followed by Manny Banuelos, Shelby Miller, Matt Wisler and Alex Wood.
SHORT AND PRODUCTIVE STAY
The Rockies recalled Rex Brothers from their Triple A affiliate in Albuquerque before the game, making roster room for him by designating for assignment left-handed pitcher Aaron Laffey. Brothers has spent much of the previous four seasons with the Rockies. Laffey spent one day with the Rockies but it was long enough to get the win pitching in relief Friday night despite allowing a three-run homer in Colorado's 5-3 victory over the Braves. It was his first major league appearance since April 26, 2013, and first win since Sept. 25, 2012.
UP NEXT
Braves: LHP Alex Wood (6-5) returns to the mound to start Sunday's series finale after throwing just two pitches in Thursday's rain-delayed opener. He replaced LHP Manny Banuelos.
Rockies: RHP Chad Bettis (4-4) will look to bounce back after allowing a career-high 10 runs in 2 1/3 innings in his last start against the Los Angeles Angels.
Gonzalez hit a bases-loaded bloop single that dropped between charging center fielder Cameron Maybin and backpedaling shortstop Andrelton Simmons in the ninth inning Saturday, driving in the decisive run in the Colorado Rockies' 3-2 victory over the Atlanta Braves.
"I knew it had a chance" to fall in, Gonzalez said. "It was perfect, just good enough to get the winning run. I'll take that every day."
Misfortune befell the Braves at the outset of the rally by the Rockies, who have won their last five games against Atlanta.
Reliever Jason Grilli (3-4) tumbled to the ground and suffered a ruptured left Achilles' tendon as he ran toward first to cover the bag when Drew Stubbs, the first batter he faced, hit a grounder that first baseman Chris Johnson ranged to his right to field.
Grilli appeared to take a bad step and crumpled to the ground, grabbing his lower left leg in pain. Stubbs was safe on what was ruled a hit. Team trainers and manager Fredi Gonzalez ran on to the field to tend to Grilli, who remained on the ground for several minutes. He was helped to his feet, taken away on a cart for further treatment and replaced by David Aardsma.
The team said in a tweet after the game that Grilli was expected to miss the rest of the season.
"The pain he was in on the field was cruel," Fredi Gonzalez said.
Charlie Blackmon was hit by a pitch and after Nolan Arenado struck out, Troy Tulowitzki walked to load the bases. Gonzalez, who hit a towering drive that cleared the center field wall earlier, lofted a fly ball to shallow center that the Braves simply couldn't get to before it fell with Stubbs coming in to score the winning run.
"I had three strikeouts going into that at bat so I'm just trying to find a way to get on base, to get the next guy up and to help us win a ball game," said Tulowitzki, who learned after the game that he had been named to his fifth All Star game as an injury replacement. "Sure enough, I did that, and we got some luck on that last play."
Tulowitzki went hitless on the day, snapping his career-long 21 game hitting streak. But he reached base with the walk, and now has reached base in a career high 37 straight games.
"The history was fun while it lasted," Tulowitzki, referring to the end of his hitting streak, which was the longest in the majors this season. "My teammates had fun with it. I had a good time with it."
LaTroy Hawkins (2-1) pitched a scoreless ninth for the victory.
The Braves loaded the bases with one out in the eighth but couldn't convert against reliever Christian Friedrich, who induced Simmons to fly out to shallow center and struck out Ryan Lavarnway, who homered earlier.
"We had opportunities," Jonny Gomes said after the Braves lost their fourth in a row, including three to the Rockies heading into Sunday's series finale. "It's an interesting ballpark. They hit some triples over our head. Blooped some in. I've been here before and there isn't a method to the madness."
Matt Wisler settled down to pitch six solid innings after being jolted in the first by Gonzalez's two-out, two run homer that soared into the stand of evergreens beyond the center field wall. Gonzalez hit a homer to nearly the same place the night before.
POST-BREAK ROTATION
Atlanta set its rotation for the second half of the season with Julio Teheran scheduled to start next Friday against the Chicago Cubs when play resumes following the All-Star break. He'll be followed by Manny Banuelos, Shelby Miller, Matt Wisler and Alex Wood.
SHORT AND PRODUCTIVE STAY
The Rockies recalled Rex Brothers from their Triple A affiliate in Albuquerque before the game, making roster room for him by designating for assignment left-handed pitcher Aaron Laffey. Brothers has spent much of the previous four seasons with the Rockies. Laffey spent one day with the Rockies but it was long enough to get the win pitching in relief Friday night despite allowing a three-run homer in Colorado's 5-3 victory over the Braves. It was his first major league appearance since April 26, 2013, and first win since Sept. 25, 2012.
UP NEXT
Braves: LHP Alex Wood (6-5) returns to the mound to start Sunday's series finale after throwing just two pitches in Thursday's rain-delayed opener. He replaced LHP Manny Banuelos.
Rockies: RHP Chad Bettis (4-4) will look to bounce back after allowing a career-high 10 runs in 2 1/3 innings in his last start against the Los Angeles Angels.
| View: Play-By-Play | Pitch-By-Pitch | Inning: All | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 |
| Atlanta - Top of 1st | SCORE | |
|---|---|---|
| Jorge De La Rosa pitching for Colorado | ATL | COL |
| Maybin struck out looking. | 0 | 0 |
| Ciriaco struck out swinging. | 0 | 0 |
| Markakis struck out swinging. | 0 | 0 |
| 0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors | ||
| Colorado - Bottom of 1st | SCORE | |
| Matt Wisler pitching for Atlanta | ATL | COL |
| Blackmon singled to right. | 0 | 0 |
| Arenado struck out swinging. | 0 | 0 |
| Tulowitzki struck out swinging. | 0 | 0 |
| González homered to center (438 feet), Blackmon scored. | 0 | 2 |
| McKenry flied out to right. | 0 | 2 |
| 2 Runs, 2 Hits, 0 Errors | ||
| Atlanta - Top of 2nd | SCORE | |
| Jorge De La Rosa pitching for Colorado | ATL | COL |
| C. Johnson struck out swinging. | 0 | 2 |
| Uribe homered to left center (415 feet). | 1 | 2 |
| Gomes struck out swinging. | 1 | 2 |
| A. Simmons grounded out to shortstop. | 1 | 2 |
| 1 Runs, 1 Hits, 0 Errors | ||
| Colorado - Bottom of 2nd | SCORE | |
| Matt Wisler pitching for Atlanta | ATL | COL |
| Paulsen flied out to left. | 1 | 2 |
| LeMahieu grounded out to second. | 1 | 2 |
| Barnes doubled to center. | 1 | 2 |
| De La Rosa grounded out to third. | 1 | 2 |
| 0 Runs, 1 Hits, 0 Errors | ||
| Atlanta - Top of 3rd | SCORE | |
| Jorge De La Rosa pitching for Colorado | ATL | COL |
| Lavarnway homered to right center (430 feet). | 2 | 2 |
| Wisler grounded out to shortstop. | 2 | 2 |
| Maybin grounded out to pitcher. | 2 | 2 |
| Ciriaco struck out swinging. | 2 | 2 |
| 1 Runs, 1 Hits, 0 Errors | ||
| Colorado - Bottom of 3rd | SCORE | |
| Matt Wisler pitching for Atlanta | ATL | COL |
| Blackmon singled to left. | 2 | 2 |
| Arenado popped out to catcher. | 2 | 2 |
| Tulowitzki struck out swinging. | 2 | 2 |
| González struck out swinging. | 2 | 2 |
| 0 Runs, 1 Hits, 0 Errors | ||
| Atlanta - Top of 4th | SCORE | |
| Jorge De La Rosa pitching for Colorado | ATL | COL |
| Markakis grounded out to pitcher. | 2 | 2 |
| C. Johnson grounded out to shortstop. | 2 | 2 |
| Uribe singled to left. | 2 | 2 |
| Gomes walked, Uribe to second. | 2 | 2 |
| A. Simmons walked, Uribe to third, Gomes to second. | 2 | 2 |
| Lavarnway grounded out to pitcher. | 2 | 2 |
| 0 Runs, 1 Hits, 0 Errors | ||
| Colorado - Bottom of 4th | SCORE | |
| Matt Wisler pitching for Atlanta | ATL | COL |
| McKenry struck out swinging. | 2 | 2 |
| Paulsen doubled to left. | 2 | 2 |
| LeMahieu walked. | 2 | 2 |
| Barnes struck out looking. | 2 | 2 |
| De La Rosa grounded into fielder's choice to shortstop, LeMahieu out at second. | 2 | 2 |
| 0 Runs, 1 Hits, 0 Errors | ||
| Atlanta - Top of 5th | SCORE | |
| Jorge De La Rosa pitching for Colorado | ATL | COL |
| Wisler flied out to right. | 2 | 2 |
| Maybin grounded out to pitcher. | 2 | 2 |
| Ciriaco doubled to deep left. | 2 | 2 |
| Markakis struck out swinging. | 2 | 2 |
| 0 Runs, 1 Hits, 0 Errors | ||
| Colorado - Bottom of 5th | SCORE | |
| Matt Wisler pitching for Atlanta | ATL | COL |
| Blackmon flied out to left. | 2 | 2 |
| Arenado doubled to deep left. | 2 | 2 |
| Tulowitzki flied out to right. | 2 | 2 |
| González intentionally walked. | 2 | 2 |
| McKenry struck out swinging. | 2 | 2 |
| 0 Runs, 1 Hits, 0 Errors | ||
| Atlanta - Top of 6th | SCORE | |
| Jorge De La Rosa pitching for Colorado | ATL | COL |
| C. Johnson grounded out to third. | 2 | 2 |
| Uribe grounded out to shortstop. | 2 | 2 |
| Gomes grounded out to shortstop. | 2 | 2 |
| 0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors | ||
| Colorado - Bottom of 6th | SCORE | |
| Matt Wisler pitching for Atlanta | ATL | COL |
| Paulsen walked. | 2 | 2 |
| LeMahieu fouled out to second. | 2 | 2 |
| Barnes grounded into double play, shortstop to second to first, Paulsen out at second. | 2 | 2 |
| 0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors | ||
| Atlanta - Top of 7th | SCORE | |
| Rex Brothers pitching for Colorado | ATL | COL |
| Brothers relieved De La Rosa. | 2 | 2 |
| A. Simmons grounded out to second. | 2 | 2 |
| Lavarnway walked. | 2 | 2 |
| E. Pérez hit for Wisler. | 2 | 2 |
| Lavarnway to second on wild pitch by Brothers. | 2 | 2 |
| E. Pérez walked. | 2 | 2 |
| Betancourt relieved Brothers. | 2 | 2 |
| Stubbs in left field. | 2 | 2 |
| Maybin lined out to left. | 2 | 2 |
| Ciriaco popped out to second. | 2 | 2 |
| 0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors | ||
| Colorado - Bottom of 7th | SCORE | |
| Arodys Vizcaino pitching for Atlanta | ATL | COL |
| Vizcaíno relieved Wisler. | 2 | 2 |
| Stubbs struck out swinging. | 2 | 2 |
| Blackmon tripled to deep right. | 2 | 2 |
| Arenado intentionally walked. | 2 | 2 |
| Tulowitzki struck out swinging. | 2 | 2 |
| Avilán relieved Vizcaíno. | 2 | 2 |
| González struck out swinging. | 2 | 2 |
| 0 Runs, 1 Hits, 0 Errors | ||
| Atlanta - Top of 8th | SCORE | |
| Rafael Betancourt pitching for Colorado | ATL | COL |
| Markakis singled to right center. | 2 | 2 |
| C. Johnson singled to deep right, Markakis to third, C. Johnson out stretching at second. | 2 | 2 |
| Uribe intentionally walked. | 2 | 2 |
| K. Johnson hit for Gomes. | 2 | 2 |
| Friedrich relieved Betancourt. | 2 | 2 |
| K. Johnson grounded into fielder's choice to first, Uribe to second. | 2 | 2 |
| A. Simmons flied out to center. | 2 | 2 |
| Lavarnway struck out swinging. | 2 | 2 |
| 0 Runs, 2 Hits, 0 Errors | ||
| Colorado - Bottom of 8th | SCORE | |
| Jim Johnson pitching for Atlanta | ATL | COL |
| K. Johnson in left field. | 2 | 2 |
| J. Johnson relieved Avilán. | 2 | 2 |
| McKenry lined out to left. | 2 | 2 |
| Paulsen lined out to shortstop. | 2 | 2 |
| LeMahieu singled to right. | 2 | 2 |
| Rosario hit for Friedrich. | 2 | 2 |
| Rosario grounded into fielder's choice to shortstop, LeMahieu out at second. | 2 | 2 |
| 0 Runs, 1 Hits, 0 Errors | ||
| Atlanta - Top of 9th | SCORE | |
| LaTroy Hawkins pitching for Colorado | ATL | COL |
| Hawkins relieved Friedrich. | 2 | 2 |
| Peterson hit for J. Johnson. | 2 | 2 |
| Peterson lined out to pitcher. | 2 | 2 |
| Maybin grounded out to second. | 2 | 2 |
| Ciriaco grounded out to shortstop. | 2 | 2 |
| 0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors | ||
| Colorado - Bottom of 9th | SCORE | |
| Jason Grilli pitching for Atlanta | ATL | COL |
| Grilli relieved J. Johnson. | 2 | 2 |
| Peterson at second base. | 2 | 2 |
| Stubbs reached on infield single to first. | 2 | 2 |
| Aardsma relieved Grilli. | 2 | 2 |
| Blackmon hit by pitch, Stubbs to second. | 2 | 2 |
| Arenado struck out swinging. | 2 | 2 |
| Tulowitzki walked, Stubbs to third, Blackmon to second. | 2 | 2 |
| Foltynewicz relieved Aardsma. | 2 | 2 |
| González singled to center, Stubbs scored, Blackmon to third, Tulowitzki to second. | 2 | 3 |
| 1 Runs, 2 Hits, 0 Errors | ||
| Atlanta Braves | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hitters | AB | R | H | RBI | BB | SO | #P | AVG | OBP | SLG |
| Maybin CF | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 17 | .289 | .354 | .418 |
| Ciriaco 2B | 5 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 15 | .289 | .291 | .395 |
Grilli P
| 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 | .000 | .000 |
Aardsma P
| 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 | .000 | .000 |
| 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .100 | .095 | .150 | |
| Markakis RF | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 19 | .295 | .379 | .355 |
| C. Johnson 1B | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 18 | .252 | .294 | .333 |
| Uribe 3B | 3 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 17 | .280 | .335 | .425 |
| Gomes LF | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 13 | .204 | .307 | .331 |
b-K. Johnson PH-LF
| 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | .275 | .318 | .461 |
| A. Simmons SS | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 18 | .250 | .306 | .334 |
| Lavarnway C | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 11 | .294 | .400 | .529 |
| Wisler P | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 9 | .111 | .111 | .111 |
a-E. Pérez PH
| 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 5 | .255 | .321 | .275 |
Vizcaíno P
| 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 | .000 | .000 |
Avilán P
| 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 | .000 | .000 |
| 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 | .000 | .000 | |
c-Peterson PH-2B
| 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | .256 | .333 | .354 |
| Totals | 33 | 2 | 6 | 2 | 5 | 8 | 148 | |||
| a-walked for M Wisler in the 7th b-grounded into fielder's choice to first for J Gomes in the 8th c-lined out to pitcher for J Johnson in the 9th | ||||||||||
| BATTING 2B: Ciriaco (6, De La Rosa) HR: Uribe (8, 2nd inning off De La Rosa 0 on, 1 Out); Lavarnway (1, 3rd inning off De La Rosa 0 on, 0 Out) RBI: Uribe (21), Lavarnway (2) Braves RISP: 0-7 (A. Simmons 0-1, Markakis 0-1, Maybin 0-1, Ciriaco 0-1, K. Johnson 0-1, Lavarnway 0-2) Team LOB: 9 | ||||||||||
| FIELDING DP: 1 (A. Simmons-Ciriaco-C. Johnson). | ||||||||||
Game Notes
| P GRILLI (RUPTURED ACHILLES) LEFT GAME BOT 9TH |
Game Information
| Stadium | Coors Field, Denver, CO |
| Attendance | 40,620 (80.6% full) - % is based on regular season capacity |
| Game Time | 3:26 |
| Weather | 86 degrees, partly cloudy |
| Wind | 5 mph |
| Umpires | Home Plate - Paul Emmel, First Base - Cory Blaser, Second Base - Mark Ripperger, Third Base - Jeff Kellogg |
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