Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
Turner’s hitting helps Dodgers take two in vital Rockies series
DENVER — Rich Hill broke his own personal rule: He peeked at the standings before mid-September.
Curiosity simply got the better of him. It was appropriate, too, since this game had a playoff feel.
Justin Turner hit a two-run home run as part of a fourhit day and the Los Angeles Dodgers climbed closer to the first-place Colorado Rockies in the NL West with a 9-6 victory Sunday.
The Dodgers captured two of three from the Rockies in a pivotal series and moved
within a half-game for the division lead. Colorado has never won the NL West crown.
“This was the biggest game of the year so far for us,” said Enrique Hernandez, who hit his 20th home run of the season. “If we do make the playoffs, we’re getting good preparation. Every game is a mustwin. Every game is huge.”
That’s why Hill typically doesn’t look until at least Sept. 15. It couldn’t be helped, though, with everyone around him talking about it.
“We just have to be concerned with what we need to do,” he said.
Hill (8-5) allowed four runs over five innings to pick up his first career win against the Rockies. He gave up a home run to Charlie Blackmon on his fifth pitch of the game, but then found his rhythm.
Kenta Maeda gave up a single to start the ninth before turning it over to Scott Alexander. The lefty got the Rockies 1-2-3 for his third save.
Alexander was filling in for All-Star closer Kenley Jansen, who didn’t make the trip to the Mile High City after a team cardiologist recommended he not pitch at that
altitude after suffering an irregular heartbeat episode in Denver last month.
The bullpen was 2 for 2 in saves chances without Jansen.
“They answered the bell,” Turner said.
As did Turner, who went 4 for 5 with an intentional walk as he kept wearing out Rockies pitching. He had a single in the first, double in the fourth, a two-run home run in the sixth that gave the Dodgers an 8-2 lead, and another double in the eighth. He’s hitting .385 at Coors Field this season.
“I felt good. I felt really good,” Turner said. “I felt like I swung at good pitches and got good results.”
His only mishap was a misstep rounding first base in the opening inning. He bruised his left heel.
“I’ll be all right,” he said. Blackmon finished with two solo home runs, including one in the eighth that made it 8-6, and Nolan Arenado broke out of a slump with a two-run shot in the sixth. It was Arenado’s first home run since Aug. 24.
“Obviously it stinks that we couldn’t win, but it felt good that I was able to hit a ball hard there,” Arenado said.
Lefty Tyler Anderson (68) lasted only 22/3 innings in allowing 4 runs, 3 earned. He’s 0-5 with a 6.75 ERA since his last win on July 4.
“It centers around the fastball and you have to locate it,” Rockies Manager Bud Black explained. “Today, Tyler didn’t.”
A few Rockies miscues led to some early Dodgers runs: Catcher Chris Iannetta dropped the ball while trying to tag Manny Machado at home in the first and left fielder Matt Holliday fumbled a Turner liner for an error in the second.
Rockies RHP DJ Johnson made his major league debut in the fifth. He struck out two, including Austin Barnes and had the ball tossed into the dugout.
Colorado turned in several big plays, including a diving stop by Arenado and throw to first from his knee in the third.
“We can’t let this game affect us,” Arenado said. “Losing’s never fun but when you have big games coming up, which we put ourselves in that position, it’s easier to move on.”
Dodgers Manager Dave Roberts said he checked in with Jansen and he’s “doing well.” He will join the team in Cincinnati.
Told that Jansen posted a workout video on Instagram, Roberts smiled.
“I guess I don’t need to talk to a player, just go on social media these days,” Roberts cracked.
METS 6, PHILLIES 4
Even after Jacob deGrom was scratched on a rainy afternoon, the Phillies stumbled again when Vince Velasquez wasted a two-run lead in a 6-4 loss to the New York Mets that was as dismal for Philadelphia as Sunday’s weather. Philadelphia led the NL East before play Aug. 12 but has faded by losing seven straight series and dropping 17 of its last 26 games. The Phillies started the day 3½ games behind first-place Atlanta and also trailed by the same margin for the second wild card with three weeks left. Michael Conforto hit a three-run homer in a four-run fifth inning, tied a career best with four RBIs and made a fine catch. Rookie Jeff McNeil had his second straight three-hit game and fifth
overall, raising his average to .340 as the Mets took two of three in the weekend series.
BREWERS 6, GIANTS 3
Jonathan Schoop hit a grand slam after Ryan Braun was hit by a pitch in a tense sixth inning, and Milwaukee beat the San Francisco Giants 6-3 on Sunday, completing a series sweep and preserving the Brewers’ lead in the NL wild-card race. Madison Bumgarner hit Braun with his third of three consecutive pitches inside to load the bases with two outs. Brewers players came a couple of steps out of the dugout, and manager Craig Counsell was ejected by plate umpire Tom Hallion. Schoop, who had struck out in his first-two at-bats, then drove a 2-1 pitch from Bumgarner (5-6) over the wall in left to make it 5-2. It was Schoop’s fourth homer since being acquired from Baltimore on July 31. Milwaukee remained 2½ games ahead of St. Louis for the top wild card spot and moved within two games of the NL Central-leading Chicago Cubs, who were rained out Sunday in Washington.
BRAVES 9, DIAMONDBACKS 5
Ender Inciarte hit a three-run homer during a six-run rally in the ninth inning and the Atlanta Braves beat the skidding Arizona Diamondbacks 9-5 Sunday to increase their NL East lead to 4 ½ games. The Braves took advantage of a loss by Philadelphia to match their biggest division edge of the season. Atlanta took three of four in the series. The Diamondbacks have lost seven of nine. They stayed 2 ½ games behind NL West-leading Colorado. Atlanta didn’t have a hit until Ronald Acuna Jr. homered off Robbie Ray in the sixth. The Braves trailed 4-3 going into the ninth before Tyler Flower and Ozzie Albies opened with singles off Brad Boxberger (2-7) and Inciarte, a former Diamondbacks fan favorite, homered. After Boxberger left to a chorus of boos from the crowd at Chase Field, Lucas Duda greeted reliever Yoan Lopez with a long home run to right. Acuna then tripled and Johan Camargo hit his 18th home run.
INTERLEAGUE CARDINALS 5, TIGERS 2
The St. Louis Cardinals needed something to get them going on Sunday against the Detroit Tigers. They weren’t expecting it to be a squirrel. With Sunday’s game scoreless going into the seventh inning, there was a delay when a squirrel took up residence between second and third base. With some prompting from the Tigers infield, the animal moved into foul territory and eventually made its escape in right field. By that point, the Cardinals had taken control. They scored five runs in the seventh and avoided a series sweep with a 5-2 victory. The Cardinals lost the first two games of the series in walk-off fashion and didn’t have a baserunner until the sixth against Michael Fulmer. St. Louis, which came into Sunday with a one-game lead for the second NL wild card spot, won for the third time in eight games. Detroit’s fourgame winning streak was snapped. John Gant (7-5) allowed two runs on five hits and a walk in 62/3 innings. He struck out six. Carlos Martinez pitched the ninth for his second save. After the game, Shildt said Martinez will replace Bud Norris as the team’s closer. Fulmer (3-11) was perfect through five innings but only got four more outs. He allowed five runs on five hits and three walks in 61/3 innings, striking out five. Fulmer fell to 0-6 in his last nine starts, with the Tigers losing all nine..
PADRES 7, REDS 6
Eric Hosmer led off the ninth inning with a home run to lift the San Diego Padres over the Cincinnati Reds 7-6 on Sunday night after a lengthy rain delay in the middle of the eighth inning. Hosmer took Raisel Iglesias (2-4) deep for his third homer in three days. Austin Hedges and Luis Urias each hit a two-run homer to help San Diego overcome a three-run blast from Joey Votto and salvage a split in the soggy four-game series. Rain caused a delay of 1 hour, 32 minutes in the eighth, even after Sunday’s first pitch was pushed back three hours from the scheduled 12:10 p.m. start time in hopes of avoiding bad weather.
AMERICAN LEAGUE BLUE JAYS 6, INDIANS 2
Blue Jays right fielder Randal Grichuk was injured in a bizarre collision with a security guard’s chair, and replacement Teoscar Hernandez hit a three-run homer as the Toronto Blue Jays beat the Cleveland Indians 6-2 on Sunday. The Indians began the day with a magic
number of five to lock up their third straight AL Central title. Grichuk was being checked for a possible concussion after slamming face-first into the guard’s chair while chasing Brandon Guyer’s foul fly in the fourth inning. As Grichuk and first baseman Justin Smoak sprinted toward the ball, a security staffer seated along the wall stood up and backed away from the area, carrying his stool and seemingly unaware the outfielder was closing in. Grichuk slid and made the catch, but crashed into the metal stool the staffer was holding by his side. Grichuk stayed down for several minutes and was treated on the field by Blue Jays trainers. When he stood up to walk off, television images showed a long, swollen mark on his face, running across his nose and between his eyes. Hernandez entered the game when Grichuk exited, and homered in the eighth.
RAYS 8, ORIOLES 3
Brandon Lowe hit a three-run homer in a five-run first inning and the Tampa Bay Rays tied a team record with their 11th consecutive home win, beating the Baltimore Orioles 8-3 on Sunday. Tampa Bay also won 11 in a row at Tropicana Field during the 2008 AL pennant-winning season. The Rays have won 16 of 19 overall, and outscored the Orioles 32-10 in a three-game sweep. They started play eight games behind Oakland for the second AL wild card and have 20 games remaining. Another bad first inning doomed the Orioles. Baltimore (41-102), which allowed four runs in the first of Saturday’s 10-5 loss to the Rays, has been outscored 115-61 during the inning this season.
Willians Astudillo hit a two-out, two-run homer in the bottom of the ninth inning that gave the Minnesota Twins a 3-1 victory over the Kansas City Royals on Sunday. Max Kepler doubled off Jason Hammel (2-13) with two outs in the Twins ninth. Astudillo then hit a drive deep to left field for his third home run of the season. Trevor Hildenberger (4-3) got two outs to pick up the win. Adalberto Mondesi homered for the Royals, who were held to three hits on the day. A day after Kansas City rookie Jorge Lopez took a perfect game into the ninth, the Twins ended the suspense early with a run in the second inning. Robbie Grossman led off with a double and scored on Ehire Adrianza’s single. Royals starter Ian Kennedy made his first appearance after missing two months with a strained oblique. He ended up throwing 93 pitches over six innings, allowing one run on four hits with three walks and six strikeouts. Minnesota starter Chase De Jong made his Twins debut with four scoreless innings, walking four and striking out five. He arrived from Seattle in a trade for reliever Zach Duke on July 30. Zack Littell followed De Jong for the Twins and gave up Mondesi’s tying home run in the sixth but was otherwise sharp, allowing just two runners in 31/3 innings.
Stephen Piscotty homered and Oakland rallied from an early three-run deficit to beat the Texas Rangers 7-3 on Sunday, the Athletics’ fourth straight win and sixth in seven games. Matt Olson had two hits including a double for the A’s, who are 30 games over .500 (87-57) for the first time since closing out 2013 at 96-66. They’ve won nine of their last 10 against the Rangers. Piscotty’s homer in the seventh inning was his career-high 23rd, surpassing his 2016 total with St. Louis. Oakland trailed 3-0 when Olson doubled off Ariel Jurado (2-5) in a five-run fourth in which the A’s scored five runs on three hits, three walks, an error, a wild pitch and a passed ball. Ramon Laureano doubled in a run
TWINS 3, ROYALS 1 ATHLETICS 7, RANGERS 3
later in the inning. Shawn Kelley (1-0) retired the only four batters he faced in relief of Trevor Cahill, who gave up three runs on two hits and six walks in 22/3 innings. The A’s got another stellar performance from one of the best and deepest bullpens in the majors, with seven relievers combining for 61/3 scoreless innings of two-hit ball. Oakland, which has a 15-man bullpen, used eight pitchers on Saturday and seven on Friday. Texas dropped to a season-high 21 games below .500 (61-82) after its 10th loss in 13 games.
ANGELS 1, WHITE SOX 0
Andrew Heaney tossed three-hit ball over seven innings and struck out a career-high 12, lifting the Los Angeles Angels over the Chicago White Sox 1-0 Sunday for a three-game sweep. Kole Calhoun drove in the only run with a seventh-inning single. Mike Trout went 2 for 4 and finished the series 8 for 11 with two homers and five RBIs for the Angels. Yoan Moncada had two hits for the White Sox, who have dropped five straight. Heaney (9-9) allowed just three singles and didn’t walk anyone. Ty Buttrey pitched the eighth, Blake Parker got two outs in the ninth and Jose Alvarez got the final out for his first save.
MARINERS 3, YANKEES 2
Mitch Haniger dashed home to score the goahead run on a grounder in the eighth inning, then made a diving catch for the final out Sunday that gave the Seattle Mariners a 3-2 win over the New York Yankees. The Yankees’ lead atop the AL wild-card race was cut to 21 /2 games over Oakland. The top wild-card team hosts the one-game playoff. Haniger started the eighth with a walk off reliever Dellin Betances (45), stole second base and reached third on Jean Segura’s sacrifice bunt. With the infield in, Robinson Cano hit a broken-bat roller up the middle. Shortstop Adeiny Hechavarria slung a throw home that was toward the firstbase side, and Haniger got his hand on the plate just before the tag. Edwin Diaz pitched the ninth for his major league-leading 54th save, helped by Haniger’s play. Alex Colome (6-5) got the win.
RED SOX 6, ASTROS 5
Mitch Moreland singled in the winning run with two outs in the ninth inning and the Boston Red Sox beat the Houston Astros 6-5 on Sunday night to avoid a three-game sweep in a matchup of AL division leaders. J.D. Martinez hit his 40th homer and drove in four for Boston, which snapped Houston’s seven-game winning streak even after the Astros rallied with a four-run sixth inning to tie the game at 5. The East-leading Red Sox sliced their magic number to 11 for their third straight division title. Boston leads the second-place Yankees by 8½ games after they lost at Seattle. Jose Altuve and Marwin Gonzalez each hit a solo homer for the West-leading Astros, who saw their lead over Oakland cut to 2½ games. The Athletics beat Texas earlier in the day.