DENVER -- The Atlanta Braves scored early and often and they needed nearly every one of those runs to beat the Colorado Rockies. Andrelton Simmons hit his first career grand slam as part of a seven-run first inning, and the Braves held on to beat Colorado 13-10 on Tuesday night. Evan Gattis had a home run among his three hits and Freddie Freeman also homered for the Braves, who had season-highs of 16 hits and 13 runs but had to sweat out a win in the late innings. "Nothing surprises me in this ballpark," Atlanta manager Fredi Gonzalez said. "Ive been in this office in the same situation with a loss hanging over your head." The teams combined for 29 hits and neither starter made it out of the fifth inning. Rockies right-hander Juan Nicasio lasted just 3 2-3 innings and Atlantas Mike Minor left after giving up two hits to start the fifth. David Hale (2-0) pitched 2 1-3 innings of relief for the win. "I wasnt making quality pitches early on and later on I felt like I was making better pitches and couldnt get out of a jam," Minor said. "They were scoring all night." The Rockies trailed 13-9 when reliever Jordan Walden walked the bases loaded with no outs in the eighth. One out later Shae Simmons came on and allowed a sacrifice fly by Justin Morneau but then struck out Josh Rutledge to end the threat. Craig Kimbrel struck out the side in the ninth for his 18th save in 21 chances. "Kimbrel was great," Gonzalez said. "We score seven in the first inning and we needed a shutdown inning." Nicasio had a scary moment when he deflected a line drive by Justin Upton with his glove in the bottom of the first. Nicasio fractured his neck and sustained a concussion when he was hit in the head by a line drive on Aug. 5, 2011. He missed the rest of his rookie season. "That was scary. You definitely look at his past history and know what happened," shortstop Troy Tulowitzki said. "Its something you dont want to see. But Juan is a tough kid. I think hes really over that." The Braves also had a scare when Upton gingerly ran the bases in the first. Gonzalez removed him from the game before Atlanta took the field in the bottom of the inning. Gonzalez and Upton said it wasnt serious and he could play in the next couple of days. "I dont know how its going to feel tomorrow but Im optimistic its not anything too serious," Upton said. Wilin Rosario homered and Rutledge had three hits for Colorado, which has lost 10 of 11 and 15 of 18 to fall six games below .500. The Braves jumped on Nicasio right away. Jayson Heyward doubled then B.J. Upton tripled and scored on a groundout. Four straight singles made it 3-0 and loaded the bases for Simmons, who went deep to centre to make it 7-0. "Its a lot of fun, especially being an offensive player and being able to bat around and score a lot of runs," said Chris Johnson, who had his second straight three-hit game. "Everybodys in a good mood because everyone hit and did well." Atlanta sent 10 batters to the plate in the inning, and Colorado nearly matched it in the bottom of the frame. The Rockies scored three times on Rosarios single, Morneaus sacrifice fly and a bases-loaded walk to DJ LeMahieu Minor walked three batters and hit another and needed 38 pitches to get out of the first with a 7-3 lead. "Me and Gattis, before we walked out we said were going to act like its a 0-0 game," Minor said. "I couldnt throw a curveball for a strike. They eliminated every offspeed pitch and fastballs, I was barely missing the plate." He gave his team an 8-3 lead with an RBI single in the third but then allowed two more runs in the bottom of the inning, including a run-scoring single to Nicasio. It wasnt enough for the right-hander, who left in the fourth after solo homers by Freeman and Gattis, who scored a career-high four runs. Nicasio (5-5) allowed a career-high 10 runs and 11 hits. He has given up at least five runs and nine hits in his last three starts. His ERA has risen from 3.60 to 5.70 in the three outings, all losses. "I didnt worry about that line drive to me. I didnt do my job today," Nicasio said. "I feel bad for my team. They scored 10 runs I need to win this game." Atlanta scored three times off reliever Chad Bettis in the sixth to make it 13-8. NOTES: Gattis extended his hitting streak to 11 games with a single in the first inning. ... Rockies OF Carlos Gonzalez had a small tumour removed from his left index finger. The procedure was performed in Cleveland. ... The Braves activated Walden from the 15-day DL and optioned LHP Alex Wood to Triple-A Gwinnett. ... Atlanta RHP Julio Teheran (6-3, 1.89) will face LHP Tyler Matzek, who will make his major league debut for the Rockies on Wednesday night. Air Max 270 Flyknit Triple Black . -- For one night, Nick Calathes provided a big reason to believe the Memphis Grizzlies might be able to withstand the loss of Mike Conley on a short-term basis. Cheap Nike Air Max 270 China . Spieth again showed game well beyond his 20 years with a 9-under 63 on the North Course, giving him a one-shot lead over Stewart Cink going into the weekend at the Farmers Insurance Open. http://www.max270cheap.com/air-max-270-flyknit-sale.html .The third-seeded Murray, who won here in 2009, will face seventh-seeded Kevin Anderson of South Africa next on the indoor hard court. Cheap Nike Air Max 270 Ispa .Y. - Joe Johnson hit six 3-pointers in his 27 points, Mason Plumlee added 18 points, and the Brooklyn Nets won their 11th straight at home, beating the Boston Celtics 114-98 Friday night. Nike Air Max 270 Womens Clearance . -- Two nights after losing to the Eastern Conferences worst team, the Phoenix Coyotes handled the best.ABU DHABI, United Arab Emirates - Lewis Hamilton edged Formula One title rival Nico Rosberg in the both practice sessions Friday for the season-ending Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.The British driver posted a best lap of 1 minute, 42.113 seconds in the second practice at the Yas Marina circuit to finish .083 faster than his Mercedes teammate.Both drivers gave their super-soft tires a good run in the warm evening.There is still more time to be found. The car feels great, the best Ive ever driven here without doubt, said Hamilton, the 2008 F1 champion. Coming into the weekend I was already excited and couldnt wait to get out on track. When you know you have a package as competitive as ours, its like being a kid at Christmas.McLaren driver Kevin Magnussen of Denmark was .782 behind in third, with Sebastian Vettel, who is leaving Red Bull to join Ferrari next year, .846 adrift in fourth.Two-time champion Fernando Alonso — preparing for his last race with Ferrari — failed to set a time after stalling early on. British driver Jenson Button, possibly preparing for his last race in F1, pitted early with a brake problem.Hamilton beat Rosberg in the first practice, and there is a third session on Saturday before qualifying. Rosberg has taken pole ahead of Hamilton in three of the past four races.I really havent got my best lap together yet, Rosberg said. I just need to fine-tune it so that the set-up is exactly to my liking, then go for it and get the job done.Hamilton leads Rosberg by 17 points. But with double points available on Sunday, the German driver can secure his maiden F1 title if he wins and Hamilton finishes third.I try and approach it as a normal weekend, Rosberg said. Of course its not because of the opportunity, but otherwise the approaach is the same.ddddddddddddWithout the double points, Hamilton would have only needed to finish sixth to beat his childhood friend and go-karting rival.He has everything to lose and I have everything to win. That can make all the difference, said Rosberg, who beat Hamilton two weeks ago in Brazil to end his run of five straight wins.Hamilton won the Abu Dhabi GP in 2011. But he finished seventh last year, starting from fourth on the grid, and retired the year before after starting from pole.However, Hamilton, should be mentally well prepared, since he is used to close finishes.He missed out on the 2007 title with McLaren, finishing one point behind champion Kimi Raikkonen, but made amends by edging out Ferrari driver Felipe Massa by the same margin the following year.Although he was one of four drivers in contention in the last race of the season in 2010 — also held in Abu Dhabi — Hamilton was a rank outsider for the title and finished 16 points behind Vettel, who clinched the first of his titles.In the first practice, Hamilton clocked 1:43.476, with Rosberg finishing .133 back.Alonso was third best, .1708 behind, with Vettel .1858 behind in fourth.Mercedes has crushed the competition this season, winning 15 of 18 races and securing 17 pole positions so far: 10 for Rosberg and seven for Hamilton, who leads Rosberg 10-5 in wins.Is there anybody out there who believes that it was a boring season? Not one single soul, Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff said. Our drivers were battling each other to the limit, and I am sure that the fans appreciate that.Button also went back to the garage early in the first session. The 2009 champions future remains uncertain, with Alonso expected to replace him at McLaren next season. ' ' '