Rockies look to deal one other blow to Cubs’ slim playoff aspirations

The Colorado Rockies have been eliminated from postseason contention but are doing their best to hurt teams with hopes to reach the playoffs.

The Rockies defeated the surging Detroit Tigers on Thursday and followed that with a dramatic 9-5 win over the Chicago Cubs on Friday night. Chicago has little wiggle room if it wants to play in October.

The Cubs (75-72) will get a chance to recover when the play the Rockies in the second contest of their three-game series on Saturday night. Chicago will send right-hander Jameson Taillon (10-8, 3.57 ERA) to the mound against Colorado lefty Kyle Freeland (5-7, 4.97).

The Cubs have a slim chance to overcome the New York Mets and Atlanta Braves for the final wild card in the National League, and both teams won Friday night. Chicago is six games behind New York in the race for that last playoff berth with 15 games remaining.

“Math is math,” Cubs shortstop Dansby Swanson told The Athletic. “But that doesn’t have any bearing on what we’re trying to accomplish. Everyone is obviously aware of what needs to happen. We’re not silly. But that hasn’t once dictated our mentality going into each game.

“We’re here to win baseball games.”

Chicago will need a good outing from Taillon, who will make his 26th start of the season. He didn’t pitch against the Rockies when the teams met in April but is familiar with the club. He is 3-1 with a 1.80 ERA in four career starts against Colorado.

The Rockies (56-92) looked as if they would easily lose 100 games for the second straight season when they began 2024 with an 8-28 record. They have played better in the second half of this year and built on a just-finished 4-5 road trip that ended in Detroit.

Colorado can avoid 100 losses by splitting its final 14 games, and Freeland can help with another good outing. The Denver native has pitched well since coming off the 60-day injured list in late June despite constantly battling a blister on his left pinkie.

It has forced him out of several starts, including his last one in Milwaukee on Sunday after five innings. He picked up the win after surrendering just one unearned run before departing in a 4-1 victory.

“We were able to doctor it up, and put something on it to guard the skin against the nail and allow some of that pressure to be alleviated,” Freeland said.

It hasn’t dampened his upward trajectory since being activated.

“My body and my mechanics feel really good. In tune with all that,” Freeland said. “My mechanics since I came back from the IL have been very sound, and exactly how I want them and I’ve been getting good results.”

He hopes to continue in that direction in his seventh career start against the Cubs. He is 1-4 with a 6.34 ERA in six career appearances, with four of those starts coming at home.

–Field Level Media