No sweep for you, Rockies.
Chicago veteran right-hander Kyle Hendricks, first baseman Michael Busch, and a bushel full of walks ensured that on a perfect, late-summer Sunday afternoon at Coors Field.
In front of 40,706 fans, many clad in Cubbies blue, Hendricks pitched six innings of one-run ball and then got stellar bullpen support in a 6-2 Chicago victory. Busch chipped in with two solo homers, the first multi-homer game of his career.
The Rockies flopped on the mound and at the plate. They walked 12 batters and managed just four hits.
Chicago put an exclamation point on its victory with a three-run ninth off erratic reliever Justin Lawrence, who served up a solo homer to Busch and a two-run homer to Pete Crow-Armstrong. Lawrence, whose ERA rose to 6.04, walked three in the frame.
The Rockies have only two sweeps this season but have been playing solid baseball lately, particularly at home. Not on Sunday.
Hendricks entered the game with a 3-11 record and bloated 6.51 ERA. But he baffled Colorado for six innings, striking out seven. His lone mistake was serving up a leadoff homer to catcher Jacob Stallings in the third. Stallings swatted a 1-0 changeup 419 feet and into the left-field bleacher for his career-high ninth homer.
Rockies righty Cal Quantrill was no match for Hendricks. Back from a two-week stint on the injured list where he dealt with right triceps inflammation, Quantrill had an awful start. The right-hander walked six and gave up four hits in just 2 1/3 innings.
But the Rockies managed to stay in the game, thanks, in large part, to the work of reliever Jeff Criswell, who bailed Quantrill out of a one-out, bases-loaded jam in the third.
The Cubs took a 2-0 lead in that third inning, the big hit a two-run single by Busch.
Chicago’s lead grew to 3-1 in the seventh inning on Busch’s one-out homer down the right-field line off Jake Bird. Busch’s 19th homer traveled 438 feet.
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