Austin Gomber pitched eight strong innings and Ezekiel Tovar had two hits, including a home run, to help the visiting Colorado Rockies beat the Atlanta Braves 3-1 on Thursday and salvage a game in a three-game series.
Atlanta (76-64) into a tie with the idle New York Mets for the final National League wild-card playoff spot. Colorado (52-89) ended a three-game losing streak and earned a 3-3 split in the season series against the Braves.
Gomber (5-10) matched the longest outings of his career while allowing one run on five hits with no walks and six strikeouts. He retired 14 batters in a row until Marcell Ozuna singled with one out in the sixth.
Tyler Kinley pitched a perfect ninth inning, striking out two, to earn his ninth save.
Tovar went 2-for-4 while belting his 22nd home run. He had gone 1-for-14 in his previous four games.
Atlanta starter Reynaldo Lopez (8-5) pitched six innings and allowed two runs on five hits and no walks. He struck out a season-high 11.
John Brebbia, signed on Sept. 1 after being released by the Chicago White Sox, made his Atlanta debut and pitched a scoreless ninth with two strikeouts.
The Rockies had only six hits and struck out 16 times for the second straight game.
The Braves scored a run in the first inning on Ramon Laureano’s two-out single that drove in Jorge Soler.
The Rockies tied in the second inning when Michael Toglia hit massive 451-foot solo homer to center field, his 22nd of the year.
Colorado took the lead in the sixth inning when Tovar lined a slider to left field, with the ball just clearing the fence and landing in the Rockies’ bullpen.
The Rockies added a run in the seventh inning against reliever Luke Jackson. Toglia walked, stole second and went to third when the throw got away, then scored on Nolan Jones’ sacrifice fly.