The Cubs went ahead early. Then they went behind, and stayed that way for a long time until a three-run homer by Ian Happ tied the game in the eighth.
Unfortunately, Daniel Palencia wasn’t up to the task of preserving that tie for extra innings, and two quick Rockies hits in the ninth gave them a 6-5 win over the Cubs. That completed a 5-4 road trip for the Cubs, which ordinarily wouldn’t be bad but… they really needed to go 6-3 or better.
Let’s have a look at this disappointing defeat.
The game went
scoreless into the third inning and then the Cubs put two on the board. Matt Shaw led off with a single and one out later, Michael Busch singled, with Shaw stopping at second. Kyle Tucker then struck out, but Seiya Suzuki doubled in both runners [VIDEO].
The Rockies came right back with a pair off Matthew Boyd in the bottom of the inning, and Boyd, who had breezed through the first two innings, also got touched up for a pair in the fourth, so the Rockies took a 4-2 lead into the middle innings. Ten straight Cubs went down before Pete Crow-Armstrong walked with two out in the sixth. That went nowhere when Dansby Swanson hit into an inning-ending fielder’s choice. Then the Cubs went down 1-2-3 in the seventh.
Meanwhile, Boyd settled down and didn’t allow any more runs, finishing with four runs allowed in six innings, with five strikeouts [VIDEO].
Here’s more on Boyd’s outing [VIDEO].
Boyd had some help from his defense. Check out this nice play by Swanson in the third [VIDEO].
Porter Hodge, just recalled Sunday to replace Jordan Wicks on the active roster, was added because the Rockies are a right-handed-heavy hitting team. That did not work very well for Hodge in the bottom of the seventh, because he had neither command nor control of his pitches. The Rockies scored to make it 5-2 before Hodge finally ended the inning with a strikeout of Kyle Karros. That was a 38-pitch inning for Hodge, who has talent but has never seemed to be able to harness it at the MLB level.
The Cubs tied the game off a pair of Rockies relievers in the eighth. Busch led off with a walk and Tucker singled. Suzuki hit the ball hard but right at right fielder Mickey Moniak, with Busch taking third.
Happ followed with his 18th home run of the year [VIDEO].
That ball was crushed! [VIDEO]
More on Happ’s homer from BCB’s JohnW53:
Ian Happ’s three-run homer was just the 25th by a Cub that tied the score in the eighth inning or later since 1912, first season for which baseball-reference.com has searchable play-level data.
The previous one also was at Colorado, also with the Cubs down by 5-2. Michael Busch hit it on Sept. 13 of last year. Nate Pearson surrendered a grand slam in the bottom of the inning and the Cubs lost, 9-5.
Mike Tauchman did it in the eighth at Boston on April 28 of last year.
There were only two in the previous six seasons, both in 2021 and both in the eighth. Happ did it on May 2 at Cincinnati and Andrew Romine did it at home vs. the White Sox on Aug. 6.
The only Cub before Happ to do it twice was Ernie Banks, in 1962 and 1969, both in the bottom of the ninth.
Palencia was summoned for the second time this week in a tie game in the ninth inning, and it took only four pitches for a single and triple to end the game in a Rockies win. Would it have been different if Hodge hadn’t allowed the fifth run and the Cubs had taken the lead on Happ’s homer? Unfortunately, we’ll never know.
The Cubs lost no ground in any of the races Sunday, as the Brewers, Padres and Mets also lost. Too bad, because this would have been a good opportunity to gain a game on all of those teams. Instead, it’s just one more day checked off the calendar. Twenty-five games remain in the season and I believe if the Cubs can go 16-9 (and finish with 94 wins), that would likely be enough for the top wild-card spot.
The Cubs return to Wrigley Field Monday afternoon to begin a six-game homestand with the opener of a three-game series against the Atlanta Braves. Colin Rea will start for the Cubs and Spencer Strider goes for Atlanta. Game time Monday is 3:05 p.m. CT and TV coverage will be via Marquee Sports Network.
