Cubs fall in home run battle vs. Rockies, Hunter Goodman in 9-5 loss
DENVER – On a warm Friday evening at hitter-friendly Coors Field, Rockies catcher Hunter Goodman wreaked havoc against the Cubs, who lost 9-5.
He erased the Cubs' comeback with a grand slam in the eighth inning, the first of his career.
He also hit a two-run homer and RBI single earlier in the game against Cubs starter Javier Assad, who allowed four runs in six innings.
All four runs scored in the second and fourth innnings. Assad navigated traffic in the fifth and sixth innings, inducing double play balls in both to come out of them unscathed.
"What I see is now we're looking at two years of 100-plus innings in each season of pretty darn good performance," manager Craig Counsell said before the game. "And it's really pretty hard to argue with what the performance has been, and hard not to give him a lot of credit for his performance the last couple years."
The Rockies extended their lead in the seventh when Ezequiel Tovar hit a solo homer off reliever Ethan Roberts. But the Cubs tied up the game on Michael Busch's towering three-run home run in the eighth.
Then Cubs reliever Drew Smyly loaded the bases in the eighth inning, and Nate Pearson replaced him to face Goodman.
Brennen Davis to 60-day IL
The Cubs claimed right-hander Jimmy Herget off waivers from the Braves and optioned him to Triple-A Iowa. The 31-year-old reliever made eight appearances for Atlanta, amassing a 4.38 ERA.
To clear a spot for him on the 40-man roster, the Cubs recalled minor-league outfielder Brennen Davis and put him on the 60-day IL with a fractured left ankle.
"It's tough because he's had a number of unfortunate accidents, almost," Counsell said. "And when they add up, just mentally it gets hard for the player, as much as much as anything."
Davis, a former Cubs top prospect, has battled through a long list of injuries, many of them uncommon, including a vascular malformation that necessitated back surgery, two concussions, core muscle surgery, a stress reaction in his back, and a stress fracture in his back.
"I can also tell you that he's not the first, you know, and as a player, you've got to just persevere through it, and he will, and you just keep working and get yourself back," Counsell said. "That's how sometimes, as a professional, you have to do it. You have to deal with some roadblocks that get put in front of you that are not of your control always, and you just keep fighting. And I'm sure Brennen will."
Injury update
Cubs reliever Julian Merryweather (right knee tendinitis) was scheduled to pitch for Triple-A Iowa on Friday, in the first game of his rehab assignment. Merryweather has been on the 15-day IL for two and a half weeks.
"We feel like we've got chances here and we can make this a really good two weeks," Counsell said of the remainder of the regular season, "and Jillian's trying to get back to be part of that."
