Lawrence Ennali scored the go-ahead goal in the 72nd minute to lead the Houston Dynamo to a 1-0 win over the visiting Colorado Rapids on Saturday.

Guilherme’s in-swinging corner was cleared from the box where Ennali settled the ball with one touch and had a wide-open shot that he tucked under the crossbar for the match’s lone goal.

Houston (5-5-0, 15 points) goalkeeper Jonathan Bond made a punch save on a Paxten Aaronson shot in the fifth minute of second-half stoppage time to secure the clean sheet. Bond had two saves while Rapids goalie Zack Steffen notched four saves.

The Dynamo held a 5-2 advantage in shots on goal even though Colorado (4-6-1, 13 points) held 63.5% of possession.

Early in the game, Guilherme struck a corner to the middle of the box that was deflected to Jack McGlynn, whose left-footed shot made Steffen earn a diving save.

In the 24th minute, Ennali ran onto a long pass, his cross found Mateusz Bogusz, who played it back to Diadie Samassekou. His shot forced Steffen to sprawl to his left to register the save.

Houston kept the pressure on the Colorado goalkeeper in the 34th minute, as Guilherme’s shot on an in-swinging restart was bobbled by Steffen. As the first half wound down, the match turned chippy as Felipe Andrade was issued a yellow card in the 31st minute for a dangerous challenge.

Hamzat Ojediran was shown a yellow card in the 43rd minute for Colorado after getting tangled up with Ezequiel Ponce. Each team received three yellow cards.

Colorado threatened in the 51st minute when Dante Sealy headed a Darren Yapi cross which forced Bond to rise up for the save.

The Rapids pressed in the 88th minute when Jackson Travis’ corner kick connected with Noah Cobb, whose header was headed for the back post before it was turned away.

Houston has won three of its last four MLS matches, while the Rapids are 0-3-1 in their last four league matches.

–Field Level Media

Chris Sale tossed seven stellar innings and Drake Baldwin homered and drove in four runs on Saturday night to help the visiting Atlanta Braves post a 9-1 victory over the Colorado Rockies.

Sale (6-1) allowed one run on three hits, striking out 11 and walking three for Atlanta, which remains the only MLB team to have not lost a series. Austin Riley also homered for the Braves, who built on their commanding National League East division lead. Their 24-10 record is the best in baseball.

Brennan Bernardino (2-1) served as the opener for the Rockies, allowing two runs on three hits in two-thirds of an inning. Chase Dollander then took over, throwing 5 1/3 innings of eight-hit, six-run ball, striking out three and walking three for Colorado, which dropped their fourth game in five tries.

After Ronald Acuna Jr. began the game with a single, Baldwin launched his eighth homer of the year on a drive to left to give the Braves a 2-0 lead.

In the second, Jorge Mateo doubled before Baldwin’s RBI single extended the lead to 3-0.

Kyle Karros singled to begin the third and scored on Jordan Beck’s two-out double, cutting the Rockies’ deficit to 3-1.

Eli White hit a run-scoring single and Baldwin’s double drove in a run in the fourth, before Ozzie Albies’ sacrifice fly made it 6-1 for Atlanta.

Michael Harris II singled and advanced to second on right fielder Troy Johnston’s error in the fifth, then scored on Riley’s two-run homer to left-center to push the lead to 8-1.

Tanner Gordon threw three innings in relief, allowing Matt Olson’s 11th home run of the season in the ninth to give the Braves a 9-1 lead.

Hunter Stratton threw a scoreless ninth to seal the win for the red-hot Braves.

–Field Level Media

Evander converted a penalty kick seven minutes into second-half stoppage time to secure a hat trick and lift FC Cincinnati to a 3-2 road win over the Chicago Fire on Saturday.

Evander collected a brace in the first half and then added his third goal for the late winner. A yellow card was issued to Chicago’s Dje D’Avilla for a foul in the box on Pavel Bucha, leading to the deciding penalty kick.

The winning goal came six minutes after Chicago striker Hugo Cuypers missed his own chance to complete a hat trick with a penalty-kick strike. Goalkeeper Roman Celentano (eight saves) made a huge save to deny Cuypers and preserve the 2-2 score.

FC Cincinnati (4-4-3, 15 points) won despite playing with only 10 men for most of the second half. Defender Kyle Smith was issued a straight red card in the 56th minute for an accidental kick to the face of the Fire’s Robin Lod.

Cincinnati is unbeaten in its last five (2-0-3) matches, including a 3-3 draw with the Fire two weeks prior.

The victory was Cincinnati’s first win in six road matches this season (1-3-2). FC Cincinnati are 5-0-1 in their last six trips to Chicago.

The Fire (5-3-2, 17 points) have held leads in all three of their losses this season. Saturday’s defeat ended a five-match (4-0-1) unbeaten streak for the home side.

After going scoreless in his first six regular-season matches, Evander now has five goals in his last four matches.

Cuypers has 10 goals in seven league matches this season, scoring at least once in every appearance. Cuypers’ three straight matches with multiple goals ties the second-longest brace streak in MLS history.

The forward started early Saturday, as Cuypers converted a shot that deflected off Smith and into the net in the 16th minute.

Shaky defending also aided in Evander’s equalizer in the 24th minute. During a scramble in front of the Fire’s net, Chicago center back Mbekezeli Mbokazi made a poor touch on a clearance attempt that put the ball right at Evander’s feet for the finish.

Cuypers completed the brace four minutes later, but Evander provided another quick response in the 31st minute.

–Field Level Media