The Chicago Cubs could ill-afford another
deflating defeat. After getting swept by the Philadelphia Phillies, the worst
team in baseball, over the weekend at Wrigley Field—with one loss resulting
from a blown save, another in a no-hit effort by Cole Hamels and the finale in
a blowout—the Cubs needed a win against the lowly Colorado Rockies.
The visiting Rockies, who sit in last-place in the NL
West, jumped out to a 4-0 advantage after scoring twice in the third and fourth
innings off Cubs starter Kyle Hendricks. Carlos Gonzalez smacked a two-run
home run in the third while DJ LeMahieu plated two with a single in the fourth.
The Cubs stormed back with seven consecutive runs, six of
which coming in the bottom half of the fourth. Kris Bryant and Jorge Soler had
RBI singles and Chris Denorfia added a run-scoring grounder in the inning.
Starlin Castro then singled to left to drive in two to put the Cubs in front,
5-4, before rookie second baseman Addison Russell laced a double to drive in Castro, ending
the evening for Rockies starter Jorge De La Rosa.
Adding a run in the sixth thanks to an error by the
Rockies’ All-Star Nolan Arenado at third base, Chicago had a seemingly safe
three run lead. But the bullpen imploded again, as Jason Motte surrendered
three runs (two inherited runs) in the top of the ninth without recording an
out. Newly-acquired right-hander Rafael Soriano gave up a two-run homer to Gonzalez that plated LeMahieu (an inherited run from Motte) that
put the Rockies on top, 8-7.
Staring a fourth consecutive loss in the eyes, All-Star
and rookie sensation Bryant came to bat with two outs against Rockies closer
Jonathan Axford with the tying run (Dexter Fowler) on first base. Bryant waited
for his pitch and promptly clubbed a game-winning two-run blast on a
cut fastball to give the Cubs a dramatic 9-8 victory on Monday night.
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| The Cubs await Kris Bryant at the plate after the rookie hit his first career walk-off home run. (Jonathan Daniels/ Getty Images) |
Needing a victory, Bryant delivered the Cubs’ MLB-leading
10th walk-off hit of the season. The Cubs were on the verge of beginning a
10-game stretch at Wrigley against the NL’s three last-place teams (the Milwaukee
Brewers are next on the homestand) with four losses in a row before Bryant’s
heroics saved the night.
“It just wakes us up a little bit,” Bryant said. “I think
we were kind of nonchalant the last couple games – myself included.”
The near-loss restores questions about the Cubs’ back end of their bullpen. Motte failed to retire any of the three batters
he faced—including a homer to power-deprived shortstop Daniel Descalso—who has recorded only three home runs on the season).
Motte has yielded 13 hits in his past 6 1/3 innings.
Soriano, meanwhile, has allowed game-winning home runs in each of his past two
outings. The solution to the closing issues may lie in the hands of Hector
Rondon, who has given up just one run over his past 17.1 innings pitched.
The Cubs need to address these issues if they hope to
stay afloat in the race for the second wild card in the National League. They
trail the defending-champion San Francisco Giants by 2.5 games as the season is
roughly at the 100-game mark for MLB clubs.
For at least a night, Bryant silenced the attention directed toward the Cubs' stumbling bullpen—with the spotlight instead focused on his game-winning homer,
arguably the most important hit of the season for Chicago. The questions will
come back Tuesday, particularly those directed at Motte’s ineffective fastball,
Soriano giving up yet another late-inning homer and why Rondon hasn’t been
handed the closing duties back to him.
One swing of the bat by the 23-year-old
Bryant, however, bought the Cubs a day of celebration as the team pushed through its roughest
patch of the season.
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