Ahmed breaks tie in 7th as D’backs edge Braves
NATIONAL LEAGUE DIAMONDBACKS 2, BRAVES 1
ATLANTA — Zack Godley’s control was sharp. That usually means good things for the Arizona Diamondbacks.
Nick Ahmed hit a tiebreaking single in the seventh after Godley allowed a run over six innings, and the Diamondbacks beat the Atlanta Braves 2-1 on Friday night.
Both teams began the week in first place but have since fallen out. The Diamondbacks began the night a half game behind the Dodgers in the NL West. The Braves, who have lost 7 of their last 9, fell 1 ½ games behind NL East-leading Philadelphia.
Godley (11-6) gave up three hits in the first, including Kurt Suzuki’s run-scoring single. He allowed only 2 hits over the next 5 innings and struck out 7 overall.
Godley issued only one walk. Arizona is 10-2 when the righthander walks no more than three batters. He said he took advantage of Braves batters swinging early in counts.
“I felt really good,” Godley said. “They were aggressive and put the ball in play and the defense was unbelievable behind me.”
Brad Boxberger struck out the side in the ninth for his 23rd save.
Braves right-hander Anibal Sanchez also was sharp, allowing 1 run and 5 hits in 6 innings. The right-hander gave up his run in the sixth, when Alex Avila doubled to left and scored from third on Jon Jay’s blooper into shallow left field. Jay moved to third on a hit-andrun single by Paul Goldschmidt but was thrown out at the plate by first baseman Freddie Freeman on David Peralta’s grounder.
Friday’s games NATIONAL LEAGUE
Pittsburgh 7, Milwaukee 3 NY Mets 4, Washington 2 Philadelphia 2, Miami 0 Arizona 2, Atlanta 1 Cincinnati 9, St. Louis 1 Chicago Cubs at San Diego, (n)
AMERICAN LEAGUE
Texas 5, Baltimore 4 Cleveland 6, NY Yankees 5 Toronto 13, Boston 7 Houston 3, Detroit 0 Chicago White Sox 9, Kansas City 6 Minnesota 11, Tampa Bay 8
INTERLEAGUE
Colorado 10, Seattle 7
LA Angels at LA Dodgers, (n)
Oakland at San Francisco, (n)
Sanchez was pulled after throwing 86 pitches. He has thrown 90 or more pitches in five games this season.
Sanchez said he didn’t expect to remain in the game for the seventh but added, “Yeah, there’s no doubt I’d be able to throw 100 pitches.” PIRATES 7, BREWERS 3
Josh Bell tied a career record with four hits, Gregory Polanco homered and both drove in two runs to lead Pittsburgh to a victory over visiting Milwaukee. PHILLIES 2, MARLINS 0
Aaron Altherr drove in his first run of July and later started a sensational relay to protect the lead, helping Jake Arrieta and NL East-leading Philadelphia top host Miami. METS 4, NATIONALS 2
Noah Syndergaard pitched out of trouble in a rusty return from the disabled list and helped himself with an RBI single as New York beat visiting Washington. REDS 9, CARDINALS 1
Scooter Gennett and Dilson Herrera homered, Matt Harvey tossed five solid innings and Cincinnati beat host St. Louis.
AMERICAN LEAGUE
RANGERS 5, ORIOLES 4 Ryan Rua had a tiebreaking, pinch-hit three-run home run in the seventh inning and visiting Texas held on to beat Baltimore and snap a three-game losing streak. INDIANS 6, YANKEES 5 Rookie righthander
Shane Bieber pitched into the eighth inning and host Cleveland’s shaky bullpen narrowly closed things out against New York. BLUE JAYS 13, RED SOX 7 Kevin Pillar had four hits and Justin Smoak had three, including a pair of home runs, and they drove in four runs apiece to help visiting Toronto snap Boston’s 10-game winning streak. ASTROS 3, TIGERS 0
Dallas Keuchel (Arkansas Razorbacks) pitched six strong innings, three relievers completed the seven-hitter and Alex Bregman provided the offense by setting a career high with his 20th home run to give host Houston a victory over Detroit. WHITE SOX 9, ROYALS 6
Leury Garcia had three hits and three RBI, All-Star Jose Abreu homered for the first time in July, and Chicago beat visiting Kansas City. TWINS 11, RAYS 8
Joe Mauer homered and drove in four runs, and host Minnesota held on for a victory against Tampa Bay.
INTERLEAGUE
ROCKIES 10, MARINERS 7
Trevor Story homered and drove in four runs, Charlie Blackmon also connected and Tony Wolters had three RBI for Colorado as they beat visiting Seattle.