Suzuki leads Cubs over Rockies
CHICAGO >> Seiya Suzuki homered in his second straight game and drove in four runs and the Chicago Cubs regrouped to beat the Colorado Rockies 9-8 after blowing a six-run lead Wednesday night.
The Cubs looked as if they were on their way to another easy win with an 8-2 lead in the sixth after outscoring the Rockies by a combined 17-2 in the first two games. Colorado made a big push, scoring a run in the seventh and five in the eighth to tie it.
Pinch-hitter Miles Mastrobuoni reached on a wild pitch by Nick Mears (0-1) as he struck out leading off the bottom half. He took third on a single by Ian Happ and beat the throw home on Suzuki’s fielder’s choice grounder to third baseman Ryan Mcmahon to put Chicago back on top, 9-8.
Suzuki had three hits. Miguel Amaya drove in three runs, and the Cubs won their fourth in a row. The Rockies are 1-6, though they sure made things interesting in the eighth.
Jake Cave drove a two-run double to left against Héctor Neris (2-0). Two more scored when second baseman Nico Hoerner threw wildly to first fielding Charlie Blackmon’s single, and Ezequiel Tovar tied it with a double to deep center, just beyond a lunging Mike Tauchman.
Adbert Alzolay pitched around a leadoff single by Kris Bryant in the ninth for his first save.
Suzuki drove in two with a single to cap a four-run second against Rockies starter Cal Quantrill and greeted Jalen Beeks with a drive to left-center leading off the fifth on a cold and soggy night.
Amaya hit a sacrifice fly in the second and drove in two more with a bases-loaded single against Tyler Kinley in the sixth. Center fielder Brenton Doyle’s errant throw on the play allowed another run to score, making it 8-2.
Chicago’s Luke Little, making his first career start, threw 14 pitches in a perfect first inning after recording the final three outs in Tuesday’s 12-2 romp. Little became the first Cubs pitcher to finish a game and start the next one since Rick Reuschel at San Francisco and at the Los Angeles Dodgers on May 2 and May 4, 1976. He’s the first to do it for Chicago against the same team since Warren Hacker on May 1-2, 1955 at Philadelphia, according to team historian Ed Hartig.
Quantrill threw 90 pitches in four innings, allowing four runs and four hits. The right-hander walked four and struck out three in his second start for Colorado following an offseason trade from
Chris Kreider scored a power-play goal late in the third period and the New York Rangers rallied to beat the New Jersey Devils 4-3 on Wednesday night in a game that started with a 10-player brawl.
Artemi Panarin and Alexis Lafreniere each had a goal and an assist, and Kaapo Kakko also scored for the Nhl-leading Rangers. Igor Shesterkin finished with 17 saves as New York won for the sixth time in seven games and 11th in its last 14.
Nico Hishier, Ondrej Palat and Brendan Smith scored in the second period for the Devils, and Kaapo Kahkonen stopped 37 shots. New Jersey has lost three
Cleveland.
TRAINER’S ROOM
Cubs: RHP Jameson Taillon (back strain) is set to straight and remained six points behind Washington for the second wild card in the Eastern Conference.
Trailing 3-2 after 40 minutes, the Rangers tied it on Kakko’s 13th goal of the season at 5:32 of the third period. Kreider then put the Rangers back ahead as he deflected Adam Fox’s shot from the point past Kahkonen with 4:57 remaining for his 36th.
Panarin also assisted on Kreider’s goal, giving him a team-high 110 points.
The Rangers completed a four-game season series sweep of the Devils, less than a year after New Jersey won the teams’ firstround playoff series in seven games.
The game got off to a physical start as all 10
start a rehab assignment Sunday with Double-a Tennessee, manager Craig Counsell said. He also said INF Patrick Wisdom (back strain) was fine after participating in Taillon’s live batting practice session in Arizona on Tuesday. skaters on the ice got into brawls right off the opening faceoff. Eight players were ejected after receiving game misconducts 2 seconds into the game, forcing both teams to play with four fewer skaters the rest of the way.
LIGHTNING 4, MAPLE LEAFS 1
Andrei Vasilevskiy made 28 saves as Tampa Bay Ltopped Toronto despite Maple Leafs star Auston Matthews adding to his NHL lead with the sniper’s 63rd goal of the season.
Steven Stamkos, Victor Hedman, Brayden Point and Nicholas Paul scored for Tampa.
Nikita Kucherov, who entered the night tied with Colorado Avalanche center Nathan Mackinnon for the
UP NEXT
Rockies: The Rockies send LHP Austin Gomber (0-0, 7.71 ERA) to the mound Friday for their home opener against Tampa Bay. The Rays go with RHP Zack Littell (1-0, 0.00), who went six scoreless innings in a 5-1 league lead with 127 points, added three assists.
Brandon Hagel also set up two goals for the Lightning, who moved within four points of the Leafs for third in the Atlantic Division.
The teams each have seven games remaining on the schedule — including April 17 in Tampa in the regular-season finale for both clubs. Joseph Woll stopped 21 shots for Toronto, which saw a three-game winning streak snapped on a night it could have secured a spot in the Stanley Cup playoffs for an eighth straight campaign with a single point.
The Leafs remain four points back of the Florida Panthers for second in the division with a game in hand.
win over Toronto on Saturday.
Cubs: The Cubs have not announced who will start Friday, when they open a three-game series against Shohei Ohtani and the Dodgers. RHP Bobby Miller (1-0, 0.00) gets the ball for Los Angeles.