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SteemSports Editor:
The Colorado Rockies wrapped up an impressive inter-league series sweep of the Oakland Athletics on Sunday, pulling out the 3-2 victory for their 4th straight victory and pushed their record out to 11-2 overall over their past 13 games. The Rockies have quietly come on strong as one of the best teams in the majors over the past couple of weeks. They were the hottest team in all of baseball heading into the All-Star break and that play has continued since the mid-summer classic. They've managed to push their record to 57-47 now and trail the Dodgers by just a game in the NL West.
While the Rockies were putting the finishing touches on what had been one of the hottest teams in the AL, the Cincinnati Reds blanked the visiting Philadelphia Phillies 4-0 on Sunday. Despite the loss the Phils stay atop the NL East with a record of 58-47, 1.5 games up on the Atlanta Braves. The Reds remain in last in the difficult NL Central, but have actually pushed their record to 48-58, which is easily the best record out of the six last-place teams. The win made it 3 straight for the Reds and allowed them to win the 4-game series. They are actually a very surprising 23-13 in their past 39 games dating back to June 17th. Despite being one of the best teams in the entire NL over the past 40 games, they still trail the Cubs by 13.5 games in the Central and are well back in the Wild Card race as well.
In yesterday's game it was 7 brilliant innings from starter Luis Castillo, who gave up 4 hits, 0 runs, and walked just 1 while striking out 9. The Phils were unable to get anything going at all against Castillo, and he left after 102 pitches and allowed only a handful of runners to reach base. The bullpen did their job and closed it out, with Raisel Iglesias coming in to get the final 2 outs with the bases loaded to pickup his 21st save. Catcher Curt Casali delivered an RBI double in the bottom of the third to get the scoring started, and All-Star second baseman Scooter Gennett followed a couple batters later with a 2-run home run to give the Reds a 3-0 lead, which proved to be more than enough to get the W.
Despite the 3 losses in a row, the Phillies remain in first place in the NL East, where the Braves have floundered since the All-Star break and the Nationals can't seem to get over .500. The Reds still have a major uphill climb, but they have actually moved within 5.5 games of the fading Cardinals as they try to climb out of the seller in the NL Central.
In Colorado, the Rockies were able to get some early run-support, and then hung-on down the stretch to close out a 3-2 win over the visiting Oakland Athletics and complete the 3-game sweep. Heading into the weekend inter-league series, the A's had won 6 straight, and were an incredible 27-7 in their previous 34 games overall. While the A's came in as the hottest team in the AL, the Rockies came in as the hottest team in the NL, setting the stage for a terrific weekend series. The Rockies used outstanding pitching to win the first two games of the series, 3-1 and 4-1, respectively, and once-again got a superb pitching performance as starter German Marquez went 7 2/3 innings, gave up just 5 hits, 2 runs, 1 walk, and struck-out 8 to get the win and improve to 9-8 on the season.
It was a 2-run home run by catcher Tom Murphy in the bottom of the 2nd inning that gave the Rockies the quick 2-0 lead. An RBI double from Brian McMahon in the bottom of the 3rd made it 3-0 Colorado after just 3 frames. Marquez went on to allow a solo home run to Matt Chapman in the top of the 4th, and then allowed a solo homer to Khris Davis in the top of the 7th to cut-it to 1 at 3-2. The bullpen was up to task once again however and closer Wade Miller worked a 1-2-3 9th inning for his 30th save of the season. The Rockies head to St. Louis to start a 4-game series today, while the A's will look to regroup against the Blue Jays, who come to town to start a 3-game series tonight in Oakland.
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