Rockies Defeat Cubs In Improbable Fashion
DENVER (The Sports Xchange) - The Colorado Rockies struck for two runs in the 11th inning against Chicago Cubs closer Aroldis Chapman and came away with an improbable 7-6 victory Friday night on an errant throw.
Nick Hundley singled with two outs and scored on Ryan Raburn's double. Second baseman Javier Baez threw the ball into the Cubs' dugout and Raburn, who was on his way to third, was awarded home plate with the winning run against Chapman (0-1).
Cubs manager Joe Maddon challenged, but replays showed that Raburn was past second base at the time the ball was released and was awarded two bases.
Raburn rifled a double off the wall in right-center field on an 84 mph slider from Chapman.
"As hard as he throws, you can't really try to pull the guy," Raburn said. "I was fortunate enough to get a slider up that I could get the bat on."
The Rockies' last walk-off win on an error was June 11, 2008, against San Francisco in the ninth inning. The last time they did it in extra innings was April 3, 2007, against Arizona in the 11th inning.
Dexter Fowler flared a single to center with two outs in the 11th, giving the Cubs a 6-5 lead against Matt Carasiti (1-0).
PHOTO GALLERY: Rockies 7, Cubs 6
The victory gave the Rockies three straight wins for first time since their season-high tying five-game winning streak July 26-30. The loss was just the fourth in 22 games for the Cubs.
"Hundley's hit was really a big play right there," Maddon said. "I've known, and I've seen Raburn for a long time. He does hit lefties. He's a really good hitter against left-handed pitching regardless of who that guy is, and he came through for them."
The Rockies trailed 5-1 after six innings but scored a run in the seventh on third baseman Kris Bryant's throwing error and tied the score with three runs in the eighth before winning their first extra-inning game of the season in four tries.
"It's been a very resilient team," Rockies manager Walt Weiss said. "To come from behind and beat a club like that, it's not easy to do."
The Rockies' three-run eighth began with pinch-hitter Cristhian Adames' single and a walk to David Dahl. Carl Edwards Jr. came on for the Cubs and gave up a run-scoring double to DJ LeMahieu. Carlos Gonzalez's groundout scored Dahl, cutting the lead to one.
Nolan Arenado lined out to left. LeMahieu tagged up and was called out by home plate umpire John Tumpane, but the call was challenged and overturned.
Cubs starter Kyle Hendricks gave up a leadoff homer to Dahl, the only run he yielded in six innings as he allowed four hits with one walk and three strikeouts in his 95-pitch effort. Hendricks has allowed three or fewer runs in each of his past 16 starts with a 1.63 ERA in that span to trim his overall ERA to 2.16.
After Fowler led off the game with his 10th home run of the year, Dahl quickly evened the score with his first leadoff homer.
Two-out singles by Anthony Rizzo in the third and Bryant in the fourth gave the Cubs a 3-1 lead. And Addison Russell made it 5-1 when he drove Tyler Anderson's first-pitch cutter into the left-field stands for his 15th homer of the season with one out in the sixth. Rizzo, who led off with an infield single, scored on Russell's blast.
Anderson allowed a career-high five runs in his 13th career start. He tied his career highs with eight strikeouts and 106 pitches. But he worked seven innings, which was vital, particularly since the Rockies ended up using five relievers.
NOTES: The start of the game was delayed 2 hours, 10 minutes by rain. ... Rockies CF David Dahl hit his first career leadoff home run and the first leadoff homer by a Rockies player other than Charlie Blackmon since Dexter Fowler on June 2, 2013, against the Dodgers. ... Blackmon was scratched with a right big toe contusion. ... Fowler's leadoff homer was his sixth of the season and 20th of his career. ... Rockies RHP Jeff Hoffman is scheduled to make his major league debut and start Saturday. The Rockies will have to make two roster moves to place him on their 40- and 25-man rosters. Hoffman, 23, was the key acquisition from Toronto when the Rockies traded SS Troy Tulowitzki to the Blue Jays on July 27, 2015, for Hoffman and two other minor league pitchers. ... Rockies RHP Chad Qualls (colitis), who last pitched July 15 for the Rockies, was reinstated and RHP Carlos Estevez was optioned to Triple-A Albuquerque. ... Cubs RHP John Lackey (right shoulder strain) and RHP Hector Rondon (right triceps strain) were placed on the 15-day disabled list, with the Lackey move retroactive to Monday and Rondon to Wednesday. ... RHP Rob Zastryzny and RHP Felix Pena had their contracts selected from Triple-A Iowa and both made their major league debuts with scoreless innings. To make room on the Cubs' 40-man roster, RHP Dallas Beeler and RHP Aaron Brooks were transferred to the 60-day disabled list. ... Cubs RF Jason Hayward will not start this weekend, manager Joe Maddon said. He didn't play Thursday, the Rockies are scheduled to start two left-handers this weekend and Hayward is 9-for-48 this month with one RBI. ... Rockies SS Trevor Story (torn UCL ligament left thumb) had the stitches removed after his Aug. 4 surgery.