Having won the first two games of the series, the Rockies entered the finale at Turner Field looking for their first series sweep of at least three games against the Braves in Atlanta since September 1997. But in a scoreless tie after eight innings, Atlanta spoiled the opportunity on Chase d’Arnaud’s walk-off single to hand Colorado a 1-0 loss.

Atlanta recorded five hits in the first four innings, but Jon Gray didn’t allow a runner to second, stranding seven on the basepaths. Meanwhile, the Rockies couldn’t find an answer for Julio Teheran, who exited the scoreless tie after scattering three hits. The Braves entered Sunday’s game averaging only 2.6 runs per game for Teheran this year, which was the worst run support for any qualified pitcher in the Majors.
Both teams turned to their bullpens in the eighth, and neither allowed the other to break through. That was until, with runners on second and third in the ninth, d’Arnaud poked a two-out single into left off Gonzalez Germen for his second walk-off hit of the year .
Gray’s career high was 105 pitches — in his first career win on May 13 against the Mets. But on Sunday, he was finishing the seventh, no matter how many pitches he needed. With two down and Anthony Recker at first courtesy of a hit batsman, Gray avoided left-handed-hitting Jace Peterson with a five-pitch walk and challenged d’Arnaud, who had managed two singles. Gray went all secondary pitches — curve, changeup and, finally, a 1-2 slider on his 115th pitch for his eighth strikeout.
After giving up 10 runs across his final two starts before the All-Star break, Teheran retired seven batters in a row to start Sunday’s game and didn’t allow a single runner to advance past first base until the sixth inning. The Braves’ ace ran into trouble in the seventh, when he put runners on first and second with a two-out double and a walk. But Teheran settled in and induced an inning-ending groundout. Despite his seven shutout innings, the right-hander was once again denied his first win of the season at Turner Field, where he has posted a 2.90 ERA in 11 home starts.
Germen thought he had a strikeout to end the ninth on a full-count changeup to Peterson with two out and a runner at third. Despite the framing job by catcher Tony Wolters, home-plate umpire Tripp Gibson called ball four. d’Arnaud then delivered the winning single.
With the Rockies threatening to score in the eighth with one out and runners on first and second, Freddie Freeman fielded a sharp ground ball off the bat of DJ LeMahieu to initiate an inning-ending double play. The first baseman fired to second, where d’Arnaud touched the bag and tossed the ball to Chris Withrow at first just in time to get the final out. An inning later, Colorado once again put runners on first and second with one out. But Jim Johnson induced a 5-4-3 double play to escape any damage.
Freeman entered this weekend’s series batting .298 with 11 home runs and 27 RBIs in 32 career games vs. Colorado. But after entering the All-Star break hitting .345 in his past 15 games, the first baseman went 0-for-11 against the Rockies, capped by a four-strikeout game on Sunday.
Atlanta will kick off a nine-game road trip on Monday night, when it opens a three-game series against the Reds at Great American Ball Park. Matt Wisler will toe the rubber for the Braves, looking to end his woes away from Turner Field after posting a 14.00 ERA across his past two road starts. First pitch is set for 6:10 p.m. CT.  Thunder Radio will begin you the broadcast on the Atlanta Braves Radio Network beginning at 6 PM.

The Nashville Sounds fell just shy of a series sweep in a 5-2 loss to the El Paso Chihuahuas Sunday night at Southwest University Park.

Bidding for their fourth series sweep of the season after dominating the first three games of the set, the Sounds (52-43) went just 1-for-9 with runners in scoring position and left the bases loaded in the ninth. It was the theme of the night for Nashville as they left 11 runners on base in the setback.

It looked promising early as Colin Walsh gave the Sounds a 1-0 lead in the second inning when he belted a solo homer off Chihuahuas’ (54-40) starter Michael Kelly.

Chris Smith was dialed in against El Paso’s lineup in the early going. He worked around a bases loaded situation in the second and kept the Chihuahuas off the scoreboard for the first four innings.

Trouble found him in the fifth when Manuel Margot started the inning with a single to left field. He swiped second base and moved to third when Carlos Asauje singled to left.

It put two runners on for Hunter Renfroe who deposited a pitch from Smith over the left field wall for a three-run homer. His 22nd home run of the season gave the Chihuahuas a 3-1 lead.

The scored stayed 3-1 until the seventh when the Sounds drew closer thanks to a costly error. With Walsh at second and Bruce Maxwell at first with two outs, Jaycob Brugman lifted a fly ball toward the left field line. El Paso left fielder Auston Bousfield dropped the ball allowing Walsh to score easily. However, Maxwell was thrown out at the plate trying to even the game.

In the eighth, El Paso’s Diego Goris provided the Chihuahuas with two big insurance runs when he lined an offering from J.B. Wendleken up the middle to score Austin Hedges and Jabari Blash.

Trailing 5-2 in the top of the ninth, Maxwell, Arismendy Alcantara and Brugman collected three straight one-out singles to bring the go-ahead run to the plate.

The rally flamed out as right-hander Michael Dimock struck out Chad Pinder and retired Max Muncy on a pop up to end it.

Alcantara extended his hitting streak to nine games with a 2-for-4 showing. Smith was charged with the loss to drop him to 5-8 while Kelly got the win to improve to 5-0.

The Sounds head to Albuquerque to open a four-game set with the Isotopes Monday night at Isotopes Park. Left-hander Dillon Overton (10-4, 2.98) starts for the Sounds against right-hander Christian Bergman (1-2, 4.34) for the Isotopes. First pitch is scheduled for 8:05 p.m. CST.

The 2016 season is the Sounds’ 19th year in the Pacific Coast League and their second as the Oakland Athletics’ top affiliate. Tickets are available now by calling (615) 690-4487 or by visiting www.nashvillesounds.com.

Mike Foltynewicz surrendered two hits through the first seven innings and the Rockies had lost each of the previous 43 games in which they trailed after seven innings. Down 3-0 entering the eighth, things didn’t look promising until Colorado took advantage of multiple defensive miscues and a trio of wild pitches in claiming a 4-3 win over the Braves on Saturday night at Turner Field.

Trevor Story opened the ninth inning with a single off Jim Johnson and advanced to third base courtesy of two wild pitches that eluded A.J. Pierzynski, who was behind the plate for each of the five wild pitches charged to the Braves during Friday’s series opener. Story slid across the plate after Pierzynski was unable to handle the throw in the dirt shortstop Erick Aybar made after fielding Mark Reynolds’ decisive chopper with the infield playing on the edge of the grass.
“I saw something about that,” Story said of the skid that the Rockies mercifully put to bed. “That’s not very good. But we’re a determined group. Tonight showed the grit and toughness of our team.”
Reynolds, whose gamewinner was the 700th RBI of his career, said, “It was a good morale win for us — one of the better wins of the year. We’re not out of this thing yet.”
The Rockies, who have won the first two against the Braves and are challenging themselves to climb into contention instead of taking a seller’s attitude, tallied each of the three runs charged to Foltynewicz during the eighth, which included a couple borderline pitches, a run-producing wild pitch and Gordon Beckham’s errant throw that allowed Nick Hundley to score from second base on DJ LeMahieu’s game-tying infield single.
“This is a really good lineup,” Braves manager Brian Snitker said. “You can’t give them more than 27 outs. We did, and it hurt us.”
Foltynewicz surrendered just two hits (one of the infield variety) through the first seven innings and also provided a RBI single in the bottom of the seventh off Chad Bettis, who permitted three earned runs and six hits in 6 2/3 innings. Pierzynski gave the Braves an early lead when he hit a two-run homer in the second.
Before Friday’s 11-2 victory, Rockies manager Walt Weiss emphasized a simplified offensive approach. Get on base for the next man. It looked as if Weiss needed to deliver a reminder when the Rockies managed just three baserunners against Foltynewicz in the first seven innings. But the three-run eighth to tie the game came on four singles, a walk and a wild pitch.
“Foltynewicz was as good as anybody we’ve seen this year; he was commanding 97 [mph], threw 100 and had a real good slider,” Rockies manager Walt Weiss said. “We knew early on it was going to be tough to score runs off of him. But we hung in there, made him work, got his pitch count up later and strung some real key at-bats.”
Foltynewicz had completed 14 consecutive scoreless innings before he allowed each of the first three batters he faced in the eighth to reach safely. The righty stared at home-plate umpire Scott Barry after his once-promising night ended with Hundley’s RBI single. Reynolds came home on Hunter Cervenka’s wild pitch and Hundley scored from second base when Beckham dove to stop LeMahieu’s sharp grounder and then made an errant throw that skipped across the dirt and grazed Freddie Freeman’s nose before coming to rest in front of the first-base dugout.
“I pitched my butt off tonight,” Foltynewicz said. “It was just really unlucky the way it unfolded there in the eighth. I put my bullpen in a bad situation.” More >
Rockies lefty Boone Logan faced five batters in the eighth, four of them left-handed. Advantage, Logan. Nick Markakis managed a one-out single to right — just the 10th hit by a lefty in 64 at-bats — but Logan worked around trouble. He walked his one righty, Adonis Garcia, to put two on with one out, but he forced an Ender Inciarte flyout and a Pierzynski groundout. Weiss visited before the Garcia walk, but Logan said he was OK to stay on the mound.
“I knew I had to bear down, dig deep for the last two guys,” said Logan, whose win was his first since July 9, 2014, 107 games ago. “I really didn’t want to come out that inning.”
Defensively, this hasn’t been a pretty series for Pierzynski, who was also charged with a passed ball on Friday night. But the 39-year-old catcher had some fun at Bettis’ expense. His two-run shot in the second inning was his first homer since Sept. 29, 2015. His bunt single to beat the shift in the seventh helped put Inciarte in position to score on Foltynewicz’s two-out single.
“Folty pitched great,” Pierzynski said. “He deserved a better fate. You go into the eighth and we had a three-run lead. He made a lot of great pitches, and they hit some balls that found some holes. We’ll give them credit. But he’s pitched really great his past couple starts.”
Righty Jon Gray (5-4, 4.67 ERA), who leads the Rockies with 10 quality starts, will face the Braves in the final game of the series at 12:35 p.m. CT on Sunday. Gray’s 95 strikeouts rank second among National League rookies.  Pitching for the first time since he tossed a scoreless inning in Tuesday’s All-Star Game presented by MasterCard, Julio Teheran will get the start in Sunday afternoon’s series finale. Teheran owned a 2.46 ERA before he allowed five earned runs in both of his final two starts before the All-Star break.  Thunder Radio will bring you the action as part of the Braves Radio Network beginning at noon.

The Nashville Sounds used a season-high 19 runs and 20 hits to bury the El Paso Chihuahuas, 19-5, Saturday night at Southwest University Park.

Bruce Maxwell had a huge night as he matched a franchise record with a five-hit game. He went 5-for-5 with two home runs, a career-high six RBI, and he scored four runs.

The 19 runs was just one shy of matching the franchise record of 20 runs done twice. In the three games the two teams have played, the Sounds (52-42) have scored 43 runs on a staggering 56 hits.

Along with Maxwell’s multi-homer game, Nashville shortstop Chad Pinder launched two home runs of his own. Both of Pinder’s blasts were two-run shots – one in the third inning and the other came in the fourth.

The scoring for Nashville was fast and furious. They plated a pair of runs in the first, and then got another two in the third. They scored five runs in the fourth and a single tally in the fifth before exploding for eight runs in the sixth inning. It’s the second time this season the Sounds have scored eight runs in a single inning.

In the eight-run frame, run-scoring hits came from Joey Wendle (two-run double), Colin Wash (RBI single), Matt Olson (RBI double), Maxwell (three-run homer), and Arismendy Alcantara (solo homer).

Maxwell and Alcantara became the third pair of teammates to smash back-to-back home runs for the Sounds this year.

Maxwell, Alcantara, Jaycob Brugman, Pinder and Wendle all had multi-hit games. Brugman went 4-for-5 with 3 RBI and 3 runs scored. It’s his fifth four-hit game of the season with the Sounds and second in as many games.

Pinder went 3-for-5 with 4 RBI and 3 runs scored while Wendle went 2-for-5 with a pair of RBI and runs scored.

Zach Neal was the benefactor of all the run support. Still working up his pitch count after spending several weeks in the Athletics’ bullpen, Neal worked five innings and picked up the win to improve to 7-2 on the season.

El Paso (53-40) starter Daniel McCutchen was charged with nine earned runs in four innings.

With the win, the Sounds are 18-1 against the Pacific Conference. They’ll go for the third series sweep of the season in the finale.

The fourth and final game of the series is scheduled for Sunday night at Southwest University Park. Right-hander Chris Smith (5-7, 4.22) starts for Nashville against Michael Kelly (4-0, 3.60) for El Paso. First pitch is scheduled for 7:05 p.m. CST.

The 2016 season is the Sounds’ 19th year in the Pacific Coast League and their second as the Oakland Athletics’ top affiliate. Tickets are available now by calling (615) 690-4487 or by visiting www.nashvillesounds.com.

Recognizing their play over the next couple of weeks could determine whether they are buyers or sellers at the Trade Deadline, the Rockies provided an efficient Jorge De La Rosa with sufficient support and opened the season’s second half with Friday night’s 11-2 win over the Braves at Turner Field.

Though the Rockies have won just eight of their past 20 games and sit seven games below .500 (41-48), team management has contended it may opt not to sell veterans like Carlos Gonzalez, who backed De La Rosa with three hits, including a first-inning RBI single off Braves starter Lucas Harrell. Colorado put an exclamation point on the victory when Ryan Raburn recorded a pinch-hit ninth-inning grand slam off Dario Alvarez after Arodys Vizcaino exited with an apparent right oblique strain.
“Every game from now on is important, even more important than the ones we played in the first half,” Gonzalez said. “We have a shot. We have a good group. We said that in Spring Training. We’ve been through tough times. Hopefully, we’re staying positive, and I think great things are ahead of us.”

While De La Rosa surrendered just two runs over six-plus innings, Harrell was tagged for seven runs — five earned — over 3 2/3 frames. Charlie Blackmon sparked Colorado’s four-run third inning with a leadoff double and DJ LeMahieu added a two-out RBI triple during a two-run fourth. The Braves, who entered the second half hoping to avoid a 100-loss season, did not score until tallying a run in both the fifth and sixth innings.
“[Harrell] was just off tonight,” Braves manager Brian Snitker said. “That happens. When you pitch so well, you expect him to go out and last seven innings against this club. It’s a good-hitting club, but he’s faced good hitting clubs before. It just wasn’t his night.”
De La Rosa was visibly irked when A.J. Pierzynski and Ender Inciarte dribbled singles through the infield with one out in the second. But De La Rosa enticed Erick Aybar to tap a 1-2 split-finger pitch to shortstop Trevor Story to begin a double play and preserve a 1-0 lead. De La Rosa, whose resourcefulness kept the Braves off the board until the Rockies’ offense could heat up, is 4-2 with a 2.68 ERA in his last six starts after a brief exile to the bullpen.
“Ever since he came back from the bullpen, he’s been himself, pitched really well, put us in position to win games,” Rockies manager Walt Weiss said.
Though they faced a 7-0 deficit through four innings, the Braves had chances to make things interesting. But after Jeff Francoeur’s RBI single left two on with none out in the sixth, De La Rosa retired the next three batters he faced. Atlanta put two on with none out in the seventh before Boone Logan replaced Adam Ottavino and extinguished that threat by getting Freddie Freeman to ground into a double play on one pitch.
“We were a hit away from getting back in it,” Snitker said. “They always are. It was just a couple of the fielding plays that led to two or three runs that kind of hurt more than anything, and the grand slam in the ninth didn’t help either.”
It’s an All-Star arm, too: Gonzalez’s power bat earned him a third career Midsummer Classic trip this week, but his arm is also formidable. The Braves appeared to have a rally in the fifth, on Brandon Snyder’s RBI double — his sixth extra-base hit in 20 at-bats this season. But when Snyder rumbled plateward on Adonis Garcia’s single, Gonzalez threw to the plate on the fly from right field and catcher Nick Hundley made the easy tag. According to Statcast™, Gonzalez’s throw sailed 233 feet and was clocked at 97 mph.
Though he had two good starts after he was unexpectedly placed in Atlanta’s depleted rotation before the break, Harrell started the second half by providing the reminder he’s a short-term fix. The veteran right-hander committed a costly throwing error that led to two unearned runs in the third inning and then surrendered a pair of extra-base hits before ending his night by allowing Nolan Arenado’s RBI single in the fourth.
“I didn’t get ahead,” Harrell said. “When you’re 2-0 and 2-1 on everybody, they know fastball is coming. I wasn’t throwing my offspeed pitches for strikes, and I fell behind. They are a good hitting team, and you can’t fall behind those guys. It’s just one of those things I need to work on and be more aggressive.”

Friday was the 1,000th Major League game for Gonzalez — 915th with the Rockies after breaking in with the Athletics in 2008. His games played rank 10th on the list of active players from Venezuela.
The Braves were charged with five wild pitches — their highest total since July 24, 2002. The Atlanta record of six was set when knuckleballer Phil Niekro pitched a complete game against the Astros on Aug. 4, 1979.
Right-hander Chad Bettis (7-6, 5.65 ERA) is 3-1 in his last five starts but with a 5.79 ERA. The Rockies have given him 31 runs of support in those games. Bettis hopes to regain his form, although he wouldn’t mind that the scoring keeps up, when he faces the Braves at Turner Field at 6:10 p.m. CT on Saturday.
Coming off a career-high 10-strikeout performance he completed against the White Sox on Sunday, Mike Foltynewicz will return to the mound for Saturday’s game against the Rockies. The Braves hope Foltynewicz spends the season’s second half providing further indication he has the potential to be a front-line starter.  Thunder Radio will bring you the broadcast on the Braves Radio Network at 6 PM.

Matt Olson drilled a three-run homer in the eighth and the Sounds scored seven runs over the final two innings to run away with an 11-4 win over the El Paso Chihuahuas Friday night at Southwest University Park.

The two teams had gone back-and-forth before Olson launched his tie-breaking three-run blast off Daniel Moskos to give the Sounds a 7-4 lead in the eighth. The long ball was the 10th of the season for Olson and second in as many games.

Although Moskos’ night was finished after the homer, the Sounds weren’t done scoring in the inning. Michael Dimock came in and retired Bruce Maxwell before allowing three straight hits.

Arismendy Alcantara reached on an infield single, swiped second base, and then scored on Jaycob Brugman’s double to right field. It was the fourth hit of the night for Brugman who singled in three earlier trips to the dish.

Chad Pinder followed Brugman’s double with one of his own to extend the lead to 9-4. Pinder and Brugman were two of five Sounds to have multi-hit games.

Reliever Ryan Brasier made quick work of the Chihuahuas in the eighth. He retired Austin Hedges on a pop up to start the inning before striking out Hector Sanchez and Jabari Blash in consecutive at bats.

For good measure, Nashville tacked on a pair of runs in the ninth with three more hits. Rangel Ravelo and Olson collected one-out singles to put a pair of runners on for Maxwell who drew a walk to load the bases.

Alcantara, who went 3-for-6 with three RBI, delivered Ravelo and Olson with a base hit up the middle to extend the lead to 11-4.

J.B. Wendelken worked the ninth with no problems to close out the win. Starter Jesse Hahn went six innings and turned in his second straight quality start.

In the first two games of the series, the Sounds have outscored the Chihuahuas, 24-7, and have collected a whopping 36 hits. Nashville has won 17 of the 18 games they’ve played against the Pacific Conference this season.

Olson finished the night 3-for-4 with 4 RBI, and Maxwell drilled his sixth homer of the season in the fifth – his second in as many games as well. Ravelo went 3-for-5 with an RBI and three runs scored.

Game three of the four-game series is scheduled for Saturday night at Southwest University Park. Right-hander Chris Smith (5-7, 4.22) starts for Nashville against right-hander Daniel McCutchen (8-5, 5.38). First pitch is scheduled for 8:05 p.m. CST.

The 2016 season is the Sounds’ 19th year in the Pacific Coast League and their second as the Oakland Athletics’ top affiliate. Tickets are available now by calling (615) 690-4487 or by visiting www.nashvillesounds.com.

The Coffee County Central High School football team winds down its first week of fall camp as they prepare to begin full contact work later in July. Coach Ryan Sulkowski, and his coaching staff, are seeing the benefits of continuity as the Red Raider staff begins their 3rd season together. “I have a great staff who has really gone above and beyond this summer helping us get to this point” said Sulkowski. “I can tell that our system is in place; our football IQ is definitely up” added Sulkowski
This week has been spend on conditioning, while the Raiders also spent time installing their game plan for their opening game at Tullahoma on August 19th. This week has also given the Red Raider staff time to further evaluate an incoming freshman class who did not participate in spring practice. Coach Sulkowski also had praise for his older players who have taken on a strong leadership role. “I can tell they worked out on their own during the dead period” said Sulkowski. “Our returning players have hit the ground running” added Sulkowski.
As it has been for more than 50 years, Thunder Radio is your home for every game of Red Raider football this fall. Additionally, Coach Sulkowski can be heard weekly exclusively this fall on “The Ryan Sulkowski Show” Live from West Main Brick Oven brought to you by Coffee County Bank. Coach Sulkowski, and members of his staff and players, will come to you each Wednesday night from 6 to 7 PM at West Main Brick Oven. The show begins on August 17th and folks are encouraged to come out to West Main Brick Oven to enjoy and participate in the show.