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.
