Chicago Cubs vs Colorado Rockies Box Score on May 09, 2017

The Sports Xchange
May 10, 2017

DENVER -- Chicago starter John Lackey overcame his dismal history at Coors Field, pitching seven shutout innings, and the Cubs parlayed two Colorado Rockies errors into a five-run second inning in an 8-1 romp Tuesday night.

The Cubs broke a season-high-tying, four-game losing streak and gained a split of the day-night doubleheader after losing the opener 10-4.

Lackey was 0-2 with a 9.18 ERA in three previous starts at Coors Field. The last time he took the mound in Denver in 2015, Lackey surrendered a career-high 10 runs (eight earned).

It was much different Tuesday as he limited the Rockies to four hits (all singles) in a season-high seven innings with two walks and a season-high-tying 10 strikeouts. Lackey (3-3) faced just four batters with a runner in scoring position and threw 76 of his 105 pitches for strikes.

He did not allow a hit after Ian Desmond led off the fourth with a single. Lackey retired 12 of the final 13 batters he faced.

Colorado's Kyle Freeland (3-2) worked six innings, giving up five runs (three earned). He held the Cubs hitless for five of those frames without allowing a ball to be hit to the outfield and retired 13 of the final 14 batters he faced.

The four singles Freeland allowed came in the second, when the Cubs, aided by errors by shortstop Trevor Story and second baseman DJ LeMahieu -- both aggressively attempted long flips and missed the mark, erupted for five runs.

Javier Baez made it 7-0 when he hit an opposite-field, two-run homer to right in the eighth off Mike Dunn after Addison Russell walked with one out. Kris Bryant belted his seventh homer in the ninth off Jeff Hoffman to make it 8-1.

The Rockies added Hoffman to their roster as the 26th man for the second game of the doubleheader.

Colorado avoided a shutout in the eighth, scoring an unearned run on Desmond's single. Left fielder Jon Jay had Nolan Arenado's drive in his glove for the final out of the inning but dropped the ball as he brushed the padded wall. Felix Pena walked Mark Reynolds ahead of Desmond.

Entering Tuesday, the Rockies made 17 errors in 32 games and ranked fourth in the National League in fielding. But errors by Story and LeMahieu helped the Cubs score five runs in the second, leading to a 32-pitch inning for Freeland.

The Cubs sent 11 batters to the plate during the rally, which also included three walks.

Jeimer Candelario led off with a single and went to third when Story made a diving backhand stop of Russell's hard smash and with his back to home plate tried to make a sideways flip from his knees to LeMahieu but threw wide of the base.

With one out, Willson Contreras walked to load the bases. Lackey lined Freeland's first pitch to center for a run-scoring single. Two runs then scored on a single when first baseman Reynolds deflected Albert Almora Jr.'s hot shot to LeMahieu, who shoveled the ball past Story.

Bryant singled home a run, and Candelario made it 5-0 with a bases-loaded walk.

After that fateful second, Freeland allowed one baserunner on a walk over the next three innings with five strikeouts and no balls hit to the outfield.

NOTES: Rockies CF Charlie Blackmon, who played every inning of the team's first 33 games, was not in the lineup for the second game of the doubleheader but pinch hit in the ninth and struck out. ... Cubs 3B Jeimer Candelario, brought up from Triple-A Iowa and added to the roster as the 26th man for the second game, hit cleanup and went 1-for-4. ... Rockies RF Gerardo Parra batted first in the second game. It was the first time since April 27, 2016, that Parra led off. ... Chicago's Kris Bryant played right field in both games of the doubleheader after playing every inning of the team's first 30 games at third base.