Chicago Cubs: Studs and duds from series finale with Rockies

The Chicago Cubs closed out a 3-game series with the Colorado Rockies winning their second of the trio. Many players stepped up, but a couple of guys failed to impress.

Following a 16-5 drubbing of the Colorado Rockies to open a 3-game series, the Chicago Cubs fell out of sync the next night and only put two runs on the board in a 5-2 defeat. Sunday afternoon, the series finale provided some late drama as the 9-7 victory did not come easy for the Cubbies.

Jose Quintana started on the mound against Colorado’s German Marquez. Quintana pitched into the sixth, while Marquez didn’t make it out of the fourth in this contest. Chicago went up 6-0 by the middle of the third inning and things were looking like smooth sailing.

In the bottom of the third, however, Quintana saw Trevor Story knock in two runs with a triple. In the fifth, a pair of home runs by Charlie Blackmon and Nolan Arenado, off Quintana, ended his day as the Cubs’ lead was narrowed to 6-4.

Each club scored three in the seventh, making it 9-7 going into the final two innings. In the bottom of the ninth, the Rockies had runners on second and third and two outs, but couldn’t get them home as Chicago came away with the win. Here are a couple of guys worth highlighting in today’s action:

Studs

Javier Baez

Javy Baez struck out three times on the afternoon, and while that would normally land someone in the “duds” category, it was his two hits in his six at-bats that made up for the faults. Baez came up with two big swings as he doubled and homered this afternoon, finishing the day with three RBI.

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Jason Heyward

It was Jason Heyward who gave the Cubs their biggest lead all game, bringing the score to 6-0 when his single sent Tommy La Stella and Kyle Schwarber home in the third. Heyward finished 2-for-4 with two RBI and a walk. Riding three straight multi-hit games, Heyward has come up big for the Cubs and continues to see his average rise.

Duds

Anthony Rizzo and Victor Caratini

Both Rizzo and Caratini finished their days going 1-for-4 and two strikeouts apiece. The only difference between the two was that Rizzo was able to score on one occasion. Rizzo continues to struggle, but better weather and time should see his numbers eventually rise.

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Up Next

After finishing this 3-game weekend series with the Rockies, the Cubs sit just over .500 at 10-9. They begin a 2-game series with the Cleveland Indians on Tuesday. Tyler Chatwood and Jon Lester will take the mound for the Cubbies in the pair of games against the Tribe, with Lester’s start coming on the national stage. You can watch the Cubs’ second game against Cleveland Wednesday night at 7:00PM CST.