FREELAND SOLID, BUT ROCKIES FALL TO CUBS
CUBS 3, ROCKIES 2 Colorado wastes strong start by pitcher Freeland
CHICAGO» Nolan Arenado launched a hot shot toward leftfield line in the seventh inning Monday night. Like a guided missile, the ball screeched straight into the glove of third baseman Kris Bryant. Arenado slammed his bat to the ground in frustration as the crowd at Wrigley Field booed him.
When Arenado struck out to end the game with two men on base, he simply walked slowly back to the dugout.
And so it goes for the Rockies, who, despite a solid start from Kyle Freeland, lost 3-2 to the Cubs. It was Colorado’s third consecutive loss on what’s got the makings of a trying nine-game road trip.
Freeland pitched seven innings, walking only one and giving up just six hits. But Chicago cracked him in the sixth when Bryant led off with a triple off the bricks in left, the ball bounding past outfielder Gerardo Parra. Anthony Rizzo’s groundout to second scored Bryant with the go-ahead run.
The Rockies, searching for signs of offensive life, grabbed a 2-1 lead in the fifth. A bloop single by Charlie Blackmon scored Pat Valaika, who had reached on a walk. Then Freeland — who reached on an error — scored on Arenado’s double to left. When Trevor Story drew a walk off Jon Lester to load the bases, a rare big inning seemed possible for Colorado. But Lester froze Chris Iannetta with an 85 mph cutter, striking him out looking at a 3-2 pitch to end the inning.
The Rockies snapped a 16-inning scoreless drought that went back to the sixth inning of Saturday night’s game in Miami when Charlie Blackmon hit a solo home run.