ROCKIES ROOKIE ROCKS
Rookie Kyle Freeland, who grew up in Denver, comes within a couple of outs of becoming the first Rockies pitcher to throw a no-hitter at Coors Field.
DENVER — Kyle Freeland just absorbed the thundering cheers as he tipped his cap and headed off the mound. “A ton of fun,” he said. The hometown kid turned in one of the best pitching performances ever at Coors Field.
The rookie left-hander came within two outs of the first no-hitter by a Rockies pitcher at the hitter-friendly park before surrendering a crisp single to Melky Cabrera as Colorado beat the Chicago White Sox 10-0 on Sunday.
Freeland, who was born and raised in Denver, struck out the first batter of the ninth inning and then allowed Cabrera’s hit to left field on a 2-2 count.
“He just muscled it out,” said Freeland, who struck out a career-high nine, walked three and hit a batter.
“He was changing speeds and just did a nice job on the mound,” Cabrera said.
The 24-year-old Freeland (9-7) threw 126 pitches.
Freeland was trying to throw the second no-hitter in Coors Field history. Hideo Nomo accomplished the feat in 1996 when he was with the Los Angeles Dodgers. The only no-hitter in Rockies history was thrown by Ubaldo Jimenez in 2010 at Atlanta.
PIRATES 14, CUBS 3: In Chicago, Francisco Cervelli and Andrew McCutchen capped Pittsburgh’s 10-run first inning with consecutive homers off Jon Lester, helping the Pirates pound the Cubs. Pittsburgh closed a 5-2 road trip with its fifth win in six games.
CARDINALS 6, METS 0: In St. Louis, Tommy Pham, Paul DeJong and Luke Voit homered and Lance Lynn pitched seven innings of three-hit ball as the Cardinals beat the Mets.
REDS 2, DIAMDOND BACKS 1: In Phoenix, Homer Bailey went 6⅔ strong innings, Scott Schebler doubled in the go-ahead run and Cincinnati sent Arizona to its fifth loss in six games.
PHILLIES 7, PADRES 1: In Philadelphia, Freddy Galvis hit two of his team’s six home runs, Jerad Eickhoff threw five shutout innings, and the Phillies topped San Diego.
NATIONALS 10, BRAVES 5: In Washington, Anthony Rendon reached base four times, the Washington bullpen allowed two runs over 5⅔ innings, and the Nationals beat Atlanta.
MARLINS 10, GIANTS 8 (11): In San Francisco, Giancarlo Stanton homered twice, the second coming after A.J. Ellis’ tie-breaking two-run home run in the 11th inning, and Miami completed a sweep.
ASTROS 19, BLUE JAYS 1: In Toronto, Carlos Correa homered twice and drove in a career-high five runs as Houston (60-29) romped into the All-Star break.
The runaway leaders in the AL West became just the fifth team in the last 40 years to reach 60 wins before the All-Star Game, according to the Elias Sports Bureau. They joined the 1998 Yankees, 2001 Mariners, 2003 Braves and this year’s Los Angeles Dodgers, who got there Saturday. TIGERS 5, INDIANS 3: In Cleveland, Michael Fulmer outpitched All-Star teammate Corey
Kluber and Alex Presley hit a tie-breaking two-run double and Detroit hung on late to salvage the series finale.
RAYS 5, RED SOX 3: In St. Petersburg, Fla., Brad Miller hit a tie-breaking, two-run homer in the eighth inning and Tampa Bay took three of the four from AL East-leading Boston.
ORIOLES 11, TWINS 5: In Minneapolis, Adam Jones homered twice and drove in five runs to lead a 15-hit attack and Baltimore defeated Minnesota. ANGELS 3, RANGERS 0: In Arlington, Texas, J.C. Ramirez outpitched All-Star Yu Darvish, and Albert Pujols hit his 604th career home run as four Angels pitchers combined to beat Texas.
MARINERS 4, ATHLETICS 0: In Seattle, Felix Hernandez rediscovered some of his past form by allowing only two hits over six dominant innings, and Nelson Cruz hit his 17th home run of the season to give the Mariners a win.
BREWERS 5, YANKEES 3: In New York, Travis Shaw and Stephen Vogt both homered and Milwaukee lengthened its surprising lead in the NL Central to 5½ games, topping the Yankees. The Brewers (50-41) go into the AllStar break in first place for the fifth time in franchise history. DODGERS 5, ROYALS 2: In Los Angeles, Clayton Kershaw tossed a six-hitter to become the majors’ first 14-game winner, Justin Turner homered twice, and the Dodgers (61-29) completed their major league-best 10th sweep and sixth straight victory.