Arenado bashes two homers as Rockies rout Cubs
DENVER -- Nolan Arenado emphatically ended his slump and his slugging drought Sunday with a four-hit game that included a memorable power display.
He hit two three-run homers as the Colorado Rockies piled on the Chicago Cubs for seven runs in the first inning and walloped them 11-4 in the rubber game of the three-game series.
The Rockies won for the fourth time in five games as they finished a 4-2 homestand against the Cubs and Washington Nationals. The loss was just the fifth in 24 games for the Cubs.
Arenado hit a three-run homer in the first when the Rockies abruptly ended Jason Hammel's 22-inning scoreless streak. In the fourth, Arenado belted another three-run homer off Hammel.
Arenado went 4-for-5 with six RBIs, one shy of his career high. He tied his career high with four hits. It was the seventh four-hit game of his career and second this season.
The third baseman entered the game with three hits in his past 30 at-bats, a tailspin that had dropped his average to .275, the lowest it had been since he was hitting .274 on April 25. He had gone 12 games without an extra-base hit since his last homer Aug. 8.
Entering Sunday, Arenado was hitting .242 (30-for-124) in 34 games since the All-Star break with seven homers, 28 RBI and a .767 OPS. Before the game, manager Walt Weiss was asked about Arenado's extended slump and answered with humor and insight.
"I don't worry too much about him, just try to find a way to hide the sharp objects because that's kind of how he's wired," manager Walt Weiss said pregame. "But he'll find a way to work himself out of it."
Arenado's six RBIs gave him a major-league-leading 104, and he took over the National League lead with 32 homers.
Jorge De La Rosa (8-7), who had no-decisions in each of his previous four starts, worked a season-high eight innings and got 13 outs on ground balls. He held the Cubs to four hits and two runs on two solo homers by Addison Russell. De La Rosa struck out six and walked one.
For the second time in four games, the Rockies scored seven runs in the first. The Cubs aided the Colorado cause with three errors in the inning, two of them resulting in four of the runs being unearned.
Arenado's one-out homer drove in David Dahl and DJ LeMahieu, who began the inning with singles. First baseman Anthony Rizzo botched Gerardo Parra's grounder. After Daniel Descalso walked, third baseman Kris Bryant threw wide of second base on Ben Paulsen's grounder to load the bases.
Tony Wolters doubled home two runs, making him 5-for-7 with three doubles, one triple and 12 RBIs with bases loaded. De La Rosa followed with a two-run single against Hammel (13-6), who was 6-0 with a 0.95 ERA in six starts since the All-Star break. He allowed 10 hits and 10 runs, six earned, in 3 1/3 innings, a season low for a start not related to injury.
LeMahieu, who had three hits after his 10-game hitting streak ended Saturday, hit his 10th homer in the eighth.
NOTES: Rockies CF Charlie Blackmon was not in the lineup for the third straight day but said his bruised right big toe was better. He could start Monday at Milwaukee. ... Cubs OF Jorge Soler a late scratch due to soreness in his right knee. ... Rockies RHP Jeff Hoffman was the seventh Colorado player to make his major league debut this season, joining RHP Matt Carasiti, RHP Carlos Estevez, LHP Tyler Anderson, SS Trevor Story, C Tony Wolters and OF David Dahl.