Arenado Completes Cycle With Walk-Off Blast for Rockies
Nolan Arenado heard the chants of "MVP" after Sunday's win and rightfully so after the day he had. Arenado completed the cycle with a walk-off, three-run home run for a 7-5 Colorado Rockies win over the San Francisco Giants. Arenado's home run came off the first pitch from Mark Melancon, who suffered the second loss of his tough first season in the Bay Area. The Rockies' third baseman is the fifth player ever to complete the cycle with a game-ending home run, and the first since his teammate Carlos Gonzalez did it in 2010 against the Chicago Cubs. Arenado's performance was the eighth cycle in team history and first of his career. The big game gives Colorado their fifth straight win overall, and ninth straight against the Giants, as they improved to 20 games over .500 for the first time since 2009. The late-game heroics were set up by a go-ahead blast from Giants pinch hitter Hunter Pence. Melancon would then blow the lead, as he has failed to record a save since May 27th. The last-place Giants have now dropped six in a row, and nine of 11, as they fell to 19 games under .500. The first-place Rockies open up a big series with the Arizona Diamondbacks at Coors Field on Tuesday night.
Diamondbacks, Dodgers Stay Hot With Weekend Sweeps
While the Colorado Rockies have been red hot in the NL West, the Los Angeles Dodgers and Arizona Diamondbacks are keeping pace right behind the division leaders. Both teams completed a sweep on Sunday afternoon, including the Arizona Diamondbacks outlasting the Philadelphia Phillies in 10 innings for a 5-4 victory. Rey Fuentes connected for his first career home run in the 10th inning to lead Arizona to their seventh straight victory and a three-game sweep. Fuentes entered the game in the eighth inning as a pinch runner before hitting the game-winner off of Jeanmar Gomez. The win gives them their best 70-game start in franchise history at 44-26. Meanwhile, the Los Angeles Dodgers remained tied with the D-backs in the standings with an 8-7 win over the Cincinnati Reds, completing the weekend sweep. The Dodgers nearly let a seven-run lead slip away after they knocked around starter Bronson Arroyo. The veteran pitcher returned to his former team to try and revamp his career, but fell to 3-6 on the season after allowing five runs on seven hits in four innings. Logan Forsythe and Justin Turner both went deep to support Kenta Maeda, who earned the win after throwing five impressive innings. The pitcher also drove in two runs at the plate in his first start since June 4th. Kenley Jansen earned his 15th save to send the Reds to their ninth consecutive defeat.
Red Sox Take Series From Astros
The Boston Red Sox have taken advantage of the New York Yankees' west coast woes, as they took the series from the first-place Houston Astros with a 6-5 victory Sunday night. The win, combined with the Yankees's sixth straight defeat against the Athletics, pulled the Red Sox into a tie for first in the AL East. Xander Bogaerts went deep twice for his first career multihomer game and drove in four to snap out of an 0-for-14 slump. The shortstop had just two long ball entering Sundays contest. Jackie Bradley Jr. added a two-run double on the night, while Andrew Benintendi threw out Jose Altuve at the plate to preserve Boston's lead late. David Price tied a season high with eight hits allowed and surrendered three runs, but earned his second win of the year. Carlos Correa, Jake Marisnick and George Springer all went deep for the first-place Astros, who dropped their fifth game in the past seven. They finished the night 3-for-15 with runners in scoring position in their 24th loss of the year. The Astros will now head to Oakland to battle the A's, while the Red Sox move on to Kansas City to go against the red-hot Royals.
Nolan Arenado heard the chants of "MVP" after Sunday's win and rightfully so after the day he had. Arenado completed the cycle with a walk-off, three-run home run for a 7-5 Colorado Rockies win over the San Francisco Giants. Arenado's home run came off the first pitch from Mark Melancon, who suffered the second loss of his tough first season in the Bay Area. The Rockies' third baseman is the fifth player ever to complete the cycle with a game-ending home run, and the first since his teammate Carlos Gonzalez did it in 2010 against the Chicago Cubs. Arenado's performance was the eighth cycle in team history and first of his career. The big game gives Colorado their fifth straight win overall, and ninth straight against the Giants, as they improved to 20 games over .500 for the first time since 2009. The late-game heroics were set up by a go-ahead blast from Giants pinch hitter Hunter Pence. Melancon would then blow the lead, as he has failed to record a save since May 27th. The last-place Giants have now dropped six in a row, and nine of 11, as they fell to 19 games under .500. The first-place Rockies open up a big series with the Arizona Diamondbacks at Coors Field on Tuesday night.
Diamondbacks, Dodgers Stay Hot With Weekend Sweeps
While the Colorado Rockies have been red hot in the NL West, the Los Angeles Dodgers and Arizona Diamondbacks are keeping pace right behind the division leaders. Both teams completed a sweep on Sunday afternoon, including the Arizona Diamondbacks outlasting the Philadelphia Phillies in 10 innings for a 5-4 victory. Rey Fuentes connected for his first career home run in the 10th inning to lead Arizona to their seventh straight victory and a three-game sweep. Fuentes entered the game in the eighth inning as a pinch runner before hitting the game-winner off of Jeanmar Gomez. The win gives them their best 70-game start in franchise history at 44-26. Meanwhile, the Los Angeles Dodgers remained tied with the D-backs in the standings with an 8-7 win over the Cincinnati Reds, completing the weekend sweep. The Dodgers nearly let a seven-run lead slip away after they knocked around starter Bronson Arroyo. The veteran pitcher returned to his former team to try and revamp his career, but fell to 3-6 on the season after allowing five runs on seven hits in four innings. Logan Forsythe and Justin Turner both went deep to support Kenta Maeda, who earned the win after throwing five impressive innings. The pitcher also drove in two runs at the plate in his first start since June 4th. Kenley Jansen earned his 15th save to send the Reds to their ninth consecutive defeat.
Red Sox Take Series From Astros
The Boston Red Sox have taken advantage of the New York Yankees' west coast woes, as they took the series from the first-place Houston Astros with a 6-5 victory Sunday night. The win, combined with the Yankees's sixth straight defeat against the Athletics, pulled the Red Sox into a tie for first in the AL East. Xander Bogaerts went deep twice for his first career multihomer game and drove in four to snap out of an 0-for-14 slump. The shortstop had just two long ball entering Sundays contest. Jackie Bradley Jr. added a two-run double on the night, while Andrew Benintendi threw out Jose Altuve at the plate to preserve Boston's lead late. David Price tied a season high with eight hits allowed and surrendered three runs, but earned his second win of the year. Carlos Correa, Jake Marisnick and George Springer all went deep for the first-place Astros, who dropped their fifth game in the past seven. They finished the night 3-for-15 with runners in scoring position in their 24th loss of the year. The Astros will now head to Oakland to battle the A's, while the Red Sox move on to Kansas City to go against the red-hot Royals.
