Braves’ Newcomb strike away from no-hitting Dodgers
Sean Newcomb came within one strike of pitching the first no-hitter by the Atlanta Braves since 1994, denied when Chris Taylor sharply singled in a 4-1 win over the Los Angeles Dodgers Sunday.
Newcomb had a 2-2 count with two outs in the ninth inning when Taylor hit a hard grounder beyond the reach of diving third baseman Johan Camargo. That came on the career-high 134th and final pitch by the 25-year-old lefty.
Newcomb (10-5) left to a thunderous standing ovation from the sellout crowd at SunTrust Park as manager Brian Snitker removed him. Snitker took the ball and gave it back to Newcomb as a keepsake – instead, Newcomb simply tossed it toward the Atlanta dugout as he walked off, wanting no souvenir of the near-miss.
Kent Mercker was the last Atlanta pitcher to throw a no-hitter, doing it 24 years ago at Dodger Stadium. There have been three no-hitters in the majors this year.
Newcomb struck out eight and walked one against the NL West leaders. He retired the first 15 batters before walking Yasiel Puig to begin the sixth, and that was the only runner Newcomb permitted until the ninth. Shortstop Dansby Swanson made the defensive play of the day for Atlanta, ranging into shallow center field to snare a popup by Enrique Hernandez in the second.
A first-round draft pick of the Los Angeles Angels in 2014, Newcomb was traded to Atlanta after the 2015 season in a deal for shortstop Andrelton Simmons. Newcomb had previously pitched a no-hitter – a seven-inning performance for the University of Hartford.
Dan Winkler relieved Newcomb and gave up Manny Machado’s RBI single before ending it on Matt Kemp’s groundout.
Nick Markakis homered and drove in three runs as the Braves snapped a four-game skid. Newcomb has been an elixir this year in such situations, improving to 8-1 with a 1.84 ERA, a span of 73 1/3 innings, following an Atlanta loss.
Pitching past the seventh for the first time in 40 career starts, Newcomb worked fast, mixing a fastball in the low 90s mph with sharp breaking balls. This is his second season in the majors, having gone 4-9 in 19 starts last year.
The fans let out a collective groan after Taylor’s hit, but that quickly turned to raucous applause. Snitker popped out of the dugout as soon as Taylor touched first, took the ball from Newcomb and congratulated him.
After tossing aside the ball, Newcomb smiled and tipped his cap as he walked to the dugout to high-five and hug his teammates.
Newcomb was staked to a 2-0 lead in the first on doubles by Markakis and Kurt Suzuki and kept the Dodgers off-balance all afternoon. Markakis, the NL leader in hits and multi-hit games, made it 4-0 in the third with his 11th homer.
Machado’s RBI was as good as the Dodgers, who won the first three games of the series by a combined 17-4 score, could muster.
Atlanta had dropped 13 of 18, was outscored 26-7 during the losing streak and had dropped 10 of their last 14 home games.
Miami 5, Washington 0: Jose Urena and three relievers combined on a two-hitter for the Miami Marlins in a 5-0 win over the Washington Nationals to split a four-game series. Urena threw six scoreless innings allowing only one hit.
Cincinnati 4, Philadelphia 0: Luis Castillo allowed four hits in a season-high seven innings, Scooter Gennett hit a two-run homer and the Cincinnati Reds wrapped up their long home stand with a third consecutive win over the Philadelphia Phillies, 4-0.
N.Y Yankees 6, Kansas City 3: J.A. Happ made the midseason impact the Yankees hoped for, pitching one-run ball over six innings to win his New York debut 6-3 over the Kansas City Royals. New York acquired the 35-year-old left-hander from Toronto for infielder Brandon Drury and outfield prospect Billy McKinney last week app took a shutout into the fifth before Salvador Perez’s home run.
Baltimore 11, Tampa Bay 5: Adam Jones had three hits and an RBI in what could be his final game with the Orioles, and Baltimore beat the Tampa Bay Rays 11-5 for a rare series win.
Texas 4, Houston 3: Jurickson Profar hit a go-ahead double deflected by the pitcher and stayed in despite getting kicked in the face as the Texas Rangers became the first team to sweep Houston this year, beating the Astros 4-3.
Boston 3, Minnesota 0: Nathan Eovaldi pitched seven impressive innings in his first start with Boston, J.D. Martinez drove in all three runs to increase his major league-leading RBI total to 89 and the Red Sox beat the Minnesota Twins 3-0 for their 18th victory in 22 games.
Cleveland 8, Detroit 1: Yonder Alonso, Melky Cabrera and Edwin Encarnacion all homered for Cleveland, and Corey Kluber pitched into the eighth inning in the Indians’ 8-1 victory over the Detroit Tigers.
Toronto 7, Chicago White Sox 4: Brandon Drury hit a go-ahead, two-run double in the five-run ninth inning and the Toronto Blue Jays beat the Chicago White Sox 7-4.
Colorado 3, Oakland 1: German Marquez continued Colorado’s strong starting pitching, Tom Murphy homered and the Rockies beat the Oakland A’s 3-1 to sweep the interleague series.
San Francisco 8, Milwaukee 5: Buster Posey had four hits, including a three-run double to help San Francisco break out of a collective funk, and the Giants beat the Milwaukee Brewers 8-5 to avoid a four-game sweep.
Seattle 8, L.A. Angels 5: Mike Zunino had a two-run double in a seven-run first inning and Marco Gonzales went six strong innings to help the Seattle Mariners beat the Los Angeles Angels 8-5.