Quick Hitters
Padres beat Braves 7-4 as Colon struggles again
SAN DIEGO — Luis Perdomo pitched five scoreless innings and Hunter Renfroe and Cory Spangenberg contributed two RBIs apiece as the San Diego Padres beat the Atlanta Braves 7-4 on Wednesday night.
San Diego’s Carlos Asuaje and Erick Aybar had three hits each.
Perdomo (3-4), who was winless after his first 10 starts, won for the third time in his last four outings. The right-hander went 5 1/3 innings and was charged with four runs and seven hits. He struck out four and walked two.
The Braves, who had won five straight over the Padres, chased Perdomo in the sixth when they scored four times. Earlier Perdomo was aided by two double-play balls as Atlanta lost for just the third time in 11 games.
Brandon Maurer worked a perfect ninth for his 15th save.
Veteran Bartolo Colon (2-8) turned in another disappointing start, pitching for the first time since going on the disabled list with a strained left oblique on June 6. Colon, 44, surrendered six runs, eight hits and three walks over four innings. The four-time All-Star struck out two in losing for the sixth time in his last eight starts as he failed to reach the fifth inning for the third consecutive outing.
Chile crushes Portugal on penalties to reach Confederations Cup final
KAZAN, Russia — Claudio Bravo made three penalty saves as Chile crushed Portugal 3-0 in a penalty shootout to reach the Confederations Cup final on Wednesday.
Bravo, who missed the first two cup games in Russia because of injury, stopped penalties by Ricardo Quaresma, Joao Moutinho and Nani, sending Chile to its third straight international final after winning consecutive Copa America titles.
Arturo Vidal, Charles Aranguiz and Alexis Sanchez all scored for Chile in the shootout.
The teams were drawing 0-0 after normal and extra time.
The result was justice for Chile, which had a strong penalty appeal turned down in extra time and then saw the ball hit the woodwork twice in the same move a few minutes later.
Chile and Portugal both came close in the first 10 minutes but there were few chances after that in a lackluster game between two of the main title favorites. Cristiano Ronaldo was off-form for Portugal and Chile gradually took control in front of 40,855 fans at Kazan Arena, most of them behind Chile.
Chile will play Germany or Mexico in Sunday’s final in St. Petersburg. It will be seeking its first title outside of South America after winning the Copa America in 2015 and 2016, both times in penalty kick shoot-outs.
“I was injured and I didn’t play at my normal pace, but I normally get things quietly,” Bravo said. “This is very important to us because it’s like completing a very successful cycle. We are very happy to be able to play in the final.”
Portugal was looking for its second consecutive title after winning the European Championship last year.
In the shoot-out, Bravo dived to his right to stop weak penalty kicks by both Quaresma and Joao Moutinho, then switched sides to save Nani’s timorous shot. Nani tiptoed desperately slowly to the ball looking for all the world as though he did not want to take the kick. And he patted it gently to Bravo.