The Wolf and the Sheriff: Gray, Reynolds huff, puff, blow by Braves in series finale

The Colorado Rockies offense still missed plenty of opportunities but that matters far less when you pitch a shutout.

Still stuck on three runs, the Rockies pitching staff made sure that ended up being two more than they would actually need in a 3-0 win over the Atlanta Braves. With the victory, Colorado finally scored a road series win. It was their first road-series win in August, in their last opportunity to do so.

Jon Gray had the good stuff but again extended himself in a few innings giving plenty of room to critique his ability to pitch deep into games. However, his ability to miss bats, even against some of the best hitters in the world, was on full display once again to be tops among the Colorado starting staff. He never allowed a base runner past second. The slider, in particular, looked as good as it has all season and the fastball was sitting on 97 mph, touching 99 a few times and with near-perfect command on the arm (right) side of the plate.

Gerardo Parra opened up the second inning with a single through the right side of the infield. He moved into scoring position when Carlos Gonzalez drew a walk and came in to put the Rockies on the scoreboard thanks to a Trevor Story double into the left-center field gap.

Colorado had another incredibly frustrating inning in the third, the likes of which has become their trademark over the past few weeks. Charlie Blackmon walked on four pitches and DJ LeMahieu “LeMahieu”d to right field to put the first two runners on. Nolan Arenado hit a line drive to left field but right at Matt Adams. But Parra and Gonzalez would strike out on either side of a Mark Reynolds walk that loaded the bases, giving the Rockies three base runners and zero runs in the frame.

Gray gave up a lead-off single to Brandon Phillips in the fourth and then threw some of his best pitches of the season, fastballs on the edge and darting, diving sliders, to strike out Freddie Freeman and Nick Markakis. He ran into another spot of trouble in the sixth. Another single from Phillips followed by a walk to Freeman put two Braves aboard with one out but Gray got line outs from Markakis and, after a visit from manager Bud Black, Kurt Suzuki on a pair of sliders.

In the top of that inning, Parra singled for the second time and scored for the second time on a Mark Reynolds no-doubter over the left field fence. It was Reynolds 28th home run of the season, putting Colorado on top 3-0.

The Rockies missed another great chance to score in the seventh, getting a one-out single from Blackmon who stole second and moved to third on an errant throw from Suzuki. LeMahieu then walked to put runners at first and third but Arenado hit into an inning-ending double play.

Gray stayed on to pitch the bottom of the seventh but gave up a single away from the shift to Adams and was quickly replaced by Pat Neshek. Neshek allowed a single to Ozzie Albies who has been spectacular in this series and suddenly the Braves were in business. But Neshek made his pitches, getting Dansby Swanson to fly out to center and inducing a ground ball double play from Rockie-killer Matt Kemp. Trevor Story made a fantastic turn on the play, needing to make a difficult drop step in order to get two outs and keep the shutout intact.

Gray’s final line: 6 IP, 5 H, 0 ER, 2 BB, 7 K. He threw 64 of 99 pitches for strikes. All five hits he surrendered were singles. Both walks were to Freddie Freeman, the most dangerous man in Atlanta’s lineup.

Mike Dunn came on in the eighth and issued a two-out walk to (who else?) Freeman but otherwise worked a quick inning.

Story started the top of the ninth with an opposite-field double that was punched off the end of his bat, falling just inside the foul line in right field. It was his second double of the game and fourth in the series. Once again, the Rockies failed to score the runner.

Jake McGee came on for the save in the ninth after having to replace Greg Holland on Saturday night. He worked a very quick 1-2-3 inning to secure his third save of the season.

With two hits in the game, Blackmon moved two hits in front of Jose Altuve for the MLB lead. Altuve plays later today.

Colorado improved to 71-59 and will maintain at least a three-and-a-half game lead in the National League Wild Card.

The Rockies return home to Denver for a three-game, interleague set against the Detroit Tigers to close out the month of August. The begin September with three games against the Arizona Diamondbacks that could have massive postseason implications. Antonio Senzatela will get the start against Jordan Zimmerman.