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Brenton Doyle, Tanner Gordon shine as Rockies beat reeling Braves

Patrick Saunders, The Denver Post on

Published in Baseball

DENVER — The usual suspects and one promising newcomer led the Rockies to a white-knuckle, 6-5, victory over the Braves Friday night at Coors Field.

The newbie is right-handed starter Tanner Gordon. He set the tone for Colorado’s victory over the slumping Braves, who lost their sixth consecutive game.

Center fielder Brenton Doyle, an emerging star, and All-Star third baseman Ryan McMahon tag-teamed Atlanta reliever A.J. Minter to give the Rockies the go-ahead run in the seventh. Doyle led off, raking a double to left, and McMahon immediately followed with an RBI double to center. Doyle also launched a two-run homer in the third.

Atlanta got the tying run to third in the ninth against closer Victor Vodnik but he struck out Austin Riley to clinch the game and notch his seventh save.

If Gordon didn’t dominate the Braves, he certainly subdued them. He limited Atlanta to two runs on six hits over five innings. He struck out seven and didn’t walk any.

Marcell Ozuna tagged Gordon with a two-out, solo homer in the first, rocketing a 1-0 fastball 448 feet to center. But Gordon fanned Ozuna to end the fifth with the biggest out of the game.

 

Atlanta had cut Colorado’s lead to 5-2 on a double by Jarred Kelenic and an RBI single by Whit Merrifield. When Jorge Soler dumped a broken-bat single into shallow left-center, the Braves had runners at the corners and just one out. Gordon got Riley to pop out to second baseman Brendan Rodgers in shallow right field, and then Gordon struck out the dangerous Ozuna on a nasty slider.

Doyle, the National League player of the month for July, continued his power surge. His two-run homer to center in Colorado’s three-run third traveled 432 feet. It was Doyle’s team-leading 20th homer of the season, doubling the 10 homers he mashed as a rookie in 2023. Doyle needed 431 at-bats to reach 10 dingers last season. He needed 456 to reach 20 this season.

Colorado tacked on another run in the third when McMahon walked, stole second and scored on Rodgers’ single.

An RBI double by Elias Diaz, followed by an RBI single by Charlie Blackmon, bumped up Colorado’s lead to 5-2 in the fourth.

The lead was erased in the seventh on a leadoff homer by Braves center fielder Ramon Lauerano off Justin Lawrence, and a two-run homer by Jorge Soler off Angel Chivilli.


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