Nolan Arenado, Ben Paulsen and Carlos Gonzalez each homered in a 10-run third inning Sunday to help the Colorado Rockies beat Cincinnati 17-7 on a day when the Reds traded ace Johnny Cueto.
It was a big afternoon for Paulsen, who finished with a career-high four hits that included a triple and two solo homers. Gonzalez also had two homers and drove in a career-best six runs.
Colorado had eight hits in the third, including back-to-back homers by Arenado and Paulsen, to turn a 4-2 deficit into a 12-4 lead. The last time the Rockies scored double-digits in an inning was April 27, 2012, when they had 11 runs against the New York Mets.
Michael Lorenzen (3-5) was roughed up for eight runs in 2 1-3 innings. He allowed two of Colorado’s five homers. Staked to a big lead, Kyle Kendrick (4-11) yielded six runs in five shaky innings for his first win since June 23. Before the game, Cincinnati finalized a deal that sent Cueto to the Kansas City Royals for three pitching prospects.
Sunday Across the Majors:
— Gerrit Cole has become the majors’ first 14-game winner, leading the Pittsburgh Pirates to a 3-1 victory over the Washington Nationals. Cole allowed one run and seven hits in 7 2/3 innings while improving to 3-1 with a 2.40 ERA in four July starts. The right-hander struck out eight and walked none. Cole, who is 14-4, also became the first Pittsburgh pitcher with 14 wins before August since Dock Ellis in 1971.
— The AL West-leading L.A. Angels embarrassed Texas 13-7. Mike Trout took over the AL lead in home runs with his 30th and 31st of the season. Trout went 4 for 4 with five RBI’s. He had a grand slam and a solo shot to move two ahead of teammate Albert Pujols in the AL home run race.
— Houston’s Dallas Keuchel failed to get his 13th win as the KC Royals beat the Astros 5-1. Winning pitcher Yordano Ventura allowed one run on six hits to up his record to 5-7. The right-hander, who won 14 games last year, was demoted to Triple-A Omaha on Tuesday and then recalled the next day after the Royals learned left-hander Jason Vargas would miss the rest of the year with an elbow injury.
— Zack Greinke’s shutout streak ended at 45 2-3 innings when the Mets scored in the third inning in a 3-2 over the Dodgers in 10 innings. Juan Uribe’s game-winning single off the wall in the 10th gave the visiting Dodgers the win. Jacob deGrom outpitched Greinke in a marquee matchup that lived up to its billing.
— Nathan Eovaldi turned in an eight plus inning appearance and Chase Headley and Stephen Drew each homered as the Yankees beat the Twins 7-2. Eovaldi hasn’t lost a start since June 16 at Miami.
— Adonis Garcia’s first career home run broke a tie and rookie Matt Wisler got his fifth win in a 3-2 win for the Braves over the Cardinals. The loser was Michael Wacha who dropped to 11-4.
— Ryan Howard homered for the second straight day and rookie Aaron Nola got his first major league win as the Phillies beat the Cubs 11-5 to complete a three-game series sweep. The Phillies have won eight of nine games since the All-Star break.
— Nolan Reimold had a two-run double among three hits as the Baltimore Orioles beat the Tampa Bay Rays 5-2 for their second straight win after a four-game skid. Wei-Yen Chen won for the first time in four starts against Tampa Bay, giving up two runs and six hits while striking out three in 5 1/3 innings.
—Carlos Rodon pitched shutout ball into the seventh inning and Carlos Sanchez homered for the second straight day, leading the Chicago White Sox to a four-game sweep with a 2-1 win over the Cleveland Indians. It’s the White Sox’s first four-game sweep in Cleveland since July 14-17, 2005. Chicago outscored the Indians 26-5 and never trailed in the series.
— Justin Upton homered and Odrisamer Despaigne pitched six solid innings as the San Diego Padres beat the Miami Marlins 3-2.
— The San Francisco Giants edged Oakland 4-3 to sweep the Bay Bridge Series. Tim Hudson improved to 6-8 by becoming the 15th pitcher to defeat all 30 current teams in the majors.
— Chris Owings drove in two runs with a pinch-hit, two-out double and the Arizona Diamondbacks beat Milwaukee 3-0 to take three of four from the suddenly punchless Brewers. Milwaukee was shut out in consecutive games for the first time this season. Jeremy Hellickson threw six strong innings to improve to 7-6.
— In the Sunday night game, the Boston Red Sox, who are in last place in the American League East, routed the Detroit Tigers 11-1. David Ortiz hit two home runs and drove in seven. The Red Sox outhit the Tigers 20-3.