All-Star Troy Tulowitzki homered, Charlie Blackmon had three hits and drove in four runs and the Colorado Rockies beat the Atlanta Braves 11-3 on Sunday to complete a four-game sweep. Drew Stubbs also went deep for the Rockies, who took four from Atlanta for the first time in team history.
Tulowitzki was chosen as an injury replacement to the NL All-Star team on Saturday, right after his 21-game hitting streak ended. He started another one with a three-run homer in the sixth off reliever Dave Carpenter. Blackmon did his damage against Atlanta starter Alex Wood (6-6). His two-run single in the second gave Colorado a 3-0 lead and his second two-RBI single came two batters before Tulowitzki’s 10th home run.
Chad Bettis (5-4) got the win.
Elsewhere in the majors Sunday:
There’s a new leader in the American League West at the All-Star break.
— The Los Angeles Angels were five games out of first before winning seven of their last nine, including Sunday’s 10-3 rout of Seattle. Chris Iannetta hit a two-run home run and David Freese added a two-run double as part of a six-run sixth inning. Andrew Heaney allowed five hits over seven shutout innings to pitch the Angels to their 11th victory in 14 games, a streak that began a few days before Jerry Dipoto stepped down as general manager.
— The outcome puts the Halos a half-game ahead of the Houston Astros, who had led the division since April 19 before embarking on their current six-game losing streak. The skid continued with a 4-3 loss at Tampa Bay as Matt Moore got his first win since undergoing elbow surgery last April. Moore allowed three runs and five hits over five innings to get his first victory since Sept. 29, 2013 at Toronto. Jose Altuve put the Astros up 3-2 with a two-run homer in the fourth, but the Rays scored twice in the sixth on a bases-loaded walk and an RBI grounder to complete a three-game sweep.
— Meanwhile, the Pittsburgh Pirates have put more pressure on St. Louis by beating the Cardinals in extra innings for the second straight night. Starling Marte, Francisco Cervelli and Gregory Polanco hit RBI singles in the bottom of the 10th to lift the Bucs past the Redbirds 6-5. The winning rally came after Randal Grichuk lined a two-run double in the top of the 10th. The Pirates took three of four from the Cards in the series to pull within 2 ½ games of the NL Central leaders.
— Max Scherzer allowed a pair of homers to Adam Jones but held the Orioles to just two other hits over 8 2/3s as Washington earned a 3-2 win in the rubber match at Baltimore. Yunel Escobar had three hits and scored a run to help the NL East-leading Nationals stay two games ahead of the New York Mets. The Orioles have dropped 10 of 13 to fall to .500, four games behind the AL East-leading New York Yankees.
— The Mets were 5-3 winners against Arizona as Kirk Nieuwenhuis became the first player in the Mets’s 54-season history to homer three times in a home game. Niewenhuis entered the game hitting .106 in 66 at-bats this season before going deep in the second, third and fifth innings. Daniel Murphy also went homered and Jonathan Niese pitched into the seventh as New York completed a three-game sweep and won for the seventh time in nine games.
— Brian McCann belted a two-run homer and Rob Refsnyder added a two-run blast in his second big league game to power the Yankees past Boston 8-6. Alex Rodriguez moved into 25th on the all-time hit list with his 3,020th, an RBI double that put the Yankees ahead to stay. Nathan Eovaldi improved to 9-2 and the AL East leaders stayed 3 1/2 games ahead of the second-place Rays.
— Kansas City blew a seven-run lead before Paulo Orlando slammed a tiebreaking solo homer in the eighth inning of the Royals’ 11-10 triumph over Toronto. Kendrys Morales belted a three-run shot and Orlando added an RBI single while the Royals were building a 7-0 lead in the first five innings. Danny Valencia and Jose Bautista contributed two-run doubles in the Blue Jays’ eight-run sixth before the AL Central-leading Royals kept their 4 1/2-game lead over Minnesota.
— The Twins kept pace with their sixth victory in seven games, 7-1 over Detroit. Kyle Gibson allowed an unearned run and four hits over seven innings to win his fourth consecutive start. Miguel Sano hit a two-run homer for Minnesota, which dropped the series opener before winning the next three games.
— Adrian Gonzalez hit a go-ahead, two-run homer in the eighth inning to push the NL West-leading Dodgers past Milwaukee 4-3. A.J. Ellis also homered, and Justin Turner went 3-for-4 with an RBI single as Los Angeles won for the fourth time in five games to stay 4 1/2 games in front of San Francisco. Dodgers starter Brett Anderson gave up three runs and eight hits in seven innings.
— The Giants completed a three-game sweep as Andrew Susac launched a three-run homer in the fourth inning of a 4-2 verdict over Philadelphia. Chris Heston is 9-5 after limiting the Phillies to a run and seven hits in 6 2/3 innings. Ryan Howard had three RBIs for the Phils, who enter the All-Star break with a major league-worst 29-62 record.
— The Chicago Cubs avoided a three-game sweep in their intracity series as Jake Arrieta pitched a two-hitter and belted a solo homer in a 3-1 win over the White Sox. Arrieta struck out nine and improved to 10-5 with his second complete game of the year. Kris Bryant tripled home the Cubs’ first run in the opening inning and scored on fellow rookie Jorge Soler’s single.
— Sonny Gray is 10-3 with a 2.04 ERA after tossing a two-hitter in Oakland’s 2-0 shutout of Cleveland. Stephen Vogt hit a two-run homer off loser Cory Kluber in the fourth inning.
— Justin Bour was 3-for-4 with a two-run double and three RBIs as Florida slammed Cincinnati 8-1. Casey McGehee also doubled home a pair to support Dan Haren, who gave up a run and five hits in six innings.
— The Padres were 2-1 winners at Texas as Tyson Ross gave up just three hits in 6 2/3 innings. Jedd Gyorko singled home the eventual deciding run in the seventh.