 struck out six and allowed three runs on five hits in five innings to pick up his first win of the season.Nolan Arenado homered for Colorado in his return from a five-game suspension stemming from his involvement in a brawl against San Diego earlier this month.The Cubs, who had a season high in runs and hits (18), broke a tie with a pair of unearned runs in the fifth, moving in front 5-3. They batted around in the sixth, collecting a season-high six hits in the inning, three of them for extra bases.The first of those, an RBI triple by Jason Heyward, chased Jon Gray (1-4), who allowed seven runs - five earned - in five-plus innings. Schwarber's three-run drive off reliever Bryan Shaw highlighted the outburst, reaching the stand of evergreens beyond the centerfield wall. Schwarber added an RBI single in the Cubs' three-run eighth.Singles by Almora and Baez, and Kris Bryant's walk loaded the bases in the third. Almora scored on Anthony Rizzo's double-play grounder as Chicago evened the score at 3-3.Chicago jumped to a 2-0 lead when Almora beat out an infield single to lead off the game and Baez followed by connecting for his sixth home run of the season.The Rockies answered with a three-run first, getting an RBI single from Charlie Blackmon and a two-run homer by Arenado, who clubbed the first pitch for his second homer of the season in his first game back since serving his suspension for charging the mound April 11 against San Diego.ON FURTHER REVIEWBaez hit a one-out double and initially was called out trying to advance on Bryant's fielder's choice. But the call was overturned on review after replays showed Baez had beaten third baseman Arenado's tag. Baez later scored on a groundout and Bryant came home on Arenado's errant throw to first after fielding a grounder by Wilson Contreras.TRAINER'S ROOMCubs: RHP Eddie Butler was placed on the 10-day disabled list because of a right groin strain. RHP Luke Farrell was recalled from Triple A Iowa to fill Butler's roster spot. Farrell was expected to serve in long relief.Rockies: RF Carlos Gonzalez missed the game with right hamstring soreness. He tweaked his hamstring Wednesday making a diving catch at Pittsburgh. The Rockies were off on Thursday.UP NEXTCubs: RHP Yu Darvish (0-1, 6.00 ERA) allowed a season-high nine hits and four walks in taking the loss in his last start against Atlanta.Rockies: LHP Tyler Anderson (0-0, 4.74 ERA) is seeking his first win in his fifth start of the season.)
Rockies' Arenado to return for opener vs. Cubs 4h ago• 3 min read DENVER -- The Colorado Rockies welcome back All-Star third baseman Nolan Arenado but could be facing some roster decisions on Friday before starting a series against the Chicago Cubs.Arenado completed a five-game suspension on Wednesday, when the Rockies lost 10-2 at Pittsburgh to end a 5-2 road trip that began in Washington. The Rockies were off Thursday after playing 17 consecutive days.Arenado was suspended for charging the mound on April 11 when San Diego's Luis Perdomo threw a 96 mph fastball behind him. Outfielder Gerardo Parra's actions in the ensuing brawl resulted in a four-game suspension, which Parra is expected to begin serving Friday with the return of Arenado.The status of right fielder Carlos Gonzalez could complicate matters. He made a sprawling catch in right center of Starling Marte's liner to open the fourth inning on Wednesday, and for precautinary reasons was lifted for a pinch hitter in the fifth with a slight strain of his lower right hamstring."We'll see how it sets up here over the next couple of days," Rockies manager Bud Black told reporters Wednesday. "We are hoping it resolves itself quickly, but we're not quite sure where this is headed."He's sore. It doesn't look to be a significant hamstring strain at this point, but it's still concerning. We'll see how he is in a couple of days." An iffy weather forecast on Friday and Saturday could buy time for Colorado (11-9). However, the Cubs (8-8) will be eager to play, having already endured five postponements in three weeks this season.Parra's suspension will reduce to the active roster to 24 players, and Gonzalez could make it 23 with three outfielders -- Ian Desmond, who has made 11 of his 18 starts at first base, Charlie Blackmon and reserve Michael Tauchman, who has made four starts and is 1-for-20 with one walk and nine strikeouts.Depending on Gonzalez's status, the Rockies could opt to bring an outfielder from Triple-A Albuquerque to Denver in case they decide they can't be short another outfielder in addition to Parra.Candidates for a promotion would be Noel Cuevas, a right-handed hitter, and Raimel Tapia, David Dahl and Jordan Patterson, all of whom bat left-handed.Jon Gray (1-3, 6.23 ERA) has made 62 starts in the majors but will make his first career start against the Cubs. He's 0-2 with a 10.13 ERA in his past two starts against San Diego and at Washington, giving him consecutive losses for the first time since Sept. 23-29, 2016.Cubs starter Kyle Hendricks (0-1, 3.71) has allowed two homers in each of his past two starts, including his most recent outing Friday against Pittsburgh when he gave up two runs in six innings in a 6-1 loss.Hendricks is 1-2 with a 4.04 ERA in six starts against the Rockies and 1-1 with a 3.28 ERA in four starts at Coors Field, allowing two or fewer earned runs in three of those games.Colorado is last in the National League in both batting average (.214) and on-base percentage (.285) and 12th in OPS (.666). But more homers (27) than doubles (25) and strong outings by their starters until Wednesday have helped the Rockies win six of their past eight games.While the Rockies will be looking to get their stagnant offense going, Chicago will be trying to find some flow in a season that to date has been badly disjointed.The Cubs had three games postponed at Wrigley Field this week. They made up a game with the St. Louis Cardinals on a scheduled off day Thursday, winning 8-5 to match their season-high two-game winning streak for the second time."It has been a little bit of a choppy schedule," Chicago general manager Jed Hoyer told reporters this week. "I think that's made it hard to get in much of a rhythm. But I think that we had some games early (where) we let it get away a little bit." Drawing on a golf reference, Cubs manager Joe Maddon put it another way and said: "You just play through the bad lie. That's all there is to it. There's nothing you can do about it."
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