Another Rocky Mountain Showdown broke out at Coors Field Saturday night.
In a wild game in front of an announced sellout crowd of 47,493, the Rockies beat the Cubs 6-5 in 10 innings, putting a big hurt on the Cubs’ fading playoff hopes.
Brenton Doyle won the game with a walk-off single to left off Drew Smiley, scoring ghost runner Aaron Schunk. Shunk had advanced to third on Charlie Blackmon’s groundout to first.
But it was pinch-hitter Sam Hillard who came through with one of the biggest hits of his career and joined an elite club.
Chicago was ready to close the game out in the ninth until Hilliard blasted a two-out, two-run, pinch-hit homer off a center-cut 1-0 fastball by Porter Hodge.
“It’s not easy, but I have had a couple of pinch-hit opportunities under my belt at this point in my career,” said Hilliard, who hit his eighth homer of the season. “I kind of know what to expect — emotions-wise, feelings-wise, adrenaline.
“The main thing I was telling myself was just to be relaxed. ‘You don’t have to hit a home run right here, just put a good at-bat together, and you know if you just touch the ball, it’s going to go.’ ”
It was the fifth pinch-hit homer of Hilliard’s career. But here’s the dramatic part of the story: his three career pinch-hit home runs to tie the game or take the lead in the ninth inning or later are tied with Jason Giambi for the most in franchise history. Plus, all three of Hilliard’s heroic homers have come with two outs, the most in franchise history.
“Very, very happy for Sam,” manager Bud Black said. “It’s good stuff. We all know Sam as a human being. I mean, he’s wonderful. And to see good things happen to good people, it’s a little special.”
Hilliard rejoined the Rockies this season as a utility outfielder after spending last season with Atlanta.
Doyle’s game-winning single came on a 3-2 curveball by Smiley, the crafty veteran lefty. Black was thrilled with Doyle’s at-bat and the fact that Doyle drove in three runs, two of them on sacrifice flies.
Cubs fans turned out in force in LoDo and full-throated chants of “Let’s Go Cubbies!” could be heard all night. But they went home unhappy with visions of a playoff berth fading fast. Chicago remained six games behind the Mets for the final National League wild-card spot.
Chicago kept threatening to put the game away, but Colorado kept counterpunching. Ultimately, the Rockies, who had just one hit over the first five innings, got the clutch hits they needed.
The Rockies trimmed the lead to 3-2 on Michael Toglia’s leadoff homer in the seventh. Toglia’s team-leading 24th homer came on Jameson Taillon’s 1-0 fastball.
Jake Cave followed with a double, ending Taillon’s night, but Tyson Miller snuffed out the Rockies’ rally. Taillon was credited with six innings, giving up two runs on five hits, striking out six and walking one.
The Cubs extended their lead to 4-2 in the eighth on Michael Busch’s sacrifice fly off lefty Luis Peralta, who had relieved Jake Bird. The Cubs nicked Bird with a leadoff single by Cody Bellinger and a soft bloop single into no-man’s land behind third base by Issac Padres, allowing Bellinger to race to third.
Back came the Rockies. Blackmon (3 for 5) led off with a double, advanced to third on Ezequiel Tovar’s deep fly to right, and scored on Doyle’s sacrifice fly to center to make it 4-3.
The Cubs struck back in the ninth, taking advantage when Rockies rookie reliever Jaden Hill plunked Pete Crow-Armstrong to open the inning. Crow-Armstrong stole second base and scored on Ian Happ’s single up the middle.
Rockies starter Kyle Freeland pitched well, but missed on a couple of key pitches.
“Freeland pitched great, seven innings of three-run ball,” Black said. “Taillon pitched well, too. Kyle’s stuff was good, and he controlled the inside of the plate very well as the game went on.”
The veteran left-hander is a technician and operated with precision for most of his seven innings. But three pitches hurt him. In the first, Seiay Suzuki ripped an RBI double to left-center on a 0-2 curveball. In the fourth, Bellinger led off with a line drive homer to right, lacing Freeland’s 2-1 sinker just over the right-field wall.
Freeland thought the pitch to Bellinger was a good pitch, but tipped his cap to the right fielder for being able to barrel-up the ball.
The one pitch Freeland really wanted back came in the seventh after Colorado cut Chicago’s lead to 2-1. Freeland threw a 1-0, 83 mph curve to Crow-Armstrong, the No. 8 hitter. Freeland hung the pitch, and he knew it. Crow-Armstrong blasted it 438 feet to center to give the Cubs a 3-1 lead.
“It was a curveball that … I didn’t have the greatest intention behind it,” Freeland said. “We kind of had him off-balance all night and we kind of made a mistake with (the pitch). I’ll will not do that again.”
All in all, it was a strong outing for Freeland, who gave up seven hits over his seven innings, walking just one while striking out three. In his 15 starts since coming off the injured list, the lefty has a 3.41 ERA.
Freeland said the adjustments he made some major adjustments during his two-month span on the IL.
“With two months down, you have a lot to think about, a lot to watch,” he said. “I was sitting on four starts that were absolutely terrible to start the season (0-3, 13.21 ERA). I made the adjustments that I thought were the proper adjustments. and they ended up being that adjustments I need to allow me to be the kind of pitcher I wanted.”
Sunday’s pitching matchup
Cubs RHP Kyle Hendricks (3-11, 6.51 ERA) at Rockies Cal Quantrill (8-9, 4.63)
1:10 p.m. Sunday, Coors Field
TV: Rockies.TV (streaming); Comcast/Xfinity (channel 1262); DirecTV (683); Spectrum (130, 445, 305, 435 or 445, depending on region).
Radio: KHOW, 630 AM
Quantrill will come off the injured list to make his 27th start of the season. He’s been out since Aug. 29 with right triceps inflammation. After an excellent start to his Rockies career, the right-hander has stumbled in the second half, posting a 7.54 ERA in July, followed by a 5.40 ERA in August. He’s faced the Cubs six times (three starts), going 1-2 with an 8.38 ERA. Chicago has tagged him for eight home runs.
Hendricks is coming off a strong performance against the Dodgers, allowing two earned runs over 4 1/3 innings in Chicago’s 10-4 victory. He did not factor in the decision after giving up four hits and four walks while striking out two. The veteran will make his 11th career start against the Rockies and his first since Aug. 23, 2021, at Wrigley Field. His last start at Coors Field came on April 20, 2018, when he earned a win, giving up three runs on five hits over five innings in the Cubs’ 16-5 victory. In his 10 previous starts vs. Colorado, Hendricks was 3-3 with a 4.19 ERA.
Pitching probables
Monday: Diamondbacks TBA at Rockies RHP Antonio Senzatela (0-0, 0.00), 6:40 p.m.
Tuesday: Diamondbacks TBA at Rockies TBA, 6:40 p.m.
