Austin Gomber pitched eight strong innings and Ezekiel Tovar had two hits, including a home run, to help the visiting Colorado Rockies beat the Atlanta Braves 3-1 on Thursday and salvage a game in a three-game series.
Atlanta (76-64) into a tie with the idle New York Mets for the final National League wild-card playoff spot. Colorado (52-89) ended a three-game losing streak and earned a 3-3 split in the season series against the Braves.
Gomber (5-10) matched the longest outings of his career while allowing one run on five hits with no walks and six strikeouts. He retired 14 batters in a row until Marcell Ozuna singled with one out in the sixth.
Tyler Kinley pitched a perfect ninth inning, striking out two, to earn his ninth save.
Tovar went 2-for-4 while belting his 22nd home run. He had gone 1-for-14 in his previous four games.
Atlanta starter Reynaldo Lopez (8-5) pitched six innings and allowed two runs on five hits and no walks. He struck out a season-high 11.
John Brebbia, signed on Sept. 1 after being released by the Chicago White Sox, made his Atlanta debut and pitched a scoreless ninth with two strikeouts.
The Rockies had only six hits and struck out 16 times for the second straight game.
The Braves scored a run in the first inning on Ramon Laureano’s two-out single that drove in Jorge Soler.
The Rockies tied in the second inning when Michael Toglia hit massive 451-foot solo homer to center field, his 22nd of the year.
Colorado took the lead in the sixth inning when Tovar lined a slider to left field, with the ball just clearing the fence and landing in the Rockies’ bullpen.
The Rockies added a run in the seventh inning against reliever Luke Jackson. Toglia walked, stole second and went to third when the throw got away, then scored on Nolan Jones’ sacrifice fly.
–Field Level Media