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DENVER -- Jordan Lyles couldnt locate his fastball. Jason Hatcher Redskins Jersey . He had no trouble picking up heaters from Felipe Paulino or Daniel Webb, though. Relying on sinkers and sliders, Lyles pitched effectively into the seventh inning in his Coors Field debut for the Rockies. He also added a career-best three hits and drove in two runs during Colorados 8-1 win over the Chicago White Sox on Monday night. "It was the Brandon Lyles show tonight," Colorado manager Walt Weiss said. Troy Tulowitzki and Carlos Gonzalez each homered and made a spectacular defensive play for the Rockies, who beat the White Sox for the second time in six tries in Denver. Lyles (2-0) was headed for Triple-A when Tyler Chatwood pulled a hamstring running the bases in his last start of spring training. Not only did Lyles show resiliency when he didnt have his best stuff Monday, but he flashed athleticism in the field, prowess at the plate and modesty afterward. "Somehow the ball found the bat and the bat hit the ball and guys werent there," he said. Lyles added a nifty play in the field when he charged Paulinos bunt and spun around to throw a strike to Tulowitzki, starting an inning-ending double play in the third. Lyles scattered five hits, walked two and struck out four in 6 2-3 innings. He left after giving up Alexei Ramirezs RBI double and then walking Tyler Flowers in the seventh. Right-hander Adam Ottavino came in and struck out Dayan Viciedo. Lyles usually relies on a two-seam fastball with good movement. But on this night, he had to rely more on his breaking pitches and changeups. "Actually, fastball location wasnt there tonight for the most part," Lyles said. "I really wanted to spin it and for the most part, it was pretty good." Lyles joined the Rockies from Houston in a trade for Dexter Fowler last winter. While with the Astros, he made just one appearance at Coors Field, receiving a five-inning no-decision on May 28, 2012, when he had a single in two at-bats and scored a run. The last Colorado pitcher to go 3 for 3 was lefty Brian Bohanon against the Dodgers on July 20, 2001. Paulino (0-1) allowed six earned runs on nine hits and four walks in 4 1-3 innings in his return to Coors Field, where he pitched for the Rockies in 2011 before being plagued by arm troubles the last two years. "They got me today," Paulino said. "Even the pitcher." Tulowitzki led off the sixth with his first homer of the season, one that barely cleared the wall. "I knew it had a chance, but I wasnt sure," he said. Gonzalezs homer, his third of the year, was a line-drive shot to right in the first inning. "Ive been on deck for a lot of his home runs, obviously, and that one got out quicker than any one that Ive ever seen," Tulowitzki said. Lyles helped his own cause with a double into left-centre an inning later that scored D.J. LeMahieu from first base for a 2-0 lead. The Rockies loaded the bases in the third, when Wilin Rosario bounced an infield single off Paulino to make it 3-0, and in the fifth, when LeMahieus single just over the glove of second baseman Marcus Semien made it 4-0 and chased Paulino. Lyles, who singled leading off the fourth, greeted Webb with a line-drive RBI single up the middle to make it 5-0, and Charlie Blackmon followed with a sacrifice fly. "At one point their pitcher is outhitting us," Chicago manager Robin Ventura lamented. "Thats never a good sign. We need to be a lot better than that." NOTES: This marked Chicagos first night game of the season. ... Before the game, the Rockies activated LHP Boone Logan from the 15-day DL and optioned OF Corey Dickerson to Triple-A Colorado Springs. Jordan Reed Jersey . The 35-year-old former Strikeforce welterweight champion was let go on Monday following over three years with the company. Clinton Portis Redskins Jersey . Justin Upton homered and scored the tiebreaking run on Chris Johnsons eighth-inning single, and the Atlanta Braves beat the St. Louis Cardinals 2-1 on Tuesday night to end their seven-game skid.ARLINGTON, Texas -- Michael Choice delivered the home run that gave Yu Darvish a win the Texas ace couldnt wrap up on his own. Choice hit a tiebreaking homer in the seventh inning after Darvish blew a four-run lead and the Rangers snapped Clevelands six-game winning streak with a 6-4 victory over the Indians on Friday night. The decisive shot from Choice came after his RBI single in a four-run second. A night earlier, he homered to give the Rangers another big early lead they couldnt hold before going on to beat Baltimore. "I feel like I started out kind of passive at the plate, trying to feel guys out," said Choice, who is getting his first extensive time in the big leagues after an off-season trade brought him from Oakland. "And lately Ive tried to be more aggressive and be not so picky at the plate." Choice went the opposite way just over the right field wall against Marc Rzepczynski (0-2) with two outs for a solo homer. The shot made a winner of Darvish (6-2) after the Japanese ace gave up a season-high nine hits in seven innings. Texas reliever Jason Frasor got a nifty double play from Elvis Andrus in a scoreless eighth, and closer Joakim Soria had two strikeouts in the ninth for his 13th save. Lonnie Chisenhall and Asdrubal Cabrera homered off Darvish to wipe out a 4-0 deficit, but the Indians followed a 6-0 homestand by starting a 10-game trip with their fifth straight road loss. They have the worst record in the majors away from home at 9-20. Chisenhall hit the first three-run homer Darvish has allowed in his three big league seasons, a shot off the foul pole in right field in the third inning. The Indians pulled even an inning later on a solo shot to right by Cabrera, who had three hits. "When youre going against a guy like him who never gives in, his best stuff every night, the best stuff in the league, its a good feeling to answer back real quick and hhes not able to get comfortable," Chisenhall said. Art Monk Jersey. Trevor Bauer had retired 13 of the last 15 Rangers he faced without allowing a hit when Rzepczynski came on to face the left-handed Leonys Martin and struck him out. But Choice put the Rangers ahead on the next pitch. Rzepczynski "was just trying to get ahead like he does and sink it," Cleveland manager Terry Francona said. "It just caught too much of the plate." Cleveland had a good chance to take the lead in the sixth after singles from Yan Gomes, his third of the game, and Carlos Santana. But Darvish got Mike Aviles and Michael Bourn on called strikes and Cabrera on a weak grounder back to him. Darvish had eight strikeouts, and three of the four against Bourn. "I think the strike zone was a little bit smaller today so I had to be creative," Darvish said. "So I started throwing cut fastballs and sliders to throw the other hitters off." Bauer had all six of his strikeouts after giving up a two-run homer to Rougned Odor into the upper deck in right field in the second. "He pitched behind a lot in the count to a lot of dangerous hitters, but he still competed," Francona said. NOTES: An eighth-inning single gave Andrus a hit in all 38 games of his career against Cleveland. It ties the second-longest streak for a player against the same opponent going back to 1914, according to STATS. Vladimir Guerrero had a 44-game streak for the Los Angeles Angels against Texas from 2004 to 2006. Bostons Jacoby Ellsbury had a 38-game streak against Baltimore from 2009 to 2012. Andrus streak started with his major league debut on April 6, 2009. ... Clevelands David Murphy was 0 for 3 with a walk in his first game in Texas since leaving as a free agent. He spent six-plus seasons with the Rangers, including both of the franchises World Series years in 2010 and 2011. ' ' ' |
