David Dahl homered for a second straight night, a three-run shot in the third, as the Colorado Rockies vaulted into the final National League (NL) wild-card spot by beating the Philadelphia Phillies 10-3 on Tuesday night.
The Rockies’ fifth straight win moved them a half-game in front of St Louis for the second wild card after the Cardinals lost 12-4 to Milwaukee.
Colorado trailed the NL West-leading Los Angeles Dodgers by one-and-a-half games entering the night and still have a chance to win their first division title. The Rockies have five games remaining.
Photo: Ron Chenoy / USA Today
Charlie Blackmon extended his hitting streak to 17 straight games with two hits, while pinch-hitter Carlos Gonzalez added a two-run double. The Rockies scored eight of their 10 runs with two outs.
The game-changing hit was delivered by Dahl, who lined a fastball from Vince Velasquez to left for his 12th homer — nearly to the same spot where Dahl hit a two-run homer the previous night.
Reliever Chad Bettis returned to his starter’s role for a night and went 2-2/3 innings, allowing one unearned run.
The Rockies used seven relievers, with D.J. Johnson getting one out in the third to earn his first major-league win.
BREWERS 12, CARDINALS 4
Christian Yelich’s six runs led the surging Milwaukee Brewers to hurt St Louis’ playoff chances with a 12-4 victory over the Cardinals on Tuesday night.
Ryan Braun went deep twice and Jesus Aguilar also connected as Milwaukee won for the fifth time in six games.
Manny Pina had two hits and drove in a run, while pitcher Gio Gonzalez contributed an RBI single for just his fourth hit of the season.
The Cardinals (87-71) fell one-half game behind the Rockies for the second NL wild card.
Milwaukee (91-67) lead Colorado by three-and-a-half games for the top wild card and entered the day one-and-a-half games back of the NL Central-leading Chicago Cubs.
Following yesterday’s series finale, Milwaukee close the regular season with a weekend set at home against lowly Detroit.
St Louis are also off today before beginning a three-game series against the slumping Cubs at Wrigley Field.
US track and field athletes have about four dozen pieces to choose from when assembling their uniforms at the Olympics. The one grabbing the most attention is a high-cut leotard that barely covers the bikini line and has triggered debate between those who think it is sexist and others who say they do not need the Internet to make sure they have good uniforms. Among those critical or laughing at the uniforms included Paralympian Femita Ayanbeku, sprinter Britton Wilson and even athletes from other countries such as Britain’s Abigail Irozuru, who wrote on social media: “Was ANY female athlete consulted in
Forget Real Madrid, Manchester City or Paris Saint-Germain, the world’s best soccer team — statistically speaking — might be a little-known outfit from the closed central Asian nation of Turkmenistan. Founded last year, Arkadag, named in honor of former Turkmen president Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedow, have been unstoppable, notching up 36 consecutive domestic victories in a run still ongoing. The side have not lost a single competitive match and swept to a league and cup double in their inaugural season — success unthinkable almost anywhere else. However, in Turkmenistan, it could hardly have gone any other way. The energy-rich country is one of the most closed
Former US Masters champion Zach Johnson was left embarrassed after a foul-mouthed response to ironic cheers from spectators after a triple bogey at Augusta National on Friday. Johnson, the 2007 Masters winner, missed the cut after his three-over-par round of 75 left him on seven-over 151 for 36 holes, his six on the par-three 12th playing a big role in his downfall. Television footage showed Johnson reacting to sarcastic cheers and applause when he tapped in for the triple bogey by yelling: “Oh fuck off.” Such a response would be considered bad form in any golf tournament, but is particularly out of keeping
Taiwan’s Lee Jhe-huei and Yang Po-hsuan on Saturday won the men’s doubles bronze medal at the Badminton Asia Championships in Ningbo, China, after they were bested by the hosts in their semi-final. The Taiwanese shuttlers lost to China’s Liang Wei Keng and Wang Chang, who advanced to yesterday’s final against Malaysia’s Goh Sze Fei and Nur Izzudin. The Chinese pair outplayed Lee and Yang in straight games. Although the Taiwanese got off to a slow start in the first game, they eventually tied it 14-14, before Liang and Wang went on to blow past them to win 21-17. In the second game, Lee and