SAN DIEGO (AP) — Consecutive losses to the last-place Padres had some people wondering what was going on with the Colorado Rockies.Just as quickly Brandin Cooks Jersey Elite , consecutive wins have the Rockies feeling pretty good about themselves.“We feel as though we’re a contending team,” manager Bud Black said after the Rockies beat the last-place Padres 7-3 Sunday to salvage a split of a four-game series. “We feel as though we can play with anybody in the National League. We’ll see how these next few weeks go. This is good stuff. This is where we want to be. We know we’re in a dogfight with the Diamondbacks and Dodgers. We’ve just got to keep doing it.”About an hour after the Rockies won, Los Angeles beat Arizona 3-2. The Dodgers have a one-half game lead over Colorado, with the Diamondbacks another half game back in third.Chris Iannetta hit a go-ahead, two-run double in the seventh inning for the Rockies, who came into the series one-half game behind Arizona before losing the first two games. They snapped San Diego’s four-game winning streak on Saturday night and then beat rookie Jacob Nix (2-3) on Sunday.Colorado, which lost to Arizona in the NL wild-card game last year, won for the third time in seven games.With the score tied at 3, Nix faltered opening the seventh by allowing a leadoff single to Ian Desmond and walking Gerardo Parra before being lifted for fellow rookie Trey Wingenter. Desmond and Parra pulled off a double steal and Iannetta brought them both in with a double to the base of the fence in center.The double steal “takes the double play out of order, gives them a base open and they’ve got to pitch to you,” Iannetta said. “He made a mistake over the plate and I was able to get the barrel to it. I was just trying to hit a ball to the outfield and score one, and was able to hit a line drive and score two.”Charlie Blackmon singled with one out to bring in Iannetta.That made a winner of Kyle Freeland (13-7), who allowed three runs and seven hits in six innings. He struck out three and walked two.The Rockies return home for a 10-game homestand that starts with three games against San Francisco and finishes with three against the Dodgers and four against Arizona.“Splitting the series certainly wasn’t what we were hoping for but we’ll take it,” Freeland said.The seventh inning “was huge,” the lefty added. “They were obviously seeing me pretty well and barreling-up balls. To get through six and then have the offense explode there in the seventh inning and throw some runs on them and kind of step on their throats http://www.losangelesramsteamonline.com/brandin-cooks-jersey , that was really great to see.”David Dahl homered in the eighth, his eighth.The double steal was big for the Rockies.“The Rockies have never historically really run on us,” San Diego manager Andy Green said. “They ran all over us this series. It’s a bunch of young guys on the mound that have come up not realizing how important that is. We’ve got to drill that into them that those are free bases, and they turn into runs, and they turn into losses.”Nix allowed five runs and five hits in six-plus innings, struck out four and walked two.“I take pride in not walking guys. Nothing frustrates me more than walking a guy and having him score,” Nix said. “Especially like if I ever walk a guy and he steals second then I give up a double, it’s like, that guy shouldn’t have been on base.“The ball that Story hit, I put that ball right where I wanted. About six inches off the plate, wanted him to chase. He did, got it down the line. Good hitters get hits sometimes.”Freeland got into early trouble when he walked leadoff batter Freddy Galvis and allowed a single to left by rookie Luis Urias. He walked Eric Hosmer with one out and then allowed rookie Franmil Reyes’ two-run single to center for a 2-1 lead.Colorado got a sacrifice fly from Nolan Arenado in the first and a sac fly from Dahl in the fourth, and then tied the game in the sixth when DJ LeMahieu walked with one out and scored on Trevor Story’s double to right.UP NEXTRockies: LHP Tyler Anderson (6-7, 4.79) is scheduled to start Monday in the opener of a three-game series against San Francisco. The Giants will counter with LHP Madison Bumgarner (5-5, 2.68).Padres: RHP Bryan Mitchell (0-3 Authentic Robert Woods Jersey , 7.08) is scheduled to start Monday night in the opener of a two-game series at Arizona, marking his return to the rotation for the first time since early May. He was moved to the bullpen after struggling in his first seven starts and then missed 2 ½ months with an elbow impingement. Arizona is set to counter with RHP Zack Godley (14-7, 4.42). The Pittsburgh Pirates won’t play in October this season, but they think they’ve found a staff ace who can get them there in the future.Or perhaps they’ve discovered two aces, or maybe even three.Right-hander Jameson Taillon (14-9) makes his 32nd and final start of the season Saturday by opposing Cincinnati Reds right-hander Michael Lorenzen (3-2) in the second game of a three-game series at Great American Ball Park. The Pirates are 13-4 with seven consecutive wins against the Reds this season.Article continues below ...The Pirates assured themselves of only their seventh winning record in 34 years by beating the Reds 8-4 Friday night as Colin Moran homered and drove in three runs and Elias Diaz also homered among 13 Pittsburgh hits. The Reds lost their sixth in a row and 11th in 14 games. It’s the first time since 1988 the Pirates (81-78) will own a winning record in a season in which they didn’t make the playoffs. They won the NL East in 1990, 1991 and 1992 before enduring a record 20-year span without a winning record, then reached the NL wild card game in 2013, 2014 and 2015.Taillon isn’t being mentioned in any NL Cy Young Award discussion, but he’s developing into one of the league’s top starting pitchers. Taillon will be looking to make his 22nd consecutive start with three earned runs or fewer allowed, a streak surpassed this season only by New York Mets ace Jacob deGrom, who’s made 29 consecutive such starts.Taillon out-pitched left-hander Cole Hamels of the Chicago Cubs his last time out, allowing one run and five hits over seven innings of a 5-1 Pirates victory Monday night at Wrigley Field. The start before that, Taillon threw seven shutout innings and struck out a career-high 11 against the Kansas City Royals.“He’s a tremendous pitcher and he has a lot of upside to look forward to,” Hamels told reporters after the game. “He’s going to be a challenge from here on out.”Taillon has a 2.26 ERA in his last 14 starts, and is 8-2 with a 2.16 ERA in 12 starts since the All-Star break. He’ll be looking for his fourth win of the season against the Reds.The 26-year-old Taillon and right-hander Trevor Williams (14-10) give the Pirates an outstanding one-two combo heading into next season. The Pirates also have former AL All-Star right-hander Chris Archer Robert Woods Jersey Elite , who is 3-3 with a 4.30 ERA since being acquired from the Tampa Bay Rays but was outstanding in his final start of the season. He shut out the Cubs for six innings, striking out nine, in a 6-0 Pirates win on Tuesday.Williams, also 26, took the loss as the Cubs beat the Pirates 3-0 on Thursday, when he gave up three runs and eight hits in five innings. Williams had a 1.29 ERA in his last 13 starts, and his 1.38 ERA over the second half of the season is one of the lowest in franchise history.“Finishing above .500 is going to be good for us moving forward with everybody coming back,” Williams told the team website.The last-place Reds have a number of young pitchers – including Lorenzen – but none has made a breakthrough like that of Taillon or Williams.Lorenzen will be making his third start since shifting into the rotation following 42 consecutive appearances out of the bullpen this season. He hadn’t started since 2015 before starting Sept. 18 against the Milwaukee Brewers. He lasted four innings in each of his two starts to date, giving up five runs and 10 hits, and was roughed up for four runs and nine hits against the Miami Marlins on Sunday. He is 3-1 with a 3.21 ERA in relief this season.Whether he’s a starter or a reliever in the future is to be determined, based on what other starters we have in the rotation and where he best fits,” Reds interim manager Jim Riggleman said. “He’s been an integral part of the pitching staff.”Lorenzen is 4-2 with a 2.18 ERA in 23 career games against Pittsburgh. Taillon is 4-3 with a 4.28 ERA in 11 career starts against Cincinnati, including a 3-1 record and 2.84 ERA this season. He pitched a one-hit shutout against the Reds on April 8 in Pittsburgh, winning 5-0.