The Chicago Cubs and Colorado Rockies meet for the second time in a week as the two teams open a three-game series in Chicago on Monday.
After taking two of the three games in Denver last week, the Rockies headed to Las Vegas for a series against the Athletics. Although they lost the first two, Colorado took Sunday’s game in historic fashion with a 23-9 win.
Seven batters had multi-hit games as the Rockies set a record in runs scored. Catcher Hunter Goodman went 5-for-6 with four RBIs and three runs. He also hit two of the team’s six home runs in the romp, and Willi Castro added a grand slam as part of a 4-for-6 performance with seven RBIs.
“I feel like this is a big confidence boost for us as a team going into this next series,” Goodman said on the team’s postgame show. “You look at that last at-bat, Willi had the grand slam. We’re up a lot of runs, and he falls behind (in the count). It’s very easy in those at-bats in a long game like this to just be, like, ‘Whatever.’ And he battled.”
While the offense hopes to duplicate what it did in Sunday’s game, Michael Lorenzen (2-8, 7.54 ERA) will try to replicate his performance against the Cubs lineup last Wednesday. The right-hander, who leads the majors with 101 hits allowed in just 65 2/3 innings, allowed the Cubs just one run on two hits and two walks in five innings.
Lorenzen, who pitched seven seasons with the Cincinnati Reds, has extensive experience against the Cubs, but most of it is as a reliever. Only four of his 43 appearances have been starts, as he has a 2-4 career mark with a 6.93 ERA in 63 2/3 innings.
Chicago had a chance to sweep the San Francisco Giants on Sunday, but the Cubs fell 5-1 as Giants starter Logan Webb limited them to seven hits and an unearned run.
Pete Crow-Armstrong and Alex Bregman, the Nos. 1-2 hitters in the Cubs lineup Sunday, both went 2-for-4 in the loss. For Crow-Armstrong, Sunday’s game continued a torrid June for the center fielder. He’s hitting .392 (20-for-51) in a dozen games this month with five home runs.
Sunday’s loss ended a three-game winning streak for the Cubs, who have struggled for most of the past month after posting two 10-game winning streaks by early May.
“I felt like all phases of the game were better in the last three days,” Bregman said after Sunday’s game. “So, hopefully, (we) continue to build off that as we head home now.”
Left-hander Shota Imanaga (4-6, 4.44), who dueled Lorenzen on Wednesday, also will pitch Monday for the Cubs. He threw five scoreless innings last week in Denver but also got a no-decision.
Last Wednesday’s game was just the second time Imanaga faced the Rockies. He won his other start, which came on April 1, 2024, when he threw six shutout innings and struck out nine in a 5-0 victory.
In his two appearances, Imanaga has allowed the Rockies just four hits and two walks in 11 innings while striking out 16.
–Field Level Media
