Chicago Cubs: Studs and duds from loss to Colorado Rockies

A day after clobbering the Colorado Rockies 16-5, the Chicago Cubs seemed to run out of steam in a disappointing loss to even the series.

Just last night, the Chicago Cubs looked like the same old club. 16 runs thanks to a pair of 4-RBI performances from Javier Baez and Kyle Schwarber seemed like a dream as the Cubs thumped the Rockies by a score of 16-5.

A day later, it was a different story.

Yu Darvish took the mound against Tyler Anderson, and for the Cubbies’ starter, it looked good for about three and two thirds innings. Then, things got rough. Chicago went 1-for-9 with runners in scoring position and the Rockies ended up coming back from an early deficit to come away victorious, 5-2.

Let’s take a quick look at two studs and two duds from the Cubs’ side.

Studs

Albert Almora Jr.

Things got started nicely in the first inning when both Baez and Albert Almora Jr. singled and eventually scored to put the Cubs ahead 2-0. Almora ended the night 2-for-3 with a single, a double and a walk.

Over his last two games, Almora has seen his average raise from .265 to .349 after going 6-for-9 in this current series with Colorado. Two of his four doubles on the season have come in the last two days, and he seems to be finding his groove.

Willson Contreras

Contreras only went 1-for-4 on the night, but his double was responsible for getting Almora and Baez home and putting the lone pair of runs on the board for the Cubs.

He continues to be fairly streaky, as he has not had a multi-hit game in his last seven tries. Hopefully Contreras can get it together and provide a few more of these big-time hits if the Cubs are going to snap out of the early season funk they are in.

Consistency is key, and Contreras has been far from that offensively, this year. Tonight, he just so happened to be the main reason the Cubs scored at all.

Duds

Anthony Rizzo

Rizzo continues to struggle this year and saw his batting average dip further down to .136. On the night, he was 0-for-4 with a strikeout.

Yu Darvish

Darvish did not give up a single hit until the fourth inning, as he saw a two-out single from Nolan Arenado. Darvish made it out of the fourth just fine, but in the fifth inning, it would get significantly worse.

Darvish gave up five runs in the fifth, all with two outs on the board.

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He was pulled in the inning and ended the night with 94 pitches in 4.2 innings pitched. Darvish gave up five earned runs on five hits while striking out and walking four apiece.