Cubs SS Addison Russell returns to lineup against Rockies

Over the past offseason, the Rockies traded away Butler as part of the deal that brought James Farris to Colorado.

Left-hander Jon Lester (3-4) worked five innings of four-run ball for Chicago (30-29), which has lost two straight. Blackmon doubled to shallow left to drive in Tony Wolters.

“We didn’t hit any balls hard basically until that inning when we did string together some singles”, Maddon said. And that would be it for the scoring.

Kershaw pitches 7 solid innings as Dodgers beat.

Butler finished the game having thrown five innings. He allowed three runs and six hits in five innings.

In the first inning, Lester got out of a jam, and in the bottom half of the inning, Kris Bryant homered for an early 1-0 lead. Hoffman blanked Chicago until the seventh. He picked up the third and final out on a grounded to first hit by Heyward. LaMahieu made the easy toss to first to end the inning.

Brewers second baseman Jonathan Villar was taken off the field on a cart with an injury after making a diving stop in short right field to rob Chris Herrmann in the eighth inning and then fell down in obvious pain. Rondon walked Charlie Blackmon around 3 groundball outs to second base for another quick inning. The game was maddening for the Cubs, who picked up only three hits and went 1-for-11 with runners in scoring position.

MARINERS 4, BLUE JAYS 2: Danny Valencia and Jarrod Dyson had RBI singles as part of Seattle’s seventh-inning rally, and the Mariners beat the Blue Jays for their 10th win in 12 games. “Primarily, this is not unlike the (0-6) West Coast trip, where we were just unable to get hits”. Raimel Tapia doubled to lead off the inning.

Chirinos’ 3-run HR in 11th lifts Rangers past Nationals 6-3 WASHINGTON – Robinson Chirinos almost put Texas ahead during a ninth-inning rally that tied it, then hit a three-run homer in the 11th that sent the Rangers over the Washington Nationals 6-3 on Saturday. Jake McGee allowed a single, but no damage in the eighth. Minus the pitcher, all eight of the Rockies starters picked up a hit during the contest.

Ken Giles walked one and struck out three in a scoreless ninth for his 16th save.

Greg Holland has been flawless in converting save opportunities this season.

Holland was wild to start walking Anthony Rizzo on pitches that weren’t particularly close tot he strike zone. Blackmon hit his 15th homer over the right field bleachers in the seventh. Blackmon then laced the next two-seam offering the other way for a base hit. The Cubs play 17 of their next 20 games on the road. The Rockies remain so hot right now. At this point, you sense a pattern with the Chicago Cubs.

“The fact that you have [Mike] Montgomery to pick up Hendricks on a start that he’s going to miss, that’s not a bad thing”, Maddon said. That was it, but the sequencing elves were not kind to the Cubs tonight.

The Cubs told Russell not to come to the ballpark on Thursday, and president of baseball operations Theo Epstein was not sure when he will rejoin the team. I knew how to battle. They’ve been particularly good on the road at 22-10. And the way Chatwood was pitching, that was more than enough. “We’ve been talking about that pretty much the entire season”.

I can see Chicago winning to avoid getting swept but I believe the value is with the hot team…

Just a few days ago it looked like the Cubs might be ready to leave the.500 mark in the rearview mirror.

Well at least Gordo was happy to see LaMahieu involved frequently in this win.