Game Recap: Shaw delivers as Cubs walk off Rockies in extras |
Dustin Riese
· · 1 day ago
CHICAGO - Don't let the Colorado Rockies (9-46) record fool you. This is still a major league baseball team capable of beating anyone, as they looked to top the Chicago Cubs (34-21) at Wrigley Field on Tuesday night. On paper, there is no comparison between the two, as the Cubs should be able to dominate this team and continue to beat the teams they are expected to beat.
That hasn't been the case through the first two games of this series, as nothing has been easy for the Cubs so far against this Rockies club. Tonight was a prime example of that, as German Marquez went toe-to-toe with Cade Horton for six innings and helped send the game into extras tied 2-2. With neither team scoring a run in the 10th, it was the Rockies taking their first lead of the game on an 11th-inning RBI grounder as they were in a position to steal this game. Leave it to the Cubs to change that narrative in the bottom of the 11th as a Michael Busch single tied things up, only to have the kid Matt Shaw come through with a bloop single to right as he delivered the first walk-off hit of his career to give the Cubs a 4-3 victory to take another series. Three starts and four appearances into his MLB career, Horton has been as good as advertised and has been a nice addition to the Cubs' rotation. Tuesday saw Horton deliver his best outing as a pro as he gave the Cubs six innings for the second straight start, allowing two runs on four hits. He walked one and struck out a career-high six, as Horton is starting to adjust quickly to the MLB game. As good as he was, Marquez was equally as good, which shouldn't come as a surprise. Despite the dismal numbers this season, Marquez is by far the Rockies' best pitcher, and he has had considerable success against the Cubs. That success continued on Tuesday as Marquez matched Horton with six innings pitched, allowing two runs and striking out six. With neither team doing much of anything early on, it was the Cubs who broke through first in the bottom of the third as a Shaw single led things off. Shaw would advance to second with a steal before the Ian Happ single put runners on the corners and one out. Kyle Tucker kept the line moving with a walk to load the bases while Seiya Suzuki's single gave the Cubs an early 1-0 lead. Pete Crow-Armstrong tacked on an additional RBI later in the inning on a fielder's choice as the Cubs were off and running 2-0. With their RBIs, Suzuki and PCA continue to be in a dead heat for the MLB RBI lead, as Suzuki leads the way with 50 and Crow-Armstrong coming in with 49. Pitching with the lead for the first time in the game, Horton started to struggle a bit in the fourth as he hit Jordan Beck to start things off, which proved costly later in the inning. After Beck stole second to put himself in scoring position, it was Ryan McMahon who pulled the Rockies within one as his RBI single made this a 2-1 game. Colorado would load the bases on a Brenton Doyle walk and a Mickey Moniak single, but it was Horton managing to limit the damage as he got through the fourth with the lead. That was the momentum swing the Cubs needed as Horton wound up retiring eight of the final nine hitters he faced to close out his outing with the lead. Apart from their two runs in the third, the Cubs didn't do anything off Marquez, despite having several chances to tack on some runs, including a leadoff double from Ian Happ to begin the fifth that went to waste. With both pitchers out of the game following the sixth, this was going to come down to which bullpen could do its job the best, and given the Cubs' recent track record, you had to like their chances. Before getting to the pen, Horton faced one batter in the seventh, which resulted in a game-tying homer from Doyle as the Rockies climbed back to make this a 2-2 game. That was the end for Horton as Caleb Thielbar and the rest of the Cubs' pen took over. Colorado had a chance to take the lead in the ninth as Craig Counsell went with Ryan Pressly, and once again, his outing came with plenty of stressful moments. What started as a one-out single from Tyler Freeman turned into a wasted inning as Freeman was thrown out trying to steal a second ahead of the Michael Toglia single as things remained 2-2, and extra innings were on the horizon. For whatever reason, the Cubs' offense hasn't fared well in extras this season, and after both teams failed to score a run in the 10th, it looked as if those struggles were going to surface yet again. Out for his second inning of work in the 11th was Chris Flexen, and immediately after he came back out, it was the Rockies grabbing the lead as the Hunter Goodman single made this a 3-2 game. Flexen didn't let that hit bother him as he bounced back to retire the next three hitters he faced to keep things close and gave the offense a chance to make things happen late. With Crow-Armstrong as the ghost runner at second, the Cubs didn't waste any time setting things in motion as PCA wound up stealing third with one out to move within 90 feet of scoring. A few pitchers later, this was a 3-3 as Busch lined one to left field off a check swing as the Cubs refused to quit. Busch was lifted for a pinch runner in Jon Berti, and after his steal of second, he was the winning run in scoring position. Chicago continued to keep things interesting as Nico Hoerner worked a walk to keep things going, which brought the rookie Shaw to the plate. Ever since his return from AAA, Shaw looks like a different player, and if he were to figure out a way to win this game in extras, that would be his moment this season. Well, wish granted as Shaw stayed back on a Tyler Kinley offering and flared the pitch into right field to score Berti from second and lift the Cubs to the 4-3 extra-inning walk-off win. Shaw was one of three players to record multiple hits, joining Happ and Tucker. The Cubs will go for the sweep on Wednesday when they send Matthew Boyd to the mound against Tanner Gordon, who will be making just his third start of the season.
