Gut Punch: Rockies walk-off Cubs in extras |
DENVER—The 2024 Chicago Cubs (75-73) season has been frustrating, to say the least, and filled with an endless number of gut punch-type losses. You had one of those on Friday night at Coors Field when the Colorado Rockies (57-92) connected on an eighth-inning grand slam to defeat the Cubs 9-5.
If you thought that loss was a tough one to swallow, try having to stomach what happened on Saturday as the Cubs were once again dealt another gut-punch loss. For whatever reason, this team can't seem to win in Colorado, as it has been nearly a decade since they last won a series at Colorado. Records aside, the Rockies just play very well against the Cubs at home, which has been the case all weekend. With neither team doing much of anything offensively in the first half of the game, it was the second half when the offenses came to life, as neither bullpen was great. Considering how good the Cubs pen has been, it has been a surprise to see them struggle as much as they have, as they blew their 24th save of the season by allowing two runs in the ninth before Drew Smyly allowed the winning run to score for the second straight night as the Rockies walked off the Cubs 6-5 in 10 innings. For a team that has no margin for error, these last two losses could be the final nails in the Cubs' coffin, as they just can't seem to get out of their own way. As has been the case most of the season, the Cubs received a great starting pitching performance from Jameson Taillon, who continues to deliver when they need him to. The right-hander pitched six solid innings for the Cubs, allowing just two runs on five hits while striking out six, putting his team in a great position to win. Going up against Kyle Freeland, who has had another rough year, it was the Cubs offense striking first as Dansby Swanson got things started with a one-out single in the first before hustling home on a Seiya Suzuki double to put the Cubs in front 1-0. With the Rockies offense not being able to do much of anything against Taillon in the early going, they had their first real opportunity to tie things up in the bottom of the third as the one-out Jordan Beck walk was followed by a Charlie Blackmon single as Colorado had two runners on and two outs. Taillon managed to escape the jam with a strikeout to keep Colorado off the board as he was dialed in most of the night. Chicago managed to extend their lead to 2-0 in the top of the fourth when Cody Bellinger led things off with a solo homer as his strong finish to the season continues. Isaac Paredes followed that up with a single to keep the inning alive, while a Nico Hoerner fielder's choice put two runners on with one out, only to have the Cubs strand a pair. You could make the case that was the game right there. Freeland was on the ropes several times, but he managed to allow just three runs in seven innings as he did his part to keep the Rockies in the game. It took six innings for the Rockies to finally break through against Taillon, and with the Cubs offense failing to tack on earlier in the game, you had an eerie feeling it would come back to haunt this team. All it took for the Rockies offense to get rolling was a pair of singles from Aaron Schunk and Blackmon to get things started as the Rockies had runners on the corners. Two batters later saw Brenton Doyle come through with a sacrifice fly to make this a 2-1 game, but it could've been worse as the Cubs escaped with the lead intact. Chicago then went on to get that run right back as Pete Crow-Armstrong connected for the Cubs second homer of the night to make this a 3-1 game and put this team in a position to even the series. Pete goes 438 ft to center! pic.twitter.com/NDz9BBB5P9 That was until the Rockies responded in the bottom of the seventh with a leadoff Michael Toglia homer to pull Colorado to within 3-2 as Taillon's night was nearing its end. A double from Jake Cave chased Taillon in favor of Tyson Miller, who got the job done to keep the Cubs in front a bit longer. In what was now a battle of the bullpens in the eighth, you had to like the Cubs chances to finish things off as a pair of singles from Bellinger and Paredes had Jake Bird on the ropes in the eighth only to have Michael Busch make this a 4-2 game with a sacrifice fly. Nate Pearson took over for Miller in the eighth, and although he allowed a leadoff double to Blackmon, he managed to minimize the damage. However, the Rockies still pulled within 4-3 on another Doyle sacrifice fly. The Cubs continued to tack on in the ninth inning, with Crow-Armstrong reaching base via a walk before stealing second as the Ian Happ single pushed the Cubs lead to 5-3. Down to their final three outs, the Cubs called on Porter Hodge, who has taken over the closer role since July. Hodge has been dominant since joining the Cubs, but after a racing heartbeat gave him and the Cubs an entire scare earlier in the week no one knew how he would respond here. Two batters in, the response was excellent as Hodge struck out the first two hitters he faced to put the Cubs in a position to win. Then came the game's biggest at-bat as Hunter Goodman worked a crucial walk to extend the inning and brought the tying run to the plate. With Sam Hilliard announced as a pinch hitter, Hodge saw the Cubs 5-3 lead get flipped to a 5-5 tie as Hilliard got into one from Hodge and put it over the wall to tie the game and forced extras. With all of the momentum on their side, the Rockies retired the Cubs in order in the top of the 10th. It was up to Smyly to keep the game going as he looked to bounce back from a rough outing on Friday. Smyly retired the first batter he faced in the 10th and then proceeded to intentionally walk Ezequiel Tovar to set up a potentially inning-ending double play. Instead, the Rockies got the last laugh as Doyle came through for his third RBI, and his single lifted the Rockies past the Cubs 6-5 in 10 innings. Chicago had 11 hits in the victory as Happ, Paredes, Bellinger, and Suzuki had two hits. The Cubs will look to avoid the sweep on Sunday as Kyle Hendricks takes the ball. “It’s 27 outs … we put ourselves in a good position for 26 and couldn’t get the last one.” “You can’t let this game define the last two weeks, and it won't.” “We wanna just continue to put our best foot forward each and every day.”
Craig Counsell on tonight’s game. pic.twitter.com/9e50x0maM8
Pete Crow-Armstrong on the Cubs’ push for the playoffs. pic.twitter.com/FV4T45F5wZ
Dansby Swanson on the Cubs’ 15 remaining games this season. pic.twitter.com/y2DKK6za54
