Colorado Rockies vs Atlanta Braves Box Score on Aug 17, 2018

Ian Desmond drove in five runs Friday, and Kyle Freeland struck out nine batters as the visiting Colorado Rockies earned an 11-5 victory over the Atlanta Braves.

Desmond had a three-run triple in the third inning and a two-run single in the eighth. Charlie Blackmon had a two-run triple in a four-run sixth inning and scored three runs. Blackmon, Desmond, DJ LeMahieu and Trevor Story each had three hits for Colorado.

Freeland (11-7) gave up one run on three hits over six innings with four walks while winning for the fifth time in his last six decisions.

Ozzie Albies had three hits for the Braves, who lost consecutive games for the first time since a four-game losing streak July 24-28. The Braves fell to 11-6 in August and 14-6 over their last 20 games.

The Braves took an early 1-0 lead on Nick Markakis' first-inning sacrifice fly. Desmond's bases-clearing triple in the third inning gave the Rockies the lead for good. Desmond is now 4-for-6 with two outs and the bases loaded, giving him 10 of his 65 RBIs on the season in that situation.

Chris Iannetta had an RBI single in the sixth inning for the Rockies in front of Blackmon's two-run triple. Blackmon scored later in the inning on a wild pitch. LeMahieu added an RBI single in the eighth.

Braves starter Sean Newcomb (10-6) gave up seven runs on nine hits over 5 1/3 innings, with three walks and five strikeouts. Newcomb lost for the first time since July 14 and has given up a combined 12 earned runs over his last two starts.

Freddie Freeman and Markakis, who entered first and second in the National League batting race, were a combined 1-for-8 for the Braves, but did drive in three runs. Infielder Charlie Culberson pitched the ninth inning for Atlanta, giving up a run.

The Braves scored three runs in the ninth inning off Rockies reliever Chris Rusin. The Rockies are in search of their fourth consecutive series victory at Atlanta.

In was the second time this season that Freeland and Newcomb have matched up in a game. On April 8 at Colorado, Newcomb was the winner, going six scoreless innings for his first victory of the season.

Freeland, who improved to 10-3 with a 2.59 ERA since the start of May, earned his first career victory against the Braves in four starts.

--Field Level Media