Rockies complete 4-game sweep

Braves’ 4-2 loss drops them back into a tie for first in NL East with Phillies.

So, let’s talk about the last four days. They have not been kind to the Braves.

After the Braves’ sweep of the Marlins, they held a two-game lead over the Phillies in the National League East on Wednesday. That’s gone now.

Following those four wins, the Braves were swept in a four-game series by the Rockies, the final loss coming Sunday in a 4-2 defeat at SunTrust Park. The Braves fell back into a tie for first with the Phillies, both teams with 68-55

records. The Phillies played the Mets Sunday night in Williamsport, Pa.

The Braves held a lead in each of the four games against the Rockies, including two ninth-inning blown leads that resulted in losses.

“Every loss is frustrating, no matter what kind of loss it is,” the Braves’ Freddie Freeman said after the 6-5 homestand. “When we are this close, we have 35 or 40 games left, every game is very important. The way we lost a couple games is not how you want to lose games. We had everything set up perfectly and had the right guys out there and sometimes it just doesn’t happen. You’ve got to be able to come back as a team and bounce back.”

The Rockies got home runs from Trevor Story, his 26th of the season, on a line drive in the second inning and by DJ LeMa hieu in the third inning. David Dahl followed the LeMahieu blast with a

double and scored on a sin- gle by Nolan Arenado that gave the Rockies a 3-1 lead.

The Braves scored a first-inning run. Freeman doubled with two outs and scored on an RBI single by Johan Camargo, who drove in Freeman again in the sixth. Camargo improved to 9 for 16 with runners in scoring position in the 11-game homestand.

The Rockies added an insurance run in the ninth on an RBI single from Carlos Gonzalez.

The Braves’ Anibal Sanchez (6-4) entered the game undefeated in his career in six starts against the Rockies (4-0, 1.99 ERA). He worked 6⅔ innings and allowed three earned runs on five hits with eight strikeouts and two walks.

German Marquez (11-9) earned the win for the Rock- ies, working seven innings and allowing two earned runs on five hits. He struck out five.

The Braves’ Ronald Acuna had his 11-game hitting streak snapped. He also had his run of reaching safely to lead off in nine straight games end.

“Quickly forget,” Tyler Flower said of the disappointing homestand. “Move on. We’ve got to get ready for the next one. We are still right in the thick of it. There is no time to feel sorry for yourself or linger over whatever mistakes were made in this last series.”

The Braves tied a season high with this four-game losing streak, done two other times. The losses to the Rockies give the Braves a 9-18 record against NL West teams this season.

The Braves begin a seven-game road trip at the Pirates today. They will end the trip with four games at the Marlins.

DANIEL SHIREY / GETTY IMAGES DJ LeMahieu hit a solo home run in the third inning as the Rockies beat the Braves 4-2. The Braves’ streak of four consecutive losses ties their longest streak of the season.

DANIEL SHIREY / GETTY IMAGES Johan Camargo drove in the Braves’ first run in the first inning and added an RBI single in the sixth inning against the Rockies on Sunday at SunTrust Park. The Braves collected only six hits in losing 4-2.