DENVER (AP) — Brenton Doyle homered and scored the go-ahead run in the seventh inning to help the Colorado Rockies beat the slumping Atlanta Braves 6-5 on Friday night.
Atlanta has lost six in a row to drop out of an NL wild-card spot a week after it was challenging the first-place Philadelphia Phillies in the NL East. Not even facing a Colorado team they were 13-1 against since the start of 2022 helped the Braves get out of their funk.
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DENVER (AP) — Brenton Doyle homered and scored the go-ahead run in the seventh inning to help the Colorado Rockies beat the slumping Atlanta Braves 6-5 on Friday night.
Colorado Rockies' Charlie Blackmon, left, advances to second base on a sacrifice fly hit by Ezequiel Tovar as second base umpire Junior Valentine, center, looks on while Atlanta Braves shortstop Orlando Arcia makes a late tag in the fourth inning of a baseball game Friday, Aug. 9, 2024, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)
Colorado Rockies' Kris Bryant pops out against Atlanta Braves starting pitcher Grant Holmes to end the third inning of a baseball game Friday, Aug. 9, 2024, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)
Atlanta Braves' Jorge Soler gestures as he heads up the first-base line after hitting a two-run home run off Colorado Rockies relief pitcher Angel Chivilli in the seventh inning of a baseball game Friday, Aug. 9, 2024, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)
Atlanta Braves' Jarred Kelenic singles off Colorado Rockies relief pitcher Victor Vodnik in the ninth inning of a baseball game Friday, Aug. 9, 2024, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)
Atlanta Braves' Marcell Ozuna grounds into a double play against Colorado Rockies relief pitcher Angel Chivilli to end the top of the seventh inning of a baseball game Friday, Aug. 9, 2024, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)
Colorado Rockies' Charlie Blackmon follows the flight of his RBI single off Atlanta Braves starting pitcher Grant Holmes in the fourth inning of a baseball game Friday, Aug. 9, 2024, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)
Colorado Rockies' Ryan McMahon gestures to the dugout after hitting an RBI double off Atlanta Braves relief pitcher A.J. Minter in the seventh inning of a baseball game Friday, Aug. 9, 2024, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)
“It’s a performance-based job and when we can’t come out here and produce and win games, it’s frustrating,” Braves outfielder Jarred Kelenic said.
Atlanta had won nine in a row against the Rockies since Sept. 5, 2021, including seven straight at Coors Field, but couldn’t extend the streak after another short outing by a starter.
Grant Holmes grinded through five innings, the deepest a Braves pitcher has gone during their current skid. Holmes gave up five runs and six hits while striking out eight and walking three but was spared a loss when Atlanta’s offense erased a 5-2 lead in the seventh. Ramón Laureano hit a solo homer and Jorge Soler followed with a two-run shot to tie the game 5-5.
It was Soler’s first home run since being acquired from San Francisco and his 13th of the season.
Doyle and Ryan McMahon led off the bottom of the seventh with consecutive doubles off A.J. Minter (5-4) to push Colorado back in front.
“I wouldn’t call it a bad outing, just a bad result,” Minter said.
Kelenic led off the ninth with his third hit and was at third when Colorado's Victor Vodnik struck out Austin Riley to clinch his seventh save.
“It’s been tough,” Riley said. “There’s no other way to put it, it’s just been tough. I had two opportunities to score two runs and didn’t get it done.”
Tyler Kinley (5-1) got the win with an inning of relief.
Colorado rookie Tanner Gordon was denied his first win in the majors after five solid innings. Gordon gave up Marcell Ozuna’s solo home run in the first, his team-leading 34th, but shut out Atlanta for the next three innings.
The Braves got another run in the fifth on a double and two bloop singles, but Gordon struck out Ozuna with runners on the corners to cap his night. He allowed six hits, struck out seven and walked none.
Doyle’s two-run homer in the third, his team-leading 20th of the season, and an RBI single by Brendan Rodgers made it a 3-1 lead and Colorado tacked on two more in the fourth.
Doyle joined a group of former Rockies players with 20 home runs and 20 steals in one season that includes Hall of Famer Larry Walker.
“I like being in that company,” Doyle said. “That’s pretty cool.”
UP NEXT
LHP Max Fried (7-6, 3.40) will get the start for the Braves on Saturday while the Rockies are expected to recall RHP Dakota Hudson (2-12, 5.84) from Triple-A.
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Colorado Rockies' Brenton Doyle follows the flight of his two-run home run off Atlanta Braves starting pitcher Grant Holmes in the third inning of a baseball game Friday, Aug. 9, 2024, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)
Colorado Rockies' Charlie Blackmon, left, advances to second base on a sacrifice fly hit by Ezequiel Tovar as second base umpire Junior Valentine, center, looks on while Atlanta Braves shortstop Orlando Arcia makes a late tag in the fourth inning of a baseball game Friday, Aug. 9, 2024, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)
Colorado Rockies' Kris Bryant pops out against Atlanta Braves starting pitcher Grant Holmes to end the third inning of a baseball game Friday, Aug. 9, 2024, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)
Atlanta Braves' Jorge Soler gestures as he heads up the first-base line after hitting a two-run home run off Colorado Rockies relief pitcher Angel Chivilli in the seventh inning of a baseball game Friday, Aug. 9, 2024, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)
Atlanta Braves' Jarred Kelenic singles off Colorado Rockies relief pitcher Victor Vodnik in the ninth inning of a baseball game Friday, Aug. 9, 2024, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)
Atlanta Braves' Marcell Ozuna grounds into a double play against Colorado Rockies relief pitcher Angel Chivilli to end the top of the seventh inning of a baseball game Friday, Aug. 9, 2024, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)
Colorado Rockies' Charlie Blackmon follows the flight of his RBI single off Atlanta Braves starting pitcher Grant Holmes in the fourth inning of a baseball game Friday, Aug. 9, 2024, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)
Colorado Rockies' Ryan McMahon gestures to the dugout after hitting an RBI double off Atlanta Braves relief pitcher A.J. Minter in the seventh inning of a baseball game Friday, Aug. 9, 2024, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)
Hezbollah pounded northern Israel with 140 rockets Friday, a day after the militant group’s leader vowed to retaliate against Israel for a mass bombing attack, the Israeli military and the militant group said.
Israel’s military said the rockets came in three waves Friday afternoon targeting sites along the ravaged border with Lebanon.
Israel's military said it carried out a “targeted strike” on Beirut on Friday afternoon. It offered no further immediate details, but explosions could be heard from the city’s southern suburbs.
In Gaza, Palestinian authorities said 15 people were killed overnight in multiple Israeli attacks.
An airstrike early Friday morning in Gaza City hit a family home, killing six people including an unknown number of children, Gaza’s Civil Defense said. Another person was killed in Gaza City when a strike hit a group of people on a street.
Israel maintains it only targets militants and accuses Hamas and other armed groups of endangering civilians by operating in residential areas. The military, which rarely comments on individual strikes, had no immediate comment.
Gaza’s Health Ministry says more than 41,000 Palestinians have been killed in the territory since Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack. The ministry does not differentiate between fighters and civilians in its count but says a little over half of those killed were women and children.
Israel says it has killed over 17,000 militants, without providing evidence.
Hezbollah began striking Israel almost immediately after Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack that sparked the Israel-Hamas war. They have come close to a full-blown war on several occasions.
Here's the latest:
Israel carried out what its military called a “targeted strike” on Beirut on Friday afternoon.
It offered no further immediate details, but explosions could be heard from the city’s southern suburbs.
Beirut-based Al-Mayadeen TV reported that a drone fired several missiles on the heavily-populated area known as Dahiyeh.
Hezbollah told The Associated Press that an airstrike struck the area without giving further details.
The strike came after Hezbollah pounded Israel with 140 rockets earlier Friday and tensions threaten to spill into all-out war.
Palestinian authorities say 15 people were killed overnight in the Gaza Strip in multiple Israeli attacks.
An airstrike early Friday morning in Gaza City hit a family home, killing six people including an unknown number of children, Gaza’s Civil Defense said. Another person was killed in Gaza City when a strike hit a group of people on a street.
In Beit Hanoun, north of Gaza City, another person was killed and several others injured when a vehicle was hit by an Israeli strike, the Civil Defense said.
Late Thursday, six more people were killed in a strike that hit a home in the center of Gaza City, while another was killed in Beit Lahya, north of Gaza City.
Israel maintains it only targets militants and accuses Hamas and other armed groups of endangering civilians by operating in residential areas. The military, which rarely comments on individual strikes, had no immediate comment.
The war has caused vast destruction and displaced about 90% of Gaza’s population of 2.3 million.
Israel's foreign ministry said Friday it submitted two legal briefs in response to the International Criminal Court prosecutor’s request for arrest warrants against the country's leaders.
The court’s prosecutor is seeking arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, as well as top Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar and other Hamas leaders. One of them was since assassinated in what was believed to be an Israeli strike.
The foreign ministry said it has submitted two legal briefs challenging the court’s jurisdiction to arrest Israeli leaders and claiming the court did not provide Israel the opportunity to investigate itself before requesting the warrants.
“No other democracy with an independent and respected legal system like that which exists in Israel has been treated in this prejudicial manner by the Prosecutor,” wrote Foreign Ministry spokesperson Oren Marmorstein on the social media platform X. He said Israel remained “steadfast in its commitment to the rule of law and justice” and would continue to protect its citizens against militancy.
Israel is not a party to the court. Rights groups say the country has struggled to investigate itself in the past. Netanyahu has brushed off calls for a state investigation into the failings that led to the Oct. 7 attack.
BAGHDAD — A leader of an Iranian-backed Iraqi militia was killed Friday in a strike in Syria, a war monitor and a militia official said.
Iraq’s Kataeb Hezbollah group — which is different from the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah — said in a statement that Abu Haidar al-Khafaji was killed “while performing his duties as a security advisor in Damascus.”
The UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights had earlier reported that a leader in Iraq’s Kataeb Hezbollah group was killed and another person injured in a drone strike on the car they were traveling in on the road to the Damascus airport.
An official with an Iraqi militia confirmed that a car carrying a group of militia members was struck in Damascus, killing one person and injuring three others. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media.
There was no comment from Israeli officials on the strike. Israel frequently strikes Iranian and Iran-linked groups in Syria but rarely acknowledges the strikes.
Tensions have heightened in the region following a wave of apparently remotely detonated explosions in Lebanon targeting pagers and walkie talkies belonging to the Lebanese Hezbollah. The attacks, widely blamed on Israel, which has not commented on them, killed at least 37 people - including two children - and wounded about 3,000.
— By Qassim Abdul-Zahra in Baghdad
BEIRUT — Israel’s military killed two Hezbollah members who were planting explosives along the border over the weekend, Israel’s military and an official with a Lebanese group said.
The official with a Lebanese group said the two members of the militant group were killed Sunday and their bodies were taken by Israeli troops because they were too close to the fence along the tense frontier. The official spoke Friday on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media.
On Thursday, Israel’s military released a video it said was taken by one of the fighters showing the militants coming under fire. The military said that the two fighters were killed by Israeli troops as they tried to plant an improvised explosive device near a military post.
In the days following the tense border interaction, thousands of devices exploded in different parts of Lebanon and Syria, killing 37 people and wounding around 3,000 others. The attack was blamed on Israel, and many of those killed or injured were members of Hezbollah.
Associated Press writer Bassem Mroue contributed to this report.
Hezbollah members carry the coffin of their comrade who was killed when a handheld device exploded, during a funeral procession in the southern suburbs of Beirut, Thursday, Sept. 19, 2024. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)
Right-wing Israelis with relatives held hostage by Hamas in the Gaza Strip, and their supporters, rally against a hostage deal, in Jerusalem, Thursday, Sept. 19, 2024. The placard in Hebrew reads: " To bathe in his blood." (AP Photo/Maya Alleruzzo)
Houses are engulfed in fire as the Israeli army raided the northern West Bank town of Qabatiya on Thursday, Sept. 19, 2024. (AP Photo/Majdi Mohammed)
Palestinians duck for cover as the Israeli army raided the northern West Bank town of Qabatiya on Thursday, Sept.19, 2024. (AP Photo/Majdi Mohammed)
FILE - Hezbollah fighters carry one of the coffins of four fallen comrades who were killed Tuesday after their handheld pagers exploded, in the southern suburb of Beirut, Wednesday, Sept. 18, 2024. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein, File)