Mistakes by the lake doomed the Rockies on a gloomy Monday afternoon at Wrigley Field.
Left fielder Nolan Jones committed two critical errors on one at-bat in the sixth inning, opening the door for three Cubs runs. On a cold, rainy day with the wind howling in from Lake Michigan, that’s all Chicago needed to beat the Rockies 5-0.
The Rockies managed just three hits and opened the season 1-4. They have been outscored 37-14 so far this year. The Cubs won their home opener to improve to 2-2.
Jones, who made a crucial error by dropping a routine flyball in Colorado’s 5-1 loss at Arizona on Sunday, was in the spotlight for the wrong reason again Monday.
Hits were tough to come by early, but the Cubs managed two singles off starter Dakota Hudson to open the sixth. With one out, Christopher Morel slashed a single to left, and the onrushing Jones let the ball go under his glove and it rolled to the wall. Jones compounded the first error with a poor throw back into the infield, allowing all three baserunners to score. Colorado couldn’t overcome the “Little League homer.”
Chicago tacked on two more runs in the seventh off reliever Peter Lambert when Cody Bellinger delivered a two-run single to right. Lambert gave up five hits in two innings.
Japan’s Shota Imanaga, making his major league debut, dominated the Rockies for six innings, striking out nine, walking none and giving up only two hits. The Rockies hit the left-hander hard a few times, but with the wind blowing in, well-struck balls, such as Charlie Blackmon’s drive to deep center field in the third inning, turned into easy outs.
The Rockies didn’t get their first hit until Blackmon laced a single to left field with two outs in the sixth. Brendan Rodgers followed with another single, but Imanaga fanned Jones to end the mini-rally.
Rockies right-hander Dakota Hudson, making his Rockies debut, pitched a solid 5 1/3 innings, giving up three hits and no earned runs. Hudson induced seven groundball outs, struck out two and walked two.
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