Chicago Cubs look for series win behind Hammel’s scoreless streak

The Chicago Cubs and Jason Hammel go for the series win on Sunday against the Rockies in the matinée finale.

The Chicago Cubs (78-44) overcame a tough loss on Friday night by getting on the board early and often against the Colorado Rockies (59-64) on Saturday en route to a 9-2 win. The Cubs will turn to a pitcher who’s had some experience pitching at Coors Field.

Jason Hammel (13-5, 2.75 ERA), a former Rockies starter from 2009-2011, looks to continue his impressive scoreless streak of 22 innings. Since the All-Star break, he is 6-0 with a 0.95 ERA.

Mike Montgomery worked 4 1/3 scoreless innings in the spot start last night as Chicago looks to take the rubber game in Denver and split the season series with the Rockies. Montgomery filled in for John Lackey on this trip through the rotation after Lackey was sent to the DL with shoulder inflammation. This season, Montgomery is 1-1 with a 2.87 ERA as a starter in 15.2 innings of work, averaging just over 8 K/9.

Hammel was just as impressive against the Rockies this year, allowing just one home run and 12 total bases. He is 1-0 with a 4.50 ERA, allowing just three hits and three runs in his start at Wrigley in April.

At Coors Field, Hammel is 14-14 with a 4.94 ERA in 46 career starts. Batters are hitting .301/.477/.833 against him in Denver

The Cubs will face Mr. Coors Field, Jorge De La Rosa (7-7, 5.29 ERA)—who is set to be a free agent following the season. De La Rosa is 52-19 with a 4.92 ERA in 102 games at Coors Field, accounting for 95 starts. He’s 2-0 against the Cubs in his career although he hasn’t faced them at home since 2013.

After Jeff Hoffman’s performance last night against the Cubs, the Rockies may not have room to resign veterans like De La Rosa after the season. Their farm club is loaded with young arms that could make their debuts in the very near future.

“I felt very comfortable here,” Hoffman said. “I don’t know why that was. I was really expecting to be nervous, to be jittery, all that stuff.”

Hoffman debuted in front of a sellout crowd of 48,113 last night.

“For my first big league game, this was exactly what I was expecting. A ton of people. It was loud. It was electric. I just got to go out and do a better job of executing pitches.”

The Rockies are confident that Hoffman will grow into a leading role in the very near future.