Denver: Nolan Arenado homered for the second time in two games, Carlos Gonzalez doubled three times and the Colorado Rockies beat the Oakland Athletics 4-1 on Saturday night for their 10th win in 12 games.
Antonio Senzatela shook off a first-inning run to pitch effectively into the sixth of a game that was delayed 51 minutes at the start because of a storm cell that was moving through the greater Denver area.
Pat Valaika homered and singled to drive in two runs and Tom Murphy added a run-scoring triple for the Rockies, who beat the A’s on successive nights to ensure the victory in the three-game interleague set. Oakland lost back-to-back games for the first time since dropping four straight in mid-June and had its 11-series (10-0-1) unbeaten string snapped.
Senzatela (4-3) allowed one run on five hits in 5 2/3 innings. He struck out six and walked four. Wade Davis got three outs for his 29th save.
Brett Anderson (2-3) allowed four runs on eight hits in losing for the first time in four starts since being reinstated from the 10-day disabled list on July 8. A right shoulder strain kept him on the DL for nearly two months.
Down 1-0 early, the Rockies took command with a pair of runs in the second on Murphy’s RBI triple and a run-scoring single by Valaika.
Arenado made it 3-1 in the third when he connected for his NL-leading 27th home run of the season, driving a 3-2 offering from Anderson into the seats above the right-field scoreboard.
Valaika also connected off Anderson for a solo shot in the fourth.
The Athletics scored in the first inning after a replay review showed that Nick Martini slid into the plate just ahead of right fielder Gonzalez’s throw home on Khris Davis’ sacrifice fly. He was initially ruled out on the bang-bang play.
