The Colorado Rockies came about as close to a sweep as you can get without actually recording one against the Chicago Cubs.
The first game saw the home team break out for one of their better offensive performances of the season, ultimately securing a 13-6 victory.
Elias Diaz kept his hot streak going by blasting a second-inning grand slam to give Colorado a comfortable early lead. Sam Hilliard more or less put the game away in the third with a three-run shot of his own.
Raimel Tapia and Trevor Story also each added RBI base hits.
Kyle Freeland did exactly what Kyle Freeland has done lately; Pitch very well and them come out early due to precautionary reasons. This time, it was a line drive off of his foot that ending up cutting his outing short.
Before that, though, he tossed five innings, giving up just two earned runs while striking out five and walking zero. Over his last eight games, Freeland has posted an ERA of 2.15.
The second game was a lot closer and basically came down to one big play.
The Rockies had established an early 2-0 lead thanks to doubles from Tapia and Brendan Rodgers and a fielder’s choice from story.
Jon Gray had been tap dancing out of trouble all game, scattering several hard-hit singles, before loading the bases with two outs in the fifth. He had two strikes on rookie Patrick Wisdom but went to the slider one too many times and the Cubs infielder launched it to left.
In the scorecard, it will look like a typical bases-clearing double that gave Chicago the 3-2 lead, and ultimately the game. But anyone who watched it knows Tapia came as close to catching the ball as you possibly can without it being ruled a catch.
He raced to and leapt at the wall, getting the ball into the pocket of his glove. He actually even managed to maintain control after a hard collision with the wall… for a moment, but a secondary stumble caused him to release his grip and drop the ball, and the ballgame, onto the grass.
That made the third contest a rubber match and it was a good one.
Colorado staked themselves to an early 4-0 lead by plating a run in each of the first four innings.
Solo homers from Story and Hilliard were the big blasts to give a returning Antonio Senzatela a solid lead.
And Senza was fantastic at first, cruising through the first four innings and striking out six in a row at one point.
But the Cubs came storming back with two outs in the fifth, scoring four runs to tie it on a series of well-placed (if not well hit) singles and a big double off the bat of Wilson Contreras.
For the first time all season, though, Trevor Story played the superstar card and put his team on his back, smashing a two-run homer to immediately answer and give the Rockies the lead back.
They held on to win 6-5 and take the set.
The Rockies will face off against the Miami Marlins in a three-game set to finish off the home stand.
German Marquez will get the start in the opener on Friday night against Sandy Alcantara. First pitch at 6:40 Mountain Time.
