Hungry for ace status, Jon Gray (aka “Gray Wolf”) took a nice bite Sunday by striking out seven in six scoreless innings as the Rockies defeated the Braves, 3-0, to win a series at SunTrust Park.

Gray (6-3) dealt with runners in scoring position just twice; he forced a Matt Adams lineout to right to end the fourth, and with two on in the sixth, he coaxed consecutive flies to center from Nick Markakis and Kurt Suzuki.
Gray’s work was a key reason the Rockies, holding the second National League Wild Card spot, finished the road trip 3-3 and built momentum for a nine-game homestand that begins Monday. While the key runs came on Mark Reynolds’ two-run homer in the sixth, the offense went 1-for-11 with runners in scoring position and left nine men on base.
“I knew it could change in a blink of an eye, but I was just thinking about the pitches, executing, seeing the out before I threw the ball, and it seemed to help,” Gray said. “It was a good test, because I know we’re going to have some really tough series coming up.”
Gray performed like what catcher Tony Wolters says he is: a “big-game pitcher.” Only a high pitch count (99), partly because of two walks and some lengthy at-bats, shortened Gray’s outing.
“At times it was good-old country Oklahoma hardball. I like that, and our guys can do that in the rotation,” Rockies manager Bud Black said. “He commanded the slider both backdoor and down and in to the lefties, down and away to the righties, and had effective use of the curveball. He and Tony worked great together.”
Braves starter Mike Foltynewicz (10-10) faced regular traffic on the basepaths with four hits and three walks, but yielded just one run in five innings. Foltynewicz labored through the start and ran up a high pitch count early.
“It was a battle today out there,” said Foltynewicz.
However, he was able to limit the damage thanks to good defense behind him. Braves center fielder Ender Inciarte and left fielder Adams made a couple nice plays to save additional runs. It allowed Foltynewicz to bounce back and finish his start by retiring the last seven batters he faced.
“His command wasn’t real good,” Braves manager Brian Snitker said. “He fought through it, never gave in and kept his wits about him. It could have been a lot worse. He made pitches when he had to and avoided the big inning. He gave us a chance to win.”
However, Reynolds, wearing “Sheriff” on his back — a Players Weekend nod to his nickname, “Sheriff of Swattingham” — homered for the 28th time this season and second time in the series in the sixth off A.J. Minter to account for two runs.
Jake McGee shut the door by pitching a perfect ninth to finish off the Rockies’ seventh shutout this season.
Wolters was the Rockies’ primary catcher before he was demoted to Triple-A Albuquerque when the team acquired veteran Jonathan Lucroy on July 30. The plan was for him to clean up fundamentals, as well as regain his hitting stroke. On Sunday, he showed that his throwing — always a strength — is still in good shape.
He ended the first inning by catching Freddie Freeman trying to swipe second to end a strikeout double play, and closed the fifth by catching Swanson. Wolters credited Gray, who has been working on controlling the running game.
“He did a great job mixing up his times and giving runners a harder time to get a good break. … You throw guys out because of the pitcher’s time,” Wolters said.
Bullpen pickup: Pat Neshek replaced Gray with no outs and a man on in the seventh. He would finish the frame by coaxing a double-play grounder from Matt Kemp, made possible by a nice backhand pickup from Trevor Story (aka “Joe”). Mike Dunn and McGee, who earned the save the last two games of the series, finished the Rockies’ first shutout in Atlanta since Sept. 4, 2012, at Turner Field.
Against the Braves, Gray is 3-0 with a 1.04 ERA in four starts, with 29 strikeouts and eight walks.
Lucas Sims will get the start when Atlanta begins a three-game series in Philadelphia on Monday at 6:05 p.m. CT. Sims has won his past two starts and completed at least five innings in his first five career starts.

Charlie Blackmon couldn’t pass up a chance to be “Chuck Nazty” in his hometown. But DJ LeMahieu, whose style is in his lack of swagger, did Blackmon one better as the Rockies showed life in their quest.

Blackmon, who is wearing his nickname on his back during Players Weekend, knocked a two-run ninth-inning homer. And LeMahieu, whose jersey says “DJ,” went deep twice — including in the ninth after Blackmon’s — as the Rockies beat the Braves, 7-6, at SunTrust Park on Saturday night.
The Rockies hold the second National League Wild Card spot even though the victory was just their sixth in their last 18 games.
“The margin between getting in the playoffs and not getting in the playoffs is never big, so every win counts,” Blackmon said. “And I do think that winning these close games, emotional games, can sometimes seem like they’re more important.”
Even after the back-to-back homers, the game had suspense. Slumping All-Star closer Greg Holland gave up a Matt Adams two-run, pinch-hit homer in the ninth, the fourth homer Holland has allowed in his last 6 1/3 innings over eight games. Lefty Jake McGee replaced Holland and earned his second save by forcing a Brandon Phillips double-play grounder, which occurred with Braves home run leader Freddie Freeman on deck.
Blackmon, a Gwinnett County, Ga., and Georgia Tech product, shook off a left hamstring cramp that knocked him out of Friday’s loss to the Braves to homer for the 31st time — most of any Major League leadoff hitter. The shot came off Arodys Vizcaino after Carlos Gonzalez (aka “CarGo”) led off the ninth with a pinch-hit single.
LeMahieu, who homered the opposite way to right in the fifth off Braves starter Sean Newcomb, chased Vizcaino with a pull shot to left for his first career multi-homer game.
“It kind of happened so fast, and he had been really good,” Braves manager Brian Snitker said. “He has been lights-out, and it didn’t happen tonight.”
Newcomb didn’t get out of the fifth inning, as the Rockies tagged him for four runs on seven hits. Over his last 10 starts, he owns a 5.76 ERA.
“I noticed that they were fouling a lot of stuff off on two-strike counts,” Newcomb said. “They did a good job fighting off good pitches, staying alive and making something out of it.”
Prior to the ninth-inning homers, Vizcaino had not allowed a run over the 9 1/3 innings he had compiled since gaining the closer’s role at the end of July. He hadn’t allowed a home run over 13 innings dating back to July 1, and this was only the second time in his career he has allowed two homers in an outing.
“We will give him a chance tomorrow, as he didn’t throw a lot of pitches,” Snitker said. “He should be ready to go tomorrow to save the game.”
LeMahieu’s power was unusual. The homers gave him six this season, but were his first since July 17. After LeMahieu’s first homer in the fifth inning, a truly odd moment for the Rockies — at least during their difficult recent stretch — occurred. Trevor Story doubled in two runs to chase Newcomb and give the Rockies a 4-2 lead. Before that on this road trip, the Rockies had scored multiple runs just twice in 40 innings, and never three.
“Runs have been hard to come by lately, and we haven’t been good situationally, haven’t really got the hits we need,” Story said. “We put ourselves in good spots, but just haven’t got the big hit. It was good to do that, for sure.”
Rockies manager Bud Black said, “We’ve talked about stringing hits together, and we did that in a couple different innings. That’s going to create action.”
Finding their footing: Braves middle infielders Ozzie Albies and Dansby Swanson have found their swings, and they displayed them in a two-run sixth that forged a 4-4 game. Albies, who is wearing “Bolly” on his back, had extended his season-best hit streak to seven games with a fourth-inning triple. In the sixth, Albies doubled to right off Rockies starter Kyle Freeland for an RBI. Swanson, or “Dans,” who has a better than .500 on-base percentage since Aug. 12, smashed a one-hopper off third baseman Nolan Arenado’s shoulder for a single that drove in another run.
“[Albies] is really working his tail off and playing really good,” Snitker said. “It is happening for him, and he is conscious of things. You can just see what an exciting player he is.”
“He was off-target a little. It didn’t look crazy wild, but he was just missing [his spots]. It was not enough strikes. … You see a good breaking ball here and there and a fastball, but too many deep counts and a lot of pitches the first couple of innings. Probably the biggest hit was not putting Parra away with two strikes. He had him, but couldn’t finish him off.” — Snitker, on Newcomb’s performance
Albies has four triples in his first 23 career games. The last Braves player to collect this total within this span was Chet Ross, who notched his fourth triple as he played in his 22nd career game in 1940.
Mike Foltynewicz will take the mound in Sunday’s series finale at 12:35 p.m. CT. After allowing three earned runs or fewer in 16 of his first 19 starts, Foltynewicz has since allowed at least five earned runs in four of his last five starts.

The Round Rock Express came out victorious 7-6 over the Nashville Sounds in front of 11,144 fans at First Tennessee Park Saturday night. The crowd broke the ballpark’s single-season attendance record previously set in 2015.

The Express scored a run in each of the final two innings of the back-and-forth contest to secure the victory and even up the all-time series between the two ball clubs at 104 games apiece.

Nashville applied the pressure in the bottom of the ninth inning by sending the game-winning run to the plate but was unable to cash in. Trailing 7-5 with one out in the frame, Yairo Munoz laced a double into the gap in right center field. Two batters later he came around to score on Josh Phegley’s third run-scoring hit of the night. That was as close as the Sounds would come, however, as R.J. Alvarez caught Franklin Barreto looking at a third strike on an inside breaking ball to end the ball game.

Round Rock plated a pair of runs in the second inning as the middle of the lineup ambushed Sounds starter Chris Jensen. Will Middlebrooks and Jared Hoying each tagged the righty with line drive singles, then A.J. Jimenez scorched a ground rule double to straight away center field. The Express scored their second run of the game on a ground out by Brett Hayes.

Phegley, on a rehab assignment from Oakland made his presence felt with one swing of the bat. The catcher crushed a towering drive beyond the left field porch in the third inning to cut the Round Rock lead in half. Nashville took the lead in the next inning with a pair of runs. Joey Wendle started the frame by lacing a base hit to right field and came into score on a ground out by Matt McBride. The next batter, Munoz, put the Sounds on top by ripping a base hit to right field.

Two innings later the Express responded by posting a three spot on the board. The first three batters to face Jensen in the frame reached with base hits including a run-scoring single from Ronald Guzman before Felix Doubront was called upon to try and squash the threat. The first batter he faced, Preston Beck, poked a dribbler through the right side of the infield to drive in the second run of the inning. Two batters later Doubront spiked a pitch into the ground that bounced way from Phegley and allowed Brett Hayes to scamper home from third base.

Nashville’s Chris Carter flexed his muscles with a solo blast to left field to trim the deficit to 5-4 in the sixth inning. Phegley teamed up with fellow rehabber, Jake Smolinski to light up the scoreboard in the seventh to tie the game. Smolinski started the brief two-out flurry with a slow roller back up the middle followed by a scorching double into the alley in left center field from Phegley to score Smolinski all the way from first base.

Round Rock took the lead in the eighth inning as Will Middlebrooks grounded into a force out that plated the go-ahead run. His routine ground ball was bobbled by Nunez who had to settle for the force out at second base rather than the inning-ending double play. The Express added an all-important insurance run in the ninth inning when Beck ripped a run-scoring single to right field.

The Sounds’ ninth inning rally fell short, snapping their winning streak at three games. Phegley paced the offense with a three-hit, three-RBI night.

The finale of the four-game series is scheduled for Sunday night at First Tennessee Park. Right-hander Ben Bracewell (4-2, 5.51) starts for the Sounds against right-hander Anthony Bass (3-3, 3.88) for the Express. First pitch is scheduled for 6:35 p.m.

The Braves used home runs from Matt Kemp and Kurt Suzuki in the first two innings off starting pitcher Chad Bettis to send the contending, but reeling Rockies to a 5-2 loss at SunTrust Park on Friday night.

Kemp’s 15th homer this season was a two-run shot after Bettis had walked Freddie Freeman with two down in the first inning. Suzuki led off the Braves’ three-run second with his 15th homer.
The Rockies are in the second National League Wild Card position, but have lost 12 of their last 17, and have scored fewer than four runs in 12 of those games.
“We’ve talked about that for a while now, that a guy here or there has a good night and has a couple hits, but we can’t bunch them together,” Rockies manager Bud Black said. “At least in one inning, get multiple hits and good at-bats. That’s hard to come by.”
Friday’s run-suppression came from Braves starter Julio Teheran (aka “JT” for Players Weekend), who went 7 1/3 innings, struck out four and held the Rockies to two runs on five hits, including Mark Reynolds’ 27th homer, a solo shot in the seventh. Teheran threw 69 of his 88 pitches for strikes and exited partly because his legs began to cramp in the eighth. He earned his first home win since April 14, in the first game ever played at the Braves’ new park.
“It was nice for [Teheran] to get some early runs,” Braves manager Brian Snitker said. “Tonight was really good with how efficient he was. He kept the ball down and his breaking ball was good. He did a really good job of being aggressive.”
Before giving up a run in the third, Teheran had held the Rockies scoreless for 20 straight innings.
“He’s been terrific against the Rockies his entire career,” Rockies right fielder Carlos Gonzalez said. “He’s got great pitches, knows how to mix it.”
Also, Rockies center fielder and Atlanta-area native Charlie Blackmon (aka “Chuck Nasty,”) left after an apparent leg injury he sustained while fouling off a pitch in the seventh. Blackmon, who leads the National League in batting, went 1-for-4 with an RBI to finish the night at .337.
“To get those two runs on the board, I think that was a big step because we’ve been chasing a little bit the past couple days,” Suzuki said. “To get on top and have Julio throw the way he did, he was pretty much identical to what he was in Colorado [on Aug. 14], it made for a nice win tonight.”
On Aug. 14, Bettis held the Braves scoreless for seven innings in his first appearance of this season, after a long recovery from testicular cancer. But he wasn’t sharp in the beginning in this one, and Kemp made him pay by swatting a first-pitch, 90 mph fastball over the center-field wall.
“Their whole approach the first three innings was different from what I saw the last game, and I had to flip-flop the game plan there,” Bettis said. “Even if they were hunting fastballs, those need to be a little bit better executed, anyway.”
In his final three innings, before being removed in a grasp at offense, Bettis saw his fastball reach the 92 mph range — his average before his illness. He left with five runs and six hits (four in the first two innings) in five innings.
Trevor Story doubled and scored on Blackmon’s one-out single in the third, but Teheran — who also threw seven scoreless innings against Bettis and the Rockies but got a no-decision in that Aug. 14 game — snuffed out the threat. Teheran forced Rockies second baseman DJ LeMahieu into his 20th double-play grounder this season.
JT’s slider wasn’t as effective as it was two weeks ago in Colorado, but as he’s regained more confidence in the pitch, it has at least again become another valuable weapon within his arsenal.
“It’s working, I know I made a couple mistakes today with it,” Teheran said. “But that’s normal. I’m not throwing [the slider] that hard, but I think it’s keeping them off-balance and that’s why we won.”
Sean Newcomb (2-7, 4.13 ERA), will take the mound when this series resumes Saturday at 6:10 p.m. CT. Newcomb allowed three earned runs over six innings against the Rockies on Aug. 15.