McKinstry, Stroman Lift Chicago Cubs Over Colorado Rockies

Marcus Stroman and the Chicago Cubs outlasted the Colorado Rockies Friday for a 2-1 series opening victory.

Zack Mckinstry went hitless for his first six games in September. Perhaps he was just saving his production, because since then the former-Los Angeles Dodger is slashing .444/.444/1.056 over his last 18 plate appearances.

Leading off against Germán Márquez to start the ballgame, McKinstry lined a ball off the wall in center field. Tangled up in the ivy, Randal Grichuk allowed the Chicago Cubs' second baseman to reach third on the play.

Driven in one batter later on an Ian Happ single, the Cubs took a 1-0 lead they would never relinquish.

Looking to be a changed man, McKinstry was the soul of the Cubs' lineup Friday. His fifth inning solo home run, the fourth on his season, proved to be all the offense the Cubs would need. Now leading 2-0, Chicago starter Marcus Stroman had some cushion.

He had already silenced Colorado's hitters through five innings entirely. Aside from a hit-by-pitch and one walk, they hadn't managed a baserunner, hitless through five. When the Cubs signed Stroman to a two-year, $50 million contract during the off-season, this is the pitcher they were expected, not the man they received in the first half.

In the sixth, Ryan McMahon broke up Stroman's no-hit bid with a solo home run deep into the left-center field seats. Still, it was the lone run Stroman, and the Cubs' pitching staff as a whole, allowed on the afternoon.

After a somewhat tense seventh in which Stroman hit another batter then surrendered a two-out single, he polished off the the inning for his final line: 7 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 2BB, 5K, a dominant outing from an elite-level starter.

The ever-consistent Brandon Hughes and Manuel Rodríguez polished off a clean eighth and ninth, facing a minimum six batters for the Cubs' 62nd victory of the season.

Saturday will see them look for a series victory against the Rockies' José Ureña, with Hayden Wesneski making his first Major League start at 2:20 p.m. CST.

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