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Walks again haunt Rockies, as they drop first game of road trip to Cubs

By August 23, 2021 | updated 4 years ago

Rockies Cubs Baseball

Rockies relief pitcher Jhoulys Chacin returns to the mound after throwing 12 straight balls to load the bases during the eighth inning Aug. 23 against the Cubs in Chicago.

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

The Rockies know the feeling of winning in walk-off fashion. After all, they’ve done it a franchise-record 12 times this year.

On Monday, though, they stood on the opposite side of the fun, sulking off to the clubhouse after watching their three-run lead disappear due to walks.

This time, it came from Jholuys Chacín, one of their most experienced players. He has over 10 years of major league service time, more than anyone else on the team, and has reinvented himself as a reliable late-inning reliever after serving as a starter and long-relief man for most of his career. 

Yet Monday was not his night. After Antonio Senzatela left the game with a two-run lead, Chacín walked three in a row on 12 pitches. All three walks scored, and the Cubs took over from there, beating the Rockies 6-4.

“That was an aberration,” manager Bud Black said. “That was a tough one for JC. No one feels worse than him.”

The Rockies seemed to have the game all wrapped up by that eighth inning, even coming up with offense early to take a seemingly commanding lead. Instead, they walked away with their 46th road loss of the season to start a nine-game road trip. It was similar to the game Sunday, when three pitchers walked five in the sixth to give the Diamondbacks an irreversible lead. 

Senzatela allowed no hits and no runs in the first five innings Monday, getting some help from Sam Hilliard, who smashed into the wall to rob David Bote of a hit, and Ryan McMahon, who got another defensive run saved added to his name. Senzatela’s slider was especially effective, and was responsible for four of his sixth strikeouts. His curveball came in at times to disrupt timing for the Cubs’ hitters. 

The sixth inning went a little astray for Senzatela, who allowed a single and a double, then a walk to load the bases with no outs. He got a visit from pitching coach Steve Foster, then threw yet another slider to induce a ground ball double play. One run scored, but was the ideal play for the situation. He got out of his own jam, and finished the day allowing just one run.

“That was huge,” Black said. “He kept making pitches all night. Overall, I thought he threw the ball very well.”

Chacín pitched a 1-2-3 seventh, before he lost command in the eighth, unable to find the strike zone. The fastball had a lot of movement, and the breaking ball couldn’t land. He passed it off to Carlos Estévez, another veteran, who was on the mound for the three runs as the Cubs tied the game at 4-4.

“A really rough inning for two of our main relievers when we have a lead,” Black said. 

From there, the Rockies’ offense, which was hot early, couldn’t provide any additional run support in the ninth, and Daniel Bard hung a slider to Rafael Ortega, who hit it out of the park for a two-run homer. 

The Rockies’ offense scored three in the first before Senzatela even threw a pitch, off hits from Connor Joe, CJ Cron, Charlie Blackmon and Sam Hilliard. Garrett Hampson and Rio Ruiz, in his first game since being recalled earlier in the day, provided some more in the seventh, hitting a double and a single to lead off the inning. Joe hit the sacrifice fly to send Hampson home.

Danielle Allentuck

Reporter

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