Rockies defeat Cubs 5‑2 behind Castaño, Hill
CHICAGO (Interstat) — Blas Castaño picked up the win in relief and Jaden Hill notched a save as the Colorado Rockies defeated the Chicago Cubs 5-2 on Tuesday night at Wrigley Field, evening the four-game series at a game apiece.
The Rockies, who entered with a 28-46 record, scored all five of their runs in the fourth and fifth innings after falling behind 2-0. The Cubs, now 38-36, had taken the lead early on a solo home run by Pete Crow-Armstrong and a run-scoring groundout by Dansby Swanson, but could not hold the advantage.
Ryan Feltner started for Colorado and worked 4 2/3 innings, allowing six hits and two earned runs while striking out seven. He left with the score still 2-2 after the Rockies had tied it in the top of the fourth. Castaño entered with one out in the fifth and retired the side, then pitched a scoreless sixth, yielding no hits and striking out one in 1 1/3 innings to improve to 1-0.
Victor Vodnik pitched a perfect seventh, Brennan Bernardino worked a scoreless eighth despite allowing one hit, and Hill closed the ninth for his first save of the season. Edward Cabrera, the Cubs’ starter, took the loss, falling to 4-4 after allowing five runs on six hits over 4 2/3 innings with three walks and three strikeouts.
The Cubs struck first in the bottom of the first inning. Crow-Armstrong led off with his 14th home run, a fly ball to right field, to make it 1-0. After Alex Bregman struck out, Michael Busch walked, Seiya Suzuki singled to left, and Ian Happ grounded into a force out, but the inning ended with the bases still loaded as Nico Hoerner grounded into a force out.
Chicago added another run in the second inning. Matt Shaw led off with a single to center, and Miguel Amaya followed with a ground-rule double to right-center, putting runners at second and third. Swanson grounded out to shortstop, scoring Shaw and giving the Cubs a 2-0 lead. Crow-Armstrong then struck out, and after Bregman walked, Michael Busch struck out to end the threat.
Colorado’s bats came alive in the fourth. Jake McCarthy singled sharply to right with one out. Willi Castro then doubled to center, driving in McCarthy to cut the deficit to 2-1. TJ Rumfield followed by crushing a home run to right-center, his 10th of the year, scoring Castro and giving the Rockies a 3-2 lead. Hunter Goodman lined out, Troy Johnston popped out and Cole Carrigg struck out to end the inning.
The Rockies added insurance in the fifth. Brett Sullivan led off with a walk, and Ezequiel Tovar walked as well. Edouard Julien struck out, but McCarthy singled to center to load the bases. Castro then grounded out to shortstop, scoring Tovar to make it 4-2. Rumfield popped out to end the inning with the score 5-2.
From that point, Colorado’s bullpen held the Cubs in check. Feltner, who had allowed a single to Ian Happ in the fifth, gave way to Castaño with one out. Castaño got Nico Hoerner to ground out to end the inning, then worked a 1-2-3 sixth, striking out Dansby Swanson. Vodnik set down the Cubs in order in the seventh, and Bernardino allowed a one-out double to Seiya Suzuki in the eighth but escaped without damage when Ian Happ grounded out.
The Cubs threatened in the seventh when Alex Bregman walked and Suzuki hit a ground-rule double, but Ian Happ grounded out to end the inning. In the ninth, Hill retired Pedro Ramírez, Crow-Armstrong and Bregman in order, with Crow-Armstrong flying out sharply to center and Bregman popping out to first.
Offensively, McCarthy led the Rockies with three hits in five at-bats, including the key single in the fourth. Castro went 1-for-3 with two RBIs. Rumfield finished 1-for-4 with the home run and two RBIs. The Rockies managed only six hits in the game, while the Cubs had seven.
For the Cubs, Crow-Armstrong’s home run and Suzuki’s two doubles were the highlights. Matt Shaw had a single, and Amaya doubled and singled. But Chicago left eight runners on base and went 0-for-6 with runners in scoring position.
The win was a bounce-back for the Rockies after a 5-4 loss to the Cubs on Monday. Colorado had dropped five of its previous six games before Tuesday, including a 23-9 slugfest win over the Athletics sandwiched between losses. The Cubs had won three of their past four entering the game.
The two teams conclude the series Wednesday night before the Rockies return home to face the Pittsburgh Pirates and the Cubs host the Toronto Blue Jays.
Interstat’s game simulator had projected a final score of Chicago Cubs 5, Colorado Rockies 3, and its ELO system gave the Cubs a 72.80 percent probability to win. Chicago had been installed as a pregame favorite with a spread of minus-1.5. The total score of seven runs went under the over/under line of nine.