Colorado 5, Chi. Cubs 1
When: 4:10 PM ET, Friday, April 10, 2015
Where: Coors Field, Denver, Colorado
Temperature:
61°
Umpires:
Home -
Quinn Wolcott, 1B -
Gary Cederstrom, 2B -
Eric Cooper, 3B -
Rob Drake
Attendance:
49303
By The Sports Xchange
DENVER -- The Colorado Rockies won their home opener 5-1 over the Chicago Cubs on Friday at Coors Field, and the Rockies tied a franchise record with their fourth straight victory to begin a season.
The Rockies also vindicated the thinking of manager Walt Weiss. He batted his pitcher eighth for the first time in Rockies history and made another key adjustment to his lineup involving shortstop Troy Tulowitzki.
Batting second to start a game for the first time in nearly six years, Tulowitzki doubled home two runs in the fifth off Cubs starter Travis Wood (0-1) to put the Rockies ahead 3-1.
The Rockies tacked on two runs in the sixth when first baseman Justin Morneau, who entered the game 1-for-13, led off with a home run, and left fielder Corey Dickerson singled home a run, giving him seven RBIs for the season.
The only other time in their previous 22 seasons that the Rockies opened 4-0 was in 1995 -- one of three seasons they reached the playoffs as the wild-card team.
Rockies starter Tyler Matzek threw just 40 of 84 pitches for strikes and was lifted with the score tied at 1-1 after giving up a walk and single to begin the fifth. Christian Bergman (1-0) took over and snuffed out that rally. He fell behind shortstop Starlin Castro 3-0 before getting him to ground into a double play and retired third baseman Mike Olt on a grounder.
Matzek batted eighth, and Tulowitzki hit second in the lineup for the first time since May 27, 2009.
Weiss said he liked the arrangement against a left-handed starter and preferred to have a dangerous right-handed hitter batting second with two position players hitting in front of him.
One of those position players was second baseman DJ LeMahieu, who went 3-for-4 and reached base four times. Typically the Rockies' eighth hitter, LeMahieu batted ninth and drove in Colorado's first run with a two-out single in the second. The hit followed a double by Matzek, who was given credit for a hit on a ball that went off the glove of left fielder Matt Szczur.
Matzek allowed four hits and three walks, hit two batters and threw a wild pitch but gave up just one run in the third on Szczur's one-out sacrifice fly after the Cubs loaded the bases with no outs.
Bergman, Brooks Brown, Rafael Betancourt and Boone Logan combined to hold the Cubs to one hit over the final five innings.
Notes: Cubs 1B Anthony Rizzo has reached base safely in his past 17 games, dating to Aug. 23. It is the longest active streak in the majors and ties the longest streak of Rizzo's career (July 6-25 last year)...Paid attendance was 49,303, a sellout. Tickets distributed were 50,967, a Coors Field record. The old record was 50,956 on April 9, 2010. ...Both teams batted their pitchers eighth, the first time that has happened since a Pirates-Cardinals game on July 13, 2008, when Joel Pineiro started for the Cardinals and Ian Snell for the Pirates. ... Cubs RHP Justin Grimm (right forearm inflammation) was placed on the 15-day disabled list retroactive to April 2, and RHP Brian Schlitter was recalled from Triple-A Iowa. ... Cubs C Wellington Castillo and LF Matt Szczur made their first starts of the season. ... Rockies LHP Jorge De La Rosa (left groin strain) threw 57 pitches in four innings in a rehab game Thursday for Triple-A Albuquerque and is on course to be activated and start Tuesday at San Francisco.
Top Game Performances
Starting Pitchers
| Chi. Cubs |
|
Colorado |
|
Travis Wood
|
Player |
Tyler Matzek |
|
Loss |
W/L |
No Decision |
|
4.2 |
IP |
4.0 |
|
5 |
Strikeouts |
4 |
|
7 |
Hits |
4 |
|
5.79 |
ERA |
2.25 |
Team Stats Summary
| Team |
Hits |
HR |
TB |
Avg |
LOB |
K |
RBI |
BB |
SB |
Errors |
| Chi. Cubs
|
5 |
0 |
5 |
.167 |
19 |
7 |
1 |
4 |
1 |
1 |
| Colorado
|
11 |
1 |
16 |
.324 |
13 |
7 |
5 |
3 |
0 |
0 |
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