Sam Hilliard had a three-run homer and Kyle Freeland allowed one unearned run over six innings to pace the visiting Colorado Rockies to a 4-1 victory over the Milwaukee Brewers on Sunday in the decider of the three-game series.
Hilliard’s three-run homer in the fifth put Colorado (54-90) up 4-1. Ezequiel Tovar doubled to open but was thrown out at third attempting to advance on a fly out. Michael Toglia and Brendan Rodgers delivered consecutive two-out singles, chasing starter Freddy Peralta. Hoby Milner relieved and Hilliard sent an 1-1 pitch 381 feet to right for his seventh homer.
Freeland (5-7) allowed just three singles — all in the first two innings – and retired the final 14 hitters he faced. He stuck out four and walked none.
Seth Halvorsen and Angel Chivilli each followed with a perfect inning. Tyler Kinley finished with a perfect ninth for his 11th save in 12 opportunities.
Peralta (10-8) was tagged for three runs on seven hits in 4 2/3 innings, striking out four and walking two.
Milwaukee (82-61) entered Sunday atop the NL Central, 10 games in front of both Chicago and St. Louis. The Brewers came in three games behind Philadelphia and Los Angeles in the race for two top NL playoff spots, and two games ahead of San Diego.
Hunter Goodman brought the Rockies even at 1-all when he opened the third inning with his ninth homer, and first since Aug. 3.
The Brewers capitalized on an error for an unearned run in the first. William Contreras singled with one out and advanced on a groundout. Gary Sanchez reached when Ryan McMahon’s errant throw from third pulled Toglia off the bag at first, sending Contreras to third. Rhys Hoskins followed with an RBI single to left.
Milwaukee is 2-5 over its last seven games, scoring 12 runs combined in the five losses. The Brewers are 64-19 when scoring four runs or more, 18-42 when scoring three or fewer.
–Field Level Media