Rockies’ Chad Bettis tosses seven scoreless innings in first outing since beating cancer

Chad Bettis was diagnosed with testicular cancer in November, battled through chemotherapy in the spring, and didn’t miss a beat in his first game back for the Rockies on Monday. On the bump against the Braves, the right-hander dealt seven shutout innings, scattering six hits, striking out two batters and walking none.

With the game scoreless, Colorado manager Bud Black pulled Bettis before the eighth, and in the bottom of the inning, the Rockies got three runs home and went on to win, 3-0. Bettis took a no-decision, but that did not take away from the 28-year-old's dazzling return.

As solid a performance it was, it seemed someone was watching over Bettis on Monday. Ender Inciarte, the first batter Bettis faced, nearly got home on an inside-the-park home run but was thrown out at the plate.

Apart from allowing a double in each of the fourth and fifth innings, Bettis remained pretty much trouble free until the seventh. That’s when it got dicey again, as a lead-off double by Kurt Suzuki was followed by a sacrifice bunt that got Suzuki to third with just one out. Bettis pitched himself out of the jam by getting Ozzie Albies to fly out to short center and Dansby Swanson to fly out next.

With the win, the Rockies improve to 66-52 to retain their hold on the National League's first wild-card spot.

Studs of the night

With the game tied 3-3 in the top of the fifth, Indians DH Edwin Encarnacion smashed a two-run homer off Red Sox starter Doug Fister. In the sixth, with Cleveland up 5-3, Encarnacion took reliever Heath Hembree deep to bust the game open, 7-3. That’s the score at which the game finished, as the Tribe snapped Boston’s six-game home winning streak.

Manny Machado’s got thing for grand slams. As in, he hits a lot of them. With the bases loaded in the top of the second in Seattle, the Orioles third baseman put a Yovani Gallardo pitch into the Safeco Field upper deck for his fifth slam in two years, more than any other player over that stretch. He later added a single as the Orioles cruised to a blowout win.

Duds of the night

It wasn’t just that Hansel Robles served up the game-winning home run to Yankees center fielder Aaron Hicks in the bottom of the eighth inning of the first game of this week’s Subway Series, it’s also that the Mets reliever pointed skyward as if Hicks popped the ball up. The ball actually traveled about 400 feet, and Robles took the loss in the Yankees’ 4-2 victory.

Cubs center fielder John Jay was a home run shy of hitting for the cycle, but he wasn’t about to accomplish the rare feat on Bryan Price’s watch. With his Reds trailing 9-2 and Jay up in the seventh inning, the Reds manager ordered Jay to be intentionally walked. The move didn’t go over well at Wrigley, and as karma would have it, Chicago went on to put up six more runs that inning and win the game, 15-5.

Highlight

Astros right fielder Josh Reddick fully extended to rob Diamondbacks outfielder J.D. Martinez of an extra base hit in the second inning of Arizona's 2-0 victory.

MORE:
Watch: Ender Inciarte thrown out at home attempting inside-the-park homer
| Watch: Giancarlo Stanton breaks Marlins’ home run record with first-inning smash

What’s next

Mets (53-63) at Yankees (62-55), 7:05 p.m ET: Yankees fans are still looking for trade deadline acquisition Sonny Gray (6-7, 3.39 ERA) to deliver his first win for the Bombers, and even though it’s against the Mets, Tuesday night doesn’t figure to be an easy way for Gray to snap his two-game losing streak in pinstripes. That’s because ace Jacob DeGrom (13-5, 3.21) gets the call for the Mets after shaking off a 99-mph line drive to his right throwing arm Thursday.