The Colorado Rockies winning streak had come to an end.
This was a difficult matchup on paper from the get go. The Chicago Cubs handed the ball to Kyle Hendricks who brought a 3.09 ERA into the game. Meanwhile, the visitors turned to Jeff Hoffman who was coming off a solid outing but has otherwise struggled to find consistent success at the MLB level.
Hoffman was strong at times and had a few key moments swung the other way, Colorado might have stolen this one but overcoming the odds proved too much.
In a heartbreaking twist for Rockies fans, Carlos Gonzalez – an all-time great in purple – played a key role in just his second start for Chicago.
And in an ironic twist, Daniel Murphy kept his club in the game against his former team as well.
The Rockies took an early advantage against Hendricks and the Cubs with a two-out rally in the top of the first.
David Dahl, Nolan Arenado, and Murphy all singled to plate the first run of the game.
But the Cubs game back to tie it in the second, then take the lead with a little two-out Magic of their own.
It began when Javier Baez stayed on a poorly located breaking ball from Hoffman and lined it to left for a single. Then CarGo hit a fly ball into the wind in center that Ian Desmond misplayed a bit, allowing Baez to score and Gonzalez to reach second.
Hoffman nearly worked out of any further damage with two quick outs that allowed an intentional pass to bring his counterpart to the plate. But Hendricks was able to fight off a tough pitch and flare it into no-man’s land in left for an RBI single.
That lead lasted until Murphy tied the contest back up with a solo blast on a frozen rope to left field, his fourth round-tripper of the year.
Hoffman locked in over the next few innings, some of his best in recent memory. And it looked like he was through the fifth when an 0-2 backdoor curveball to Kyle Schwarber caught the zone but was called a ball.
That turned out out to be a tough break when he ran the count full then hammered a mistake fastball deep over the wall in center for his 11th home run of the season.
The Cubs added in the sixth on a hard line drive single by Anthony Rizzo and a two -run jack to center off the bat of Baez.
Colorado got a run back in the seventh on a double from Ryan McMahon and a single by Tony Wolters.
But the Cubs answered that run as well, playing one on a sac fly from Gonzalez after another tough call against Carlos Estevez.
The Rox offense couldn’t get anything else going late, falling 6-3 in the opener to snap their winning streak.
