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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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)
“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.
AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb
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)
SUZUKA, Japan (AP) — The Japanese Grand Prix on Sunday is only the third Formula 1 race of the season, and several plots are developing that promise a few twists in the early season.
But the fresh storylines could be as fleeting as the cherry blossoms seen all over Japan at this time of the year.
There's McLaren, which has been the early force after winning the first two races. Are Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri about to run away with the season just as Red Bull and Max Verstappen have in winning the last four drivers' titles?
How about seven-time champion Lewis Hamilton, who moved this season from Mercedes and is looking for his first victory for Ferrari. He won the sprint two weekends ago in Shanghai. In Sunday's main race in China, he and teammate Charles Leclerc were disqualifed for technical infringements.
And back to the cherry blossoms in Japan — the season typically lasts for only about two weeks, from the initial blooms to its splendorous peak. A sellout crowd of about 115,000 on Sunday at Suzuka — the Honda-operated track in central Japan — will be following every lap of Japanese driver Yuki Tsunoda. Tsunoda was promoted to Red Bull last week from Racing Bulls, its feeder team.
A Japanese driver has never won an F1 race.
McLaren has been much better than everyone else in the first two races. Norris won in Australia and Piastri in China. Norris has 44 points to lead the driver standings followed Verstappen with 36, George Russell of Mercedes with 35, and Piastri on 34.
“We know realistically the McLarens are exceptionally strong, and I think it’s going to be challenging for anybody else to compete with them,” Russell said. “But you know, we saw last year how dominant Red Bull were, and suddenly they weren’t at the end of the season.”
Ditto Charles Leclerc at Ferrari.
“Our performance compared to McLaren is just not good enough,” Leclerc said.
Seven-time world champion Hamilton has won five times in Japan, but not since 2018. Foremost on Ferrari's mind is having Hamilton and Leclerc disqualified in China for those technical infringments.
“It’s been a very difficult first part of the season,” Hamilton's teammate Leclerc said on Thursday. “The first two races were difficult, the pace was not where we expected it to be, and to lose even more points than we already did with that, it hurts the team a lot."
'I’m confident because whenever you make mistakes, you learn from them, especially when they cost that much," he added.
Hamilton has nine points. He was 10th in Australia after his win in the Shanghai sprint.
The phrase, roughly translated from Japanese into English, means “Tsunoda, go for it!"
Expect almost all of the 115,000 sellout crowd on Sunday to be wildly supporing Tsunoda. Having Tsunoda promoted from Racing Bulls to Red Bull — the feeder team to the No. 1 team — gives Japanese fans hope.
Almost 20 Japanese drivers have particiaped in F1 and none has won a race. Three have reached the podium with third-place finishes — Aguri Suzuki in 1990 and Kamui Kobayahi in 2012, both at the Japanese GP, and Takuma Sato in 2004 in the United States GP.
Sato also won two Indianapolis 500s.
Tsunoda may have the best chance of a victory of any Japanese driver. He's driving one of F1's best cars, and he's known for his speed.
“I think he (Tsunoda) always had the raw speed,” said Pierre Gasly, the Frenchman who drives for Alpine and is a former Red Bull driver. “He was a little bit too hectic behind the wheel at times, on the radio. I think in that sense he’s matured enough in minimizing the mistakes.”
The wild card on Sunday could be Verstappen — the Dutchman has won the last three races in Japan. Rain is in the forecast for Sunday, and Verstappen is F1's best driver in the rain. If that eventuates, look for No. 4 to be among the leaders in the wet.
McLaren produced the top times in Friday’s two practice sessions. Both were run under clear skies and sunshine ahead of the forecast rain for race day Sunday.
Norris was quickest in the first session, clocking 1 minute, 28.549 seconds. Teammate Piastri was fastest in the second in 1:28.114 with Norris just 0.049 behind. Racing Bulls rookie Isack Hadjar had the third quickest time in the second session, just 0.404 behind Piastri.
The second session was stopped several times with cars going off the track. The frequent disruptions made it difficult to draw conclusions from the session — except that McLaren still appears to be the team to beat.
Australian driver Jack Doohan spun off the track just seven minutes into the second practice. The car shattered into pieces after hitting a tire wall. He walked away from the crash and told his Alpine team by radio: “I’m OK.”
AP Formula 1: https://apnews.com/hub/formula-one
McLaren driver Lando Norris of Britain steers his car during the second practice session for the Japanese Formula One Grand Prix at the Suzuka Circuit in Suzuka, central Japan, Friday, April 4, 2025. (AP Photo/Hiro Komae)
McLaren driver Oscar Piastri of Australia prepares to drive his car during the second practice session for the Japanese Formula One Grand Prix at the Suzuka Circuit in Suzuka, central Japan, Friday, April 4, 2025. (AP Photo/Hiro Komae)
Williams driver Carlos Sainz of Spain, right, and McLaren driver Lando Norris of Britain, left, steer their cars during the first practice session for the Japanese Formula One Grand Prix at the Suzuka Circuit in Suzuka, central Japan, Friday, April 4, 2025. (AP Photo/Hiro Komae)
McLaren driver Lando Norris of Britain steers his car during the first practice session for the Japanese Formula One Grand Prix at the Suzuka Circuit in Suzuka, central Japan, Friday, April 4, 2025. (AP Photo/Shuji Kajiyama)
steers his car during the first practice session for the Japanese Formula One Grand Prix at the Suzuka Circuit in Suzuka, central Japan, Friday, April 4, 2025. (AP Photo/)
steers his car during the first practice session for the Japanese Formula One Grand Prix at the Suzuka Circuit in Suzuka, central Japan, Friday, April 4, 2025. (AP Photo/)
steers his car during the first practice session for the Japanese Formula One Grand Prix at the Suzuka Circuit in Suzuka, central Japan, Friday, April 4, 2025. (AP Photo/)
steers his car during the first practice session for the Japanese Formula One Grand Prix at the Suzuka Circuit in Suzuka, central Japan, Friday, April 4, 2025. (AP Photo/)
steers his car during the first practice session for the Japanese Formula One Grand Prix at the Suzuka Circuit in Suzuka, central Japan, Friday, April 4, 2025. (AP Photo/)
steers his car during the first practice session for the Japanese Formula One Grand Prix at the Suzuka Circuit in Suzuka, central Japan, Friday, April 4, 2025. (AP Photo/)
steers his car during the first practice session for the Japanese Formula One Grand Prix at the Suzuka Circuit in Suzuka, central Japan, Friday, April 4, 2025. (AP Photo/)
steers his car during the first practice session for the Japanese Formula One Grand Prix at the Suzuka Circuit in Suzuka, central Japan, Friday, April 4, 2025. (AP Photo/)
McLaren driver Oscar Piastri of Australia steers his car during the Chinese Formula One Grand Prix race at the Shanghai International Circuit, Shanghai, Sunday, March 23, 2025. (AP Photo/Andy Wong)
McLaren driver Oscar Piastri of Australia, McLaren driver Lando Norris of Britain and Mercedes driver George Russell of Britain celebrates on the podium after the Chinese Formula One Grand Prix race at the Shanghai International Circuit, Shanghai, Sunday, March 23, 2025. (AP Photo)
Williams drivers Carlos Sainz of Spain, center left, and Alexander Albon of Thailand, back right, meet Japanese children at the Suzuka Circuit in Suzuka, central Japan, Thursday, April 3, 2025, ahead Sunday's Japanese Formula One Grand Prix race. (AP Photo/Hiro Komae)
A sparrow sits on a branch of a cherry tree at the Chidorigafuchi palace moat in Tokyo Sunday, March 30, 2025. (AP Photo/Shuji Kajiyama)
Red Bull driver Yuki Tsunoda of Japan responds to a journalist's question during a news conference at the Suzuka Circuit in Suzuka, central Japan, Thursday, April 3, 2025, ahead Sunday's Japanese Formula One Grand Prix race. (AP Photo/Hiro Komae)
Red Bull driver Yuki Tsunoda of Japan, center, flanked by Kick Sauber driver Nico Hulkenberg of Germany, left, and Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc of Monaco, responds to a journalist's question during a news conference at the Suzuka Circuit in Suzuka, central Japan, Thursday, April 3, 2025, ahead Sunday's Japanese Formula One Grand Prix race. (AP Photo/Hiro Komae)
