Rockies Fall To Cubs 5-0 In Rain Shortened Game
In a game that started more than two hours late because of rain, the Colorado Rockies (51-75) were shut down by Chicago Cubs (49-77) pitcher Chris Volstad in a 5-0 loss yesterday at Wrigley Field. Still, the Rockies went 5-2 on the road trip, and return home to open a three-game series against the Los Angeles Dodgers (69-59) tonight at 6:40 at Coors Field (TV: Root Sports).
Volstad held the Rockies scoreless for his 6 2/3 innings to win for the first time in 13 months, in front of the remnants of a crowd of 32,396 that waited out nearly three hours of rain. The game was cut short after eight innings.
Last in the National League West but having won 13 of their past 20 games, the Rockies will face a Dodgers club that not only is contending but is fortified with new and expensive players in a three-game series starting tonight at Coors Field. The series also starts a six-game homestand.
Official: Sunday's Box Score.
After sitting around for 2 hours, 23 minutes, waiting for the rain to let up so the game could start, Jhoulys Chacin held the Cubs to one run on five hits with three strikeouts and two walks in five innings.
Chacin has an unusual grip on his two-seam, sinking fastball. One seam actually runs between the index and middle fingers, so it's more like a no-seam pitch. That's tough to throw when the ball is wet, so he didn't use it much Sunday.
He was able to use a four-seam fastball and a slider, and some of his best sliders came when he struck out Alfonso Soriano to end the fifth with two runners on base.
"Jhoulys wasn't as sharp as the was in New York [six innings, one run, four hits in a win] but he still battled his way through," Tracy said. "He got a big strikeout with two guys on, striking out Soriano in the fifth inning to keep us right in the game."
Volstad last won a Major League game on July 17, 2011, while pitching for the Marlins, 24 starts ago. He entered Sunday's game with a 6.88 ERA that often became inflated during the big inning that always seemed to arrive.
But it's tough to have a big inning without runners in scoring position or with fewer than two guys on base at a time. The Rockies never managed either feat until two were out in the seventh, when Tyler Colvin doubled and Chris Nelson drew one of the three walks Volstad issued. But reliever Manuel Corpas, the closer during the Rockies' 2007 run to the World Series, forced Jonathan Herrera into a groundout.
Volstad struck out three and limited the Rockies to three hits.
Chacin forced Darwin Barney into a soft grounder to short with one out and runners at the corners in the second inning, but the contact was too soft for the Rockies to turn a double play, and Starlin Castro scored. Castro had doubled to lead off the inning.
Reliever Adam Ottavino walked Castro to start the sixth and saw him score on Barney's single. The Cubs padded their lead with a three-run eighth and saddled the Rockies with their seventh shutout this season.
Umpires waited a half-hour after the eighth before calling the game.
Tickets are available for tonight's game at Coors Field vs. the Los Angeles Dodgers, and can be purchased by calling (800) 388-ROCK, or click here.
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