Brooks Raley sharp again as Cubs fall at home, 4-3

After being recalled from Triple-A Iowa for a start against Colorado on Saturday at Wrigley Field, left-hander Brooks Raley continued to show positive signs for the Cubs, throwing five innings in just his fourth career start, but his chance at his second win of the season was erased after Manny Corpas allowed a game-tying home run in the sixth, as Chicago dropped the afternoon contest, 4-3.

Corpas (0-1) entered in the top of the sixth inning in relief of Raley, and the first batter he faced, Andrew Brown, cleared the left-field bleachers with his first professional home run – tying the game at three. Corpas settled in, and set down the next three batters down in order to end the frame.

However, in the seventh the former Rockies’ reliever ran into trouble again. With runners on the corners and with one out, Colorado left fielder Carlos Gonzalez grounded a ball to Rizzo at first, who forced out Jordan Pacheco at second. Former Cub DJ LaMahieu scored from third, after grounding into a force out earlier in the inning.

All three Chicago runs came in the fourth inning – the first coming on a Colorado error after Wellington Castillo reached when third baseman Chris Nelson couldn’t handle the grounder. Alfonso Soriano came around to score on the play. Rookie Brett Jackson then hit his second home run in as many days, putting Chicago ahead, 3-0. In his last five games, Jackson is hitting just .214 (3-for-14) – and two of the three hits have left the yard.

Raley lasted at least five innings in his third consecutive start, allowing just two earned runs on five hits, while walking three and striking out four. The only two runs allowed came via a home run by Josh Rutledge in the fifth, his seventh on the season.

MORE TO KNOW: As a team, the Cubs are hitting a miniscule .181 in their last five games, and just .231 in their last ten. In that span, Chicago is just 3-7 and has fallen to 48-77 on the season. These clubs conclude the series with a rubber match on Sunday at Wrigley. Right-hander Chris Volstad (0-7) will look to snap his losing streak and will be opposed by right-hander Jhoulys Chacin (1-3).