Rallies not enough to overcome miscues

CUBS 9, ROCKIES 7

For the Chicago Cubs, and their legions of fans who turned Coors Field into Wrigley Field West, Sunday afternoon was a party topped off by a wild 9-7 victory.

The game ended when Nolan Arenado was thrown out at home attempting to score from third with two out and the bases loaded on a would-be wild pitch by relief pitcher Brandon Morrow. Catcher Wilson Contreras threw to Morrow, who applied the tag. Arenado was called safe by home plate umpire Cory Blaser, but a replay review overturned the call and the game was over.

For the Rockies, who fell to 3-6 at home in front of a sellout crowd of 48,137, it was a messy affair. Case in point: A seventh-inning bunt by Steve Cishek that became a hit when Rockies first baseman Ian Desmond charged the plate instead of covering first base. The miscue loaded the bases and helped set up three Chicago runs, the big hit a two-run double by the sizzling Javier Baez.

At 9-4, the game seemed out of reach, but back came the Rockies, who scored three runs in the seventh. The key hit was a line-drive single by David Dahl off the leg of reliever Carl Edwards Jr. to score Arenado. Edwards’ throwing error to first allowed Trevor Story to score.

Chicago’s ace in the hole was center fielder Albert Almora, who three times robbed the Rockies of hits with sensational catches, including a running grab in the ninth off a Charlie Blackmon drive that ended with Almora crashing into the wall. Singles by Arenado and Trevor Story and a walk to Dahl loaded the bases with two outs in the ninth against Morrow, leading to the game’s odd ending with Desmond at bat.

Colorado, dazed by the Cubs’ early, six-run onslaught against starter German Marquez, managed to regain its balance and rally. In a two-run third, singles by DJ LeMahieu and Blackmon, were followed up by a two-run triple off the bat of Story that right fielder Jason Heyward lost in the sun.

Colorado cut the lead to 6-4 in the fifth on back-to-back homers by Blackmon and Arenado.

Marquez, who’s ridden an elevator so far this season, hit the bottom floor Sunday, giving up six runs on eight hits in 3L innings. He drilled Cubs star third baseman Kris Bryant in the helmet with a 96 mph fastball in the first inning, which seemed to unnerve Marquez. Bryant left the game and suffered a cut to his face, but he did not suffer a concussion.