DENVER – For most of Wednesday night, it looked as if Tim Hudson’s first-inning and Todd Helton issues would doom the Braves.
That was before Dan Uggla came through with a two-out single in the eighth inning, making the score 2-all.
Then it was an error by the usually sound Martin Prado at third base that led to the Braves’ downfall.
Dexter Fowler’s two-out grounder in the ninth went through Prado’s legs, and two batters later Carlos Gonzalez hit a single that scored Fowler from second base to give the Rockies a 3-2 walk-off win at Coors Field.
“No excuse, I should have stayed down and at least stopped that ball," Prado said. "It’s completely my fault.... I don’t want it to happen, but it happens sometimes, and it was one of those times that happens to lose the game.
"I hope that this game is not going to cost us at the end of the year.”
The Braves have back-to-back losses for the first time in more than a month and fell to 4-1/2 games behind National League East leader Philadelphia, which beat the Cubs 9-1 on Wednesday.
Before the game-winning hit, the Rockies' only runs came on Helton's two-run homer off Hudson in the first inning.
"I’m sure [Prado] is going to beat himself up for it, and really he shouldn’t," Braves manager Fredi Gonzalez said. "Because if you play this game long enough, you’re going to see that.”
Uggla extended his hitting streak to 12 game before leaving with a strained left calf after his tying single. He said it wasn't severe and that he might play in Thursday's series finale, but that he'd definitely be back by Friday.
“We’ll see tomorrow, see where it’s at," Gonzalez said. "It’s one of those situations where you don’t want a mild thing to turn into a two-week thing."
Uggla was hurt running to first on his fielder's choice in the sixth inning, but played two more innings. Gonzalez didn't want him to risk making the injury worse if he had to try to score after his eighth-inning hit.
When Uggla grounded to third with runners at second and third and none out in the sixth, Prado tried to score on the play and was thrown out at home by Ian Stewart so easily that Prado didn't bother to slide.
His manager believed Prado made a good read and that it had taken a great play and off-balance throw by Stewart to get the out.
"I had a real tough game today," said Prado, who went 0-for-4 and reached base on an error in the sixth. "I guess it’s going to be one of those nights where it’s going to be real hard to sleep.”
"We’ve got his back," Uggla said. "He’s going to come out tomorrow and he’s going to give these guys everything they can handle, there’s no doubt about that. There’s nobody that feels worse than he does. He loves this team so much, and sacrifices and works so hard.
“We’ve got his back. We’re right there with him. We all participated in that game, and there were some things that happened in the game, we had some chances and didn’t capitalize on them as a team."
With O’Flaherty pitching in the ninth, Fowler raced to second when his grounder went between Prado's legs into left field. The Braves intentionally walked Ty Wigginton, and Gonzalez ripped a winning single to right to score Fowler, an Atlanta native.
Fredi Gonzalez had O'Flaherty walk Wigginton to set up a lefty-lefty matchup, though Wigginton was 4-for-41 with runners in scoring position and two outs. Carlos Gonzalez is now 13-for-30 (.433) with three homers in those situations.
Wigginton came in batting .306 with a .597 slugging percentage against lefties and was 2-for-3 with a homer off O'Flaherty. Carlos Gonzalez had hit .239 with a .358 slugging percentage against lefties.
“It’s not an easy matchup to bring Gonzalez to the plate, but you feel O’Flaherty will get him out," the manager said. "He got him this time.”
The Braves had tied it when Uggla's hit scored Jordan Schafer from second base. Schafer led off the inning with a single and stole second with two outs, his 15th steal and second of the night.
Schafer jammed his left middle finger on a head-first slide when he stole second base in the third inning. The finger was swollen and he had it dipped in a cup of ice water after the game, but Schafer hoped to play Thursday.
First innings have been a thorn in the side of Hudson all season, and Helton has been one much longer. After his homer Wednesday, he was stunning 9-for-9 in his career against Hudson in games played at Coors Field.
Carlos Gonzalez had led off the inning with a single through the infield.
“I felt pretty good from the start," Hudson said. "Just give up the groundball hit to Gonzalez [to lead off the first], had him played to pull a little bit and he put it where we weren’t. Then Helton. Man, I don’t know what the [heck] to throw him, honestly.
"I probably haven’t thrown him a fastball inside in three years, and first pitch he yanks it for a homer. But he’s a great hitter. Obviously I’ve got to figure out a better way to get him out in the future.”
After Helton’s homer, Hudson recorded 14 outs in the next 16 batters, allowing only two hits by Fowler during that stretch.
Hudson was charged with two runs and five hits in seven innings and got no decision.
He finally got Helton out on a grounder in the fourth. Hudson hit him in the foot with a pitch in the sixth, which helped create a bases-loaded jam that Hudson escaped when Uggla made a leaping catch on Ian Stewart’s flare at the back cut of the infield for the third out.
"I felt like I was in command of the game, for the most part," Hudson said. "We let a couple of scoring opportunities get away from us. But you’ve got to tip your hat to the other guys. They were making some plays and making some pitches when they needed to.”
After Prado reached to start the sixth, Freddie Freeman followed with a double to put two in scoring position with none out, the Braves trailing 2-1. They failed to score after Prado was thrown out and the Rockies made two outstanding plays on grounders by Jason Heyward and Alex Gonzalez.
After tying the score on Uggla's single in the eighth, the Braves threatened twice to take the lead. Heyward reached on catcher's interference in the eighth, but Alex Gonzalez grounded out with two runners on; he's 4-for-38 with runners in scoring position and two out.
In the ninth, pinch-hitter Brian McCann hit a towering, two-out fly that was caught against the center-field wall by Fowler.
