MLB – ROCKIES
Charlie Blackmon hit a towering two-run homer during a four-run sixth inning and finished with three hits to lead the Colorado Rockies over the Minnesota Twins 7-3 on Tuesday night.
Blackmon had three RBIs, Gerardo Parra added a solo homer and Kyle Freeland pitched six innings as first-place Colorado earned its 12th win in 17 road games.
Freeland (4-2) allowed three runs, five hits and four walks while striking out three. Greg Holland recorded his 17th save in 17 chances after Minnesota put two runners on in the ninth against Chris Rusin.
Byron Buxton hit a solo homer for the Twins, but Phil Hughes (4-2) had another disappointing outing. He gave up five runs, eight hits and a walk in five innings.
AROUND THE MAJOR LEAGUES TUESDAY
Dallas Keuchel and the Houston Astros have continued their outstanding starts to the major league season. Keuchel is the majors’ first seven-game winner after allowing two runs over five innings of the Astros’ 12-2 mauling of the Marlins. He gave up a pair of first-inning runs and threw 70 pitches before departing early with his team already up 10-2.
Jake Marisnick slammed a pair of two-run homers against his former team, both slamming off the home run sculpture at Marlins Park. Brian McCann also had four RBIs to help Keuchel improve to 7-0.
Houston has won eight of nine and leads the majors with a 28-12 record, the best 40-game start in team history.
— Bryce Harper belted his 13th home run and Stephen Strasburg pitched into the seventh as the Nationals doubled up the Pirates, 8-4 in Pittsburgh. Ryan Zimmerman had two hits, including a two-run double that gives him a major league-high 38 RBIs this year. Jayson Werth is hitting .457 in his last nine games following a three-hit performance that helped Washington improve to a National League-best 25-13.
— Gary Sanchez crushed a three-run homer and Chris Carter added a two-run blast as part of the Yankees’ 13-hit attack in a 7-1 rout of the Royals in Kansas City. CC Sabathia went 6 2/3 shutout innings on six days’ rest to win for the first time since April 15. Sabathia got help from Tyler Clippard, who worked out of a base-loaded jam in the seventh.
— Chris Davis homered in the 12th inning and again in the 13th as the Orioles outlasted and outscored the Tigers, 13-11 in Detroit. Davis led off the 12th with a blast to ignite a three-run inning for Baltimore, but Detroit rallied with three of its own in the bottom half after erasing a 7-1 deficit. J.D. Martinez homered twice for the Tigers, including a grand slam that put them up 8-7 in the seventh.
— Yasmany Tomas homered against the Mets for the fifth straight game as Arizona earned a 5-4 win. Gregor Blanco added a two-run single in support of Zack Greinke, who gave up four runs and five hits over 6 2/3 innings to beat the Mets for the fifth straight time. Homers by Curtis Granderson and Rene Rivera didn’t stop the Mets from absorbing their sixth straight loss.
— The Giants have a five-game winning streak after Brandon Belt and Ty Blach led a 2-1 verdict over the Dodgers in San Francisco. Belt homered for the fourth time in six games and scored the tiebreaking run on Brandon Crawford’s sixth-inning single. Blach limited Los Angeles to a run and five hits over seven innings.
— Rookie Ian Happ went deep for the second time in three major league games as the Cubs whipped the Reds, 9-5. Slumping sluggers Anthony Rizzo and Kyle Schwarber homered in Chicago’s third victory in 10 games. Addison Russell also homered in Joe Maddon’s 1,000th victory as a major league manager.
— Homers by Mookie Betts and Jackie Bradley Jr. powered the Red Sox past the Cardinals, 6-3 in St. Louis. Boston collected just six hits but took advantage of three errors to send Lance Lynn to a loss. Winning pitcher Eduardo Rodriguez walked two, struck out five and threw a season-high 110 pitches.
— Corey Dickerson hit two of Tampa Bay’s five home runs in a 6-4 win over the Indians in Cleveland. Dickerson smacked each of his round-trippers off Indians starter Danny Salazar after Colby Rasmus and Derek Norris went deep. Tim Beckham provided the fifth home run to give Tampa Bay a 6-1 lead in the sixth inning.
— The Rangers won their seventh in a row as Yu Darvish struck out nine while yielding four hits over seven innings of a 5-1 verdict over Philadelphia. Mike Napoli entered the game hitting .165 before going 3-for-3 with a two-run homer. Nomar Mazara had a solo homer for Texas.
— The Brewers downed the Padres, 6-2 as Eric Sogard had a career-high four hits and an RBI. Jimmy Nelson struck out eight in six-plus innings and provided an RBI single. Manny Pina doubled home a pair while Milwaukee was scoring five times in the first inning en route to its fourth win in five games.
— The Angels scored twice in the bottom of the 11th to pull out a 7-6 win against the White Sox. Cameron Maybin doubled home the tying run and Albert Pujols lined a walk-off single after Tim Anderson’s homer put Chicago up 6-5 in the top of the 11th. Pujols also hit a two-run single to pass Carl Yastrzemski for 11th on the all-time RBI list.
— The Athletics coughed up a 4-1 lead before belting two homers in a five-run ninth to beat the Mariners, 9-6 in Seattle. Matt Joyce crushed a two-run homer and Mark Canha added a three-run blast to give the A’s breathing room. Oakland almost wasted a strong performance by Andrew Triggs, who was reached for just one run and four hits over six innings.
— Dansby Swanson led off the seventh with a tiebreaking homer before Atlanta completed a 9-5 win and a two-game sweep of the Blue Jays in Toronto. Freddie Freeman slugged his 14th homer of the season to take over the NL lead and tie Aaron Judge of the Yankees for the most in the majors. Matt Kemp had two hits and four RBIs in the Braves’ fourth win in five games since a 1-8 skid.
NBA PLAYOFFS
The Golden State Warriors have continued their perfect run through the playoffs to get within two victories of their third straight NBA Finals appearance.
Stephen Curry delivered 29 points, seven rebounds and seven assists in just three quarters as the Warriors crushed the San Antonio Spurs, 136-100 to take a 2-0 lead in the Western Conference finals.
Kevin Durant added 16 points for the Warriors, who had assists on 30 of their first 38 baskets while building a huge lead. Draymond Green did a bit of everything in contributing 13 points, nine rebounds, six assists, two steals and two blocks.
The Warriors also got a strong effort from rookie Patrick McCaw, who had 18 points and five assists off the bench.
The Spurs were without Kawhi Leonard, who aggravated his sprained left ankle in the series opener. Without him, Jonathan Simmons scored 22 points as one of San Antonio’s lone bright spots.
The series now shifts to San Antonio for Game 3 on Saturday.
NBA-DRAFT LOTTERY
Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett continue to pay dividends for the Boston Celtics.
The Celtics have won the NBA draft lottery and will have the No. 1 pick this summer. The selection was secured through a 2013 deal that sent Pierce and Garnett to the Nets.
Brooklyn finished with the worst record in the league this season, but the Celtics had the right to swap picks with the Nets following their draft-night trade four years ago.
The Lakers moved up to second in the draft after posting the NBA’s third-worst record. They would have had to trade the pick to Philadelphia if it fell outside the top three.
The 76ers will choose third, followed by Phoenix and Sacramento.