Mickey Moniak hit a walk-off triple in the ninth inning, and the Colorado Rockies beat the Chicago Cubs 6-5 in Denver on Sunday.
Ryan Ritter led off the inning with a single to left off Daniel Palencia (1-5) and Moniak hit a liner into the right field corner that kicked off the wall to elude Kyle Tucker. Ritter raced around the bases and scored standing up.
Colorado avoided a sweep to begin its nine-game homestand. Orlando Arcia had three hits, Braxton Fulford and Ritter added two hits apiece and Juan Mejia (2-1) got the win.
Ian Happ hit a game-tying home run and Tucker finished with three hits for Chicago, which missed a chance to gain ground on Milwaukee in the National League Central. The Cubs trail the Brewers by 6 1/2 games.
Chicago took the lead in the second on Seiya Suzuki’s two-run double off Tanner Gordon. But the Rockies got even in the bottom of the inning against Matthew Boyd, who allowed four runs on six hits over six innings.
Fulford led off with a double, went to third on Arcia’s single and scored on Tyler Freeman’s bunt single. After Ezequiel Tovar grounded into a forceout, Brenton Doyle drove in Freeman with a single to center.
Colorado took the lead with a two-out rally in the fourth. Kyle Farmer drew a walk, Fulford tripled off the wall in right-center and Arcia singled him in.
Gordon made it stand up through his six innings. He retired the side in order in the fifth and worked out of a two-on, two-out jam in the sixth to end his day. He is the first Rockies pitcher this season to record nine strikeouts in a game.
His teammates gave him a three-run cushion in the seventh when Colorado loaded the bases with no outs and Doyle’s sacrifice fly made it 5-2. A two-out walk reloaded the bases but Kyle Karros struck out to end the threat.
The Cubs rallied in the eighth. Reliever Luis Peralta walked Michael Busch and Tucker singled leading off, Suzuki lined out and Happ homered to center field, his 18th, to make it 5-5.
