Rockies 11, Cubs 2. Third baseman Nolan Arenado hits two home runs as Colorado routs the Cubs at Wrigley.
The Rockies have CHICAGO swatted the most home runs in the National League, but don’t label this crew Blake Street Bombers II.
That won’t fly. Not yet. Because the vast majority of Colorado’s home runs have come on the road, including the four launched Wednesday afternoon in an 11-2 romp over the Chicago Cubs at Wrigley Field. The long ball, combined with seven superb innings from left-hander Tyler Anderson, allowed the Rockies to clinch the three-game series.
Nolan Arenado hit a two-run shot to deep center off beleaguered starter Yu Darvish in the first inning. It was Arenado’s sixth homer, but he wasn’t finished. The third baseman blasted a three-run, 440-foot shot over the left-field bleachers and onto Waveland Avenue in the seventh. It was Arenado’s 13th multihomer game of his career, and his five RBIs lifted his season total to 19.
“Today, I felt like me, in a way,” Arenado said. “I guess it was kind of a special day. I felt like I maxed out on those balls to left and leftcenter like I should. So that felt good.”
Arenado has hit five home runs against the Cubs this season, tied for the most ever by a Rockies player against the Cubs in a single season. The last time a Rockie hit five homers vs. Chicago in a single season was in 1997 by both Dante Bichette and Larry Walker.
The Cubs are certainly glad to see the last of Arenado this season. In six games against Chicago, he was 12-for-26 (.462), with five homers, two doubles and 11 RBIs.
Trevor Story led off the fifth with his seventh homer, and Chris Iannetta swatted another long ball two batters later. Iannetta’s homer, his third of the season, sent Darvish to the showers to a smattering of catcalls The Cubs’ highpriced right-hander is 0-3 with a 6.00 ERA.
The Rockies had 15 hits. “Collectively, I though we had some good at-bats,” manager Bud Black said. “Nolan, obviously, had some big swings. Trevor (Story) did too. … A lot of guys swung the bats well.”
Colorado has hit 41 homers through 32 games, and 28 have come away on the road, where the Rockies have played 20 of their 32 games. Of Colorado’s 129 runs this season, 63 have came via home runs (48.8 percent).
The Cubs produced only three hits off Anderson, although two of them were moonshots. Anthony Rizzo hit a solo homer to deep right in the fourth, and Kris Bryant hit a two-out, solo homer to left in the sixth.
Other than those mistakes, Anderson mastered Chicago’s lineup. He struck out nine, walked one and needed only 100 pitches to navigate his seven innings. Anderson, 2-0, whittled his ERA to 3.78.
The Rockies are off on Thursday before beginning a threegame series at the New York Mets on Friday.