Five takeaways from the Braves’ 6-5 win over the Colorado Rockies in Denver on Thursday night:
1. Having lost three consecutive games to the Dodgers earlier in the week, having had their National League East lead sharply reduced, the Braves got a much-needed victory at Coors Field in the opener of a four-game series.
“After the Dodger series, it’s either going to go one way or the other. It’s going to go up or it’s going to go down, and we needed to stop that trend of losing games,” outfielder Adam Duvall said. “I felt we played pretty well in L.A. We were just a hit or two shy from getting a couple of those wins. ... But tonight, getting that ‘W,’ holding that lead, that was huge.”
The teams chasing the Braves in the NL East, the second-place Philadelphia Phillies and third-place New York Mets, both won on Thursday, so the Braves’ victory kept their lead at two games over the Phillies and five over the Mets.
2. The keys to the game were Duvall’s mammoth home run, which gave the Braves the lead for good in the fifth inning, and the work of the Braves’ bullpen, which pitched six scoreless innings in a famously hitter-friendly stadium.
Five relievers – Jacob Webb, Jesse Chavez, Richard Rodriguez, Luke Jackson and Will Smith -- limited the Rockies to three hits from the fourth through the ninth innings. Webb, added to the big-league roster on Wednesday, started the bullpen’s fine night with two scoreless innings and got the win.
“It’s been awesome to have an opportunity to come back up here and showcase what I can do and help these guys get some wins,” Webb said.
Webb, Chavez, Rodriguez, Jackson and Smith became just the third group of visiting relievers to throw six or more scoreless innings in a game at Coors Field in the past five seasons, according to the Elias Sports Bureau.
Credit: AP
Credit: AP
3. The Braves took an early 3-0 lead against Rockies starter Chi Chi Gonzalez behind a Jorge Soler solo home run and an Austin Riley two-run double, but the game turned quickly, as games tend to do at Coors Field, against Braves starter Touki Toussaint in the third inning.
The Rockies sent nine batters to the plate and scored five runs -- four of them on a 432-foot grand slam to right field by veteran slugger Charlie Blackmon, formerly of North Gwinnett High School, Young Harris College and Georgia Tech. Toussaint was lifted for a pinch-hitter in the fourth, the Braves trailing 5-3.
4. It didn’t take long for the Braves to reclaim the lead. Duvall’s two-run homer -- a 477-foot blast to left field, perhaps conservatively estimated, against Rockies reliever Yency Almonte -- capped a three-run fifth-inning rally that put Atlanta ahead 6-5, which held up as the final score.
“I think that’s probably the longest ball that I’ve hit in my career,” Duvall said.
The homer was his 30th of the season, tied for second-most in the National League (behind only Fernando Tatis’ 36). It also gave him 90 RBIs, second-most in the NL. Duvall has nine homers and 22 RBIs in 30 games with the Braves since they wisely reacquired him from Miami hours before the July 30 trade deadline.
Duvall, playing center field, also made an impressive leaping catch at the wall to end the seventh inning.
5. Soler’s first-inning home run was his ninth in 29 games since joining the Braves, his sixth in his past 14 games. Like Duvall, he has been a key part of the Braves’ offense since being acquired at the trade deadline.
Quotable
“Jacob (Webb, the first Braves reliever) came in and did a great job, bridging that thing for two innings. And the other (relievers) -- it’s tough to do what we did, especially in this ballpark.” -- Braves manager Brian Snitker
By the numbers
3: Double plays turned by the Braves in Thursday’s game.
43-23: The Rockies’ record in home games this season, compared to 18-50 in road games.
Up next
Braves right-hander Huascar Ynoa (4-4, 2.90 ERA) and Rockies right-hander Antonio Senzatela (3-9, 4.18) are scheduled to start the second game of the series Friday night. Pitching matchups for the weekend: Braves right-hander Ian Anderson (6-5, 3.36) vs. Rockies righty German Marquez (11-10, 4.10) on Saturday night and Braves right-hander Charlie Morton (12-5, 3.52) versus Rockies lefty Austin Gomber (9-9, 4.53) on Sunday afternoon.
