Now this is what offense looks like.
On Wednesday afternoon in Chicago, the Colorado Rockies offense finally came back to life. 15 hits — a single-game, season-high — with four home runs and an 11-2 victory to steal the series from the Cubs on the road. This is what fun baseball looks like.
Could they have been jolted to life by Noel Cuevas’ coffee run before the game? It’s possible, and it seems probable the team will have him grab lattes before Friday’s game, too.
Nolan Arenado started the excitement off early, smashing a ball to center field to send Charlie Blackmon and himself home for the 2-0 lead. In the second inning, the Rockies took advantage of a throwing error and Blackmon knocked home Pat Valaika for the 3-0 lead. And they put another run on the board in the fourth.
Chicago tried to fight back, when Anthony Rizzo hit a home run off Tyler Anderson, one of three hits he’d allow all day. That homer brought the game to 4-1, but it was only the beginning of the scoring for the Rockies.
Yu Darvish continued to get lit up in the fifth inning, when Trevor Story and Chris Iannetta both went yard on him, forcing the Cubs to pull him at that point, down 6-1. Kris Bryant launched a homer off Anderson in the bottom of the fifth, but that was the last scoring for the home team on the day.
Meanwhile, Arenado went yard for the second time on the day — this one, a three-run job — and the Rockies would pile on two more runs in the eighth for the final scoring margin of 11-2.
Anderson was the fourth straight Rockies pitcher to go seven innings with great success, but only the second of them to get a win. Anderson tossed a beautiful game: 7 IP, 3 H, 2 ER, 9 Ks and 8 ground ball outs. For Colorado’s young pitcher, it was only his second win of the season despite giving up a mere seven earned runs on the year, in seven starts.
After the series win, the Rockies are now 4-2 in road series on the season and 12-8 overall on the road. On the season, the Rocks are 17-15 overall, pulling to 5.5 games back of the Arizona Diamondbacks, who lead the NL West.
Tomorrow, the Rockies have a day off before traveling to New York for a three-game series against the NL East leading Mets (17-10).
Notes: With the four home runs in the game, Colorado now has 37 on the season. That’s best in the National League and helps considering their batting average is the worst in the majors.
The Rockies also lived off their homers Tuesday night, winning 3-1 thanks to three dingers. That makes seven home runs in two games for Colorado; could they break out of their slump?
The 16 hits were also the most in a single game, with Colorado twice previously earning 12 hits in a game this season.
