DENVER – Cubs outfielder Ian Happ slowed as he approached the warning track, positioned under Rockies star Kris Bryant’s fly ball in the gap. But when Happ made his final move to secure the ball, it glanced off his glove.
Bryant trotted into second base, extending what ended up being a game-turning fifth inning Wednesday.The Cubs would go on to lose 7-3 to the Rockies.
Denver had already tied up the game against Cubs starter Jameson Taillon, on a two-run home run by Nolan Jones. And the sun proved to be a tough adversary on balls in the air all game.
The Cubs, however, couldn’t afford to give away freebies, especially after a sloppy loss the night before. On the next pitch after Happ’s error, Taillon surrendered a two-run home run to Elehuris Montero.
“If there’s an error, I love picking someone up,” said Taillon, who was charged with three earned runs in five innings. “And that’s a good way to build camaraderie: you have a guy make a mistake, and you pick them up, and then that builds that momentum. When you can’t pick someone up, it hurts a little extra.”
With their defeat Wednesday, the Cubs lost the series 2-1. Chicago remains in the second NL Wild Card spot, with their next opponent, the Diamondbacks, trailing them by 1 1/2 games and occupying the third slot. It was the Cubs’ second straight series loss, after dropping three of four against Arizona at Wrigley Field.
“Big picture-wise, 27 games in 27 days, these guys are at the back end and grinding with everything they have,” manager David Ross said. “... Some things didn’t show up that we’re normally better at this series. But we’re at the back end of the season, and they went 16-11 and 27 games.”
Still, it could have been helpful in the long run to continue the momentum Taillon began to build last week with six shutout innings against the Diamondbacks.
“It looked like a pretty strong start,” Ross said of Taillon’s outing Wednesday. “Some things just got out of hand there really fast at the end and his start.”
Taillon limited hard contact through the first three innings. He even navigated a routine fly ball that rookie center fielder Pete Crow-Armstrong missed, appearing to lose sight of the ball in the sun. Taillon picked him up by inducing a comebacker from the next batter and throwing to first to end the inning.
Even in the fourth, when Taillon gave up his first run of the game, the Rockies’ base hits were shallow line drives that found holes in Coors Field’s expansive outfield grass.
The next inning, all four hits he gave up – two singles and two home runs – rocketed off Rockies hitters’ bats at a range of 102-109 mph. Taillon finished the inning, and the two unearned runs put Colorado in the lead, 5-3. The Cubs trailed the rest of the way, squandering a bases-loaded opportunity in the eighth inning.
Those unearned runs brought Taillon’s season total to 13, the most of any National League pitcher with at least 20 starts.
“We don’t ever get mad at people for physical errors,” Taillon said. “They happen. But I’m kind of frustrated with myself. That’s an opportunity for me to like make a statement that, ‘I have your back, and let’s get back in the dugout and hit.’”
Instead, he threw a sinker that started middle-middle and ran in, a perfect pitch for Montero to turn on. The Rockies designated hitter did exactly that and dropped a home run just beyond the left-field fence.