Chicago Cubs, Colorado Rockies begin three-game set at Wrigley Field

A little over a week ago, the Chicago Cubs visited Coors Field. Now, the Colorado Rockies return the favor, coming to Wrigley Field for a three-game set.

When you ask a Chicago Cubs fan what they remember from the team’s recent series against Colorado, you’re likely to get one answer: they almost killed us. Remember, Addison Russell experienced an allergic reaction in Denver and Kris Bryant got hit by a pitch in the head during that weekend showdown.

Since then, Bryant returned and Russell seems to be figuring some things out at the dish. The latter played a huge role in the Cubs’ win on Sunday over Milwaukee. He collected two hits – including a leadoff triple – in the 2-0 victory.

Chicago (15-10) put an end to the Brewers’ eight-game win streak, sweeping the four-game weekend set. Now, they meet up with a Rockies team they just saw. In the Coors series, the Cubs took two-of-three and the offense was firing on all cylinders.

Cubs’ ‘Big 3’ take the mound

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Veteran Jon Lester (2-1, 3.29) gets the ball in the opener for Joe Maddon‘s club. Last time out, he turned in a quality start against Cleveland – but came out on the wrong end of things. The Indians tagged him for some solo shots late and the offense never made up the difference to get him a win.

On Tuesday night, soft-tossing control master Kyle Hendricks (2-1, 3.10) takes the hill. The rotation, as a whole, has been dominant over the last six games. Every single one of the Cubs’ starters are looking to make it two consecutive quality starts

Hendricks twirled a masterpiece against Milwaukee last time he pitched. He tossed seven scoreless innings, getting the series rolling. As we all know by now, it’s pretty simple with Hendricks. If he keeps the ball down, good things happen. He gets in trouble when he leaves stuff up in the zone and out over the plate.

Big right-hander Yu Darvish (0-2. 5.26) closes out the series on the mound, coming off his best start at a Cub. He pitched into the seventh, striking out eight and allowing just one unearned run. After some conversations with Joe Maddon, we’ll see if he carries over his stellar approach we saw against the Brewers.

Lefties in the cards for Rox

Colorado, meanwhile, counters with Kyle Freeland (1-3, 4.33), Jon Gray (2-4, 5.79) and Tyler Anderson (1-0, 4.10). Something to note here. Both Freeland and Anderson are southpaws, which could mean we see more Ben Zobrist and Ian Happ as opposed to Jason Heyward and Kyle Schwarber.

The Cubs continue the homestand second in the National League in terms of OPS – trailing only Atlanta. Thanks to their recent pitching dominance, the staff now comes in fourth in the league in earned run average and third in opponent batting average. Over the last week, with the team finally settling into somewhat of a routine, their overall quality of play has drastically improved.

Next: As Chatwood settles in, results and improvement follow

Colorado (15-14) has the offense to match the Cubs. This series will come down to pitching – and, at least on paper, it’s hard to see the Rockies hurlers matching up with the top three arms in this Chicago rotation.