DENVER – More than 20 months. That's how long it had been since Gavin Floyd got a 'W' next to his name in a major-league game.
After 11 starts, six losses, one complicated elbow surgery and a long rehabilitation, Floyd ended his drought Monday night — and did it at one of the toughest places to pitch.
The veteran right-hander allowed just three hits and one run in 6 2/3 innings of a 3-1 victory against the Rockies to open a four-game series at Coors Field.
“Even though I knew I felt good and I felt like I’ve been pitching real well, it’s nice to have that first one,” said Floyd (1-2), who had three walks and four strikeouts and lowered his ERA to 2.57 in seven starts.
Chris Johnson had three hits including two RBI singles for the Braves, who took a 2-0 lead in the fourth inning and avoided the kind of meltdowns they had while blowing similar leads in consecutive weekend losses at Arizona.
Impressive rookie Shae Simmons pitched a 1-2-3 eighth inning — striking out major league hitting and slugging leader Troy Tulowitzki for the third out — and Craig Kimbrel gave up a two-out walk in the ninth before striking out Wilin Rosario to collect his 17th save in 20 chances.
“Gavin gave us a terrific opportunity to win the game, and we got it,” Braves manager Fredi Gonzalez said. “He’s been pitching so well, I thought (he had won games). He asked for the lineup cards and I said, what do you need the lineup cards for? He said, ‘It’s my first Braves win.’ I thought he was 3-0 or 4-0 before tonight, that’s how good he’s pitched.”
Floyd was 0-6 in 11 starts since his last win for the Chicago White Sox at Cleveland on Oct. 3, 2012, his final start that season. He made five starts for the White Sox in 2013 before season-ending surgery to repair both a torn ulnar collateral ligament (Tommy John surgery) and a torn flexor tendon in his pitching elbow.
He was 0-2 despite a solid 2.80 ERA in six starts for the Braves before Monday, when Floyd limited the opposition to one earned run for the fourth time this season. And this time, the Braves gave him some run support and solid defense, areas that had been lacking in several of his previous starts.
He’s got 71 major league wins, but this one had special meaning for Floyd, 31.
“Especially after a full year off and coming back (from elbow surgery),” he said. “Just thankful to get my first one and hopefully roll with it.”
Floyd surrendered a leadoff homer to Corey Dickerson in the seventh inning to trim the Braves’ lead to 2-1, and was replaced after issuing a two-out walk to DJ LeMahieu. Pinch-hitter Brandon Barnes bounced a double up the middle against reliever Luis Avilan to put runners at second and third, but Avilan got Charlie Blackmon on a comebacker to end the inning.
Floyd has a 1.98 ERA and .188 opponents’ average in his two career starts at Coors Field.
The Braves added an insurance run in the eighth after Justin Upton led off with a walk and Evan Gattis singled to extend his hitting streak to 10 games. Johnson, who has slumped for several weeks, followed with an RBI single that pushed the lead to 3-1, his third consecutive hit in a span of five innings.
“Yeah, usually I’m pretty good at that,” Johnson said of hitting with runners in scoring position. “So it’s nice to get back and kind of get back in that big part of the field and stay up the middle and have my bat be short to the ball. That was nice, and it was good to give Gavin a cushion because that was all he needed.”
Johnson was just 16-for-83 (.193) with 24 strikeouts in his past 21 games before Monday, but against the Rockies he had a .370 career average in 25 games, including 14-for-32 (.437) in nine games at Coors Field.
Rockies pitcher Christian Bergman, in his major-league debut, got his first hit – a third-inning infield single — before giving up his first hit, a fourth-inning leadoff single by B.J. Upton. The Braves got the first two runs of the game in that inning from Upton and Freddie Freeman, who drew a walk.
The Braves had a chance to break the game open after loading the bases in the sixth on singles by Justin Upton and Johnson and a two-out walk by rookie Tommy La Stella. But Andrelton Simmons flied out deep to right-center on the second pitch, dropping the Braves to 5-for-38 (.132) with bases loaded, tied with the Dodgers for worst in the majors.
Jason Heyward led off the game with sharp grounder up the middle that was ruled an error on shortstop Tulowitzki, a questionable scoring decision. Heyward would be the Braves’ only base runner through three innings, as Bergman retired the next nine including four strikeouts.
The Braves broke through in the fourth after B.J. Upton’s infield single to start the inning. Upton stole second before Freeman walked. And after advancing to third on brother Justin Upton’s fly out to right, B.J. went on contact and scored without a play at the plate on Evan Gattis’ groundout to third.
Johnson followed with a sharp single to second field to drive in another run for a 2-0 lead.
Bergman (0-1) was charged with five hits and two runs in six innings, with two walks and four strikeouts.
