Chicago Cubs News: Cubs fall to Rockies in extras, 7-6

The Chicago Cubs suffered a heartbreaking defeat in extra innings to the Rockies after the bullpen and their defense–two strong points as of late–let them down.

The Chicago Cubs again got a stellar start from Kyle Hendricks, who lowered his ERA to 2.16 but didn’t figure in the decision as the bullpen squandered the lead late to the Colorado Rockies. Travis Wood, Carl Edwards, Jr. and Aroldis Chapman–all who have been solid as of late–allowed runs while Javier Baez throwing error in the eleventh allowed Ryan Raburn to score the winning run. As just the fourth loss in 22 games, the Cubs aren’t going to sweat this one all that much.

The Cubs placed John Lackey and Hector Rondon on the DL as precautionary moves with the lead they have in the Central. Rondon is still coming off triceps tightness, and Lackey was a little sore following his last start after extra bullpen sessions for extra-inning games. The Cubs called up Rob Zastryzny and Felix Pena to fill in as extra bullpen help, which as of now looks like a welcome addition.

In an emotional moment for the Cincinnati Reds Michael Lorenzen, the reliever came in to help escape a jam in the seventh and then followed that with his first career home run–his first game returning after losing his father. The Reds went on to win the game 9-1 against the Dodgers.

These and other stories you might have missed:

‘Cubs drop series opener against the Rockies’ – Cubbies Crib

‘Disabled list a good move for pitchers’ – Cubbies Crib

‘Emotional game for Reds’ Lorenzen in win‘ – MLB.com

‘Carl Edwards: 48th round to big league reliever’ – Cubbies Crib

‘Hendricks poised to take over ERA lead’ – ESPN

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