Morning Marquee: Chicago Cubs top Colorado Rockies on Dexter Fowler’s late blast

Down to your last strike. Playing against your old team. Game on the line. For the Chicago Cubs and Dexter Fowler, that’s how sweet it was on Sunday as his two-run blast in the ninth gave them a 6-5 lead. Hector Rondon then shut the door in the ninth, giving the Cubs a winning record for the first time in two years. 

Welington Castillo–the man who has no home–was key with a big two-out single to give Fowler his chance. As Castillo tries to find his place, he continues to go about his job as a professional. Kyle Hendricks wasn’t as sharp as his last outing at Coors Field was, when he went eight allowing just one run.

After taking a pitch off his hand on Saturday, Mike Olt immediately had to answer questions about his status. Not because of himself, but Kris Bryant. Twitter went crazy, as if this was a sign that Bryant would be up soon. Olt shook it off and avoided any serious injury, returning to pinch-hit on Sunday.

Now, while Olt can only control what he does, it appears Bryant has broken out of that early season slump (two games), and has now homered in back-to-back contests. Addison Russell has also had a fine start to the season, as the talk of when these two will arrive will only continue to be the focus.

In NL Central news, the Reds bullpen let another game slip away, as the Cardinals snuck out a win on Sunday. Former Cubs reliever Kevin Gregg took the loss after surrendering a two-run shot to Matt Carpenter in the 11th. Gregg had worked a perfect 10th before allowing the game-winning shot.

These and other stories you might have missed:

‘Cubs come up with big ninth to top Rockies 6-5’ – Cubbies Crib

‘Olt shouldn’t have to worry about his future’ – Cubbies Crib

‘Cards outlast Reds on Carpenter’s home run’ – MLB.com

‘Bryant homers in second-straight game as Iowa rolls’ – Cubbies Crib

‘Astros’ Springer robs potential walk-off grand slam’ – ESPN.com

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