Rockies vs. Cubs: First Thoughts on Wild Card Game
The Cubs and Rockies each won three games in the head-to-head series this season
By James Neveau ••
The Chicago Cubs have had their backs against the wall plenty of times, but in a season full of adversity, this time feels particularly tough as they will take on the Colorado Rockies in the National League Wild Card Game.
The Cubs, who lost a divisional tiebreaker game to the Milwaukee Brewers on Monday, will get to host the Rockies at Wrigley Field after Colorado lost to the Los Angeles Dodgers on Monday in a division tiebreaker game of their own.
That means the Rockies have to fly across the country to get to Chicago late Monday, giving the Cubs a bit of an advantage.
In terms of the team’s regular season numbers against one another, you can essentially throw them out. These teams haven’t played against one another since May 2, with the Cubs taking two of three in Denver, and the Rockies taking two of three at Wrigley Field.
The Cubs outscored the Rockies 27-17 at Coors, and were outscored 16-6 at Wrigley, meaning the teams each scored 33 runs in the season series and split that series with three wins apiece.
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Mientras que en el Progressive Field la joven plantilla de los oseznos era todo júbilo.
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Jake Arrieta threw a complete game shutout, and Kyle Schwarber launched a home run into the river in Pittsburgh to defeat the Pirates in the National Leauge Wild Card Game.
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The Cubs won their first playoff series in 12 years when they outslugged the St. Louis Cardinals in a 3-1 series win. Kyle Schwarber hit another prodigious blast, this one landing on the top of the right field video board.
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The Cubs’ sizzling bats went silent as Matt Harvey, Noah Syndergaard, and the rest of the Mets held them in check in a four-game sweep.
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The Giants were poised to tie the series at 2-2 in Game 4, but the Cubs had other ideas, scoring four runs in the top of the ninth inning to stun the Giants and advance to the NLCS for the second straight year.
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The Cubs were down 2-1 in the series and had been shutout in back-to-back games, but all of the sudden, the team’s bats came to life in Game 4 and never stopped, as the Cubs racked up 23 runs in the final three games of the series to finish off the Dodgers and punch their ticket to the World Series for the first time since 1945.
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Down 3-1 in the series, the Cubs had their backs against the wall, but the heroes of October had one more trick up their sleeves, as Kyle Schwarber roared back, Jon Lester pitched a stellar relief gem in Game 7, and Ben Zobrist won MVP honors in an epic series win over the Cleveland Indians that ended the team’s 108 year championship drought.
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The Cubs advanced to the NLCS for the third straight year with a five-game series win over the Washington Nationals, and the final game was downright crazy, as the nearly five-hour game resulted in 17 runs, 23 hits, and two critical Nationals errors in a 9-8 Cubs victory.
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The Dodgers, the best team in the National League during the regular season, made sure to make quick work of the Cubs, avenging their 2016 defeat in a five-game series victory.
Even though the series happened five months ago, the Cubs still can take some solace from how well some of their biggest stars hit against the Rockies. Javier Baez went 8-for-24 with three doubles, a pair of home runs, and seven RBI in the season series, and despite hitting under .200 against them this season, Anthony Rizzo scored five runs and hit a pair of long balls against the team.
The Rockies will counter with one of baseball’s most explosive offenses, led by third baseman Nolan Arenado. The talented slugger went 12-for-26 against the Cubs this season, launching a staggering five home runs and driving in 11 RBI in just six games.
Charlie Blackmon scored eight runs against the Cubs in the six games, posting a .536 on-base percentage and driving in five runs to help the Rockies’ offense.
The Cubs will hope to keep those two in check, and to do so they will turn to pitcher Jon Lester, who will get the ball for the Wild Card Game. Lester, a renowned postseason performer, has been surging as of late, going 4-1 with a 1.52 ERA in five September games this season.
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Javier Baez #9 of the Chicago Cubs celebrates at home plate with Kyle Schwarber #12 of the Chicago Cubs after Schwarber's two-run home run in the fourth inning against the Cincinnati Reds at Great American Ball Park on June 22, 2018 in Cincinnati, Ohio. Cincinnati defeated Chicago 6-3. (Photo by Jamie Sabau/Getty Images)
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Javier Baez launched a home run in the 14th inning of the team’s game against the Cardinals, making him the first Cubs player to have a home run in the 12th, 13th, 14th, and 15th innings of games.
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Jason Heyward became the first Cubs player in 50 years to hit a walk-off grand slam while the team was trailing in a win over the Phillies. Just two months later, David Bote also joined him in that club.
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The Cubs scored 10 or more runs in four consecutive games, marking the first time since 1930 that they had accomplished that feat.
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Javier Baez registered 19 home runs, 72 RBI, 25 doubles, six triples, and 18 stolen bases in the first half of the season. He is only the second player in MLB history to hit all of those milestones in the first half of a season, joining Willie Mays.
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The Cubs used Tommy La Stella and Victor Caratini to pitch in a game against the St. Louis Cardinals, marking the first time in modern history they’d used two position players to pitch in the same game.
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The Cubs tied a modern baseball record by turning seven double plays in a nine-inning game against the Pittsburgh Pirates.
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David Bote became just the third Cubs rookie to hit multiple walk-off home runs in one season, joining Gabby Hartnett and Kris Bryant.
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Tommy La Stella set a new Cubs record for pinch hits in a single season, registering his 21st hit with a single against the Phillies.
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The Cubs registered their sixth shutout over the Brewers with a win at Wrigley Field, their most against a single opponent since they blanked the Cincinnati Reds seven times in 1928.
The Rockies have yet to announce a starter against the Cubs, but with Jon Gray and German Marquez unavailable, they will likely turn to Antonio Senzaleta for the big game Tuesday. The right-hander has a 2-1 record and a 3.25 ERA in the month of September, but has allowed batters a .271 batting average and four home runs in 27.2 innings of work.
The Cubs and Rockies will get things underway at 7 p.m. at Wrigley Field Tuesday night. The game will air on ESPN.
