Chicago Cubs drop another series to the Rockies in 11-4 loss

After Mike Montgomery impressed Chicago Cubs fans in his first start with the organization, right-hander Jason Hammel took the mound. But the North Siders would be haunted by multiple errors, resulting in a blowout loss.

Pictured above the article is Hammel, who has one of the best-earned run averages in all of professional baseball. In fact, the Cubs (78-45) have several starters within the top 15 in the league. It just didn’t look or feel like it today.

While Hammel (13-6, 3.07 ERA) was tagged for six out of 10 runs, one positive emerged from this one-sided game. And that positive is shortstop Addison Russell who had two home runs off Colorado starter, Jorge De La Rosa.

Before we get to Russell’s career day at Coors Field, let’s take a look at the first inning of today’s ballgame.

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As mentioned before, the Chicago Cubs committed a handful of errors. Three of them came in the first inning which was capped by a seven-run Rockies (60-64) explosion. Granted this club looked a lot better than what their record shows.

First baseman Anthony Rizzo, third baseman Kris Bryant, and rookie catcher Willson Contreras were charged with errors to start the afternoon. Rockies hot corner man, Nolan Arenado launched a three-run homer with one out before the flurry of errors began, giving his starter an early 3-0 advantage.

Shortly after retiring the Cubs in the top of the inning, De La Rosa helped out his own cause with a base knock to make it 7-0. De La Rosa’s RBI single drove in Tony Wolters, a man who recorded his 13th double of the year to drive in Gerardo Parra and Daniel Descalso.

Which brings us back to Arenado. On April 17th, Arenado went yard twice in the Rockies 2-0 win over the Cubs at Wrigley Field, handing them their first regular season series loss.

In addition, he regained the National League lead in home runs by hammering his 32nd big fly in the fourth inning. Admittedly, Arenado was due for a huge day after struggling in the first two games to begin the series.

Former Cubs prospect, D.J. LeMahieu added a solo home run in the eighth inning, making it 11-2.

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For the most part, Chicago still has themselves a comfortable lead in the division despite St. Louis shutting out the Phillies. Above all the rest, it was great to see Russell find his groove as he finished the weekend with three home runs.

Russell connected on his 17th home run in the seventh inning, cutting Colorado’s lead down to eight. Chicago managed to tally four hits to Colorado’s 10. To sum up today’s game, you can’t help but chalk this up as a tough loss.

After all, they will begin a three-game set against the San Diego Padres starting tomorrow evening. A team that sits near the bottom of the National League West.