Colorado @ Chicago preview
Wrigley Field
Last Meeting ( May 17, 2010 ) Colorado 2, Chi. Cubs 4
Maybe all it will take to get Aramis Ramirez going is a dramatic home run.
The Chicago Cubs will be hoping that's the case when they close out a two-game series against the Colorado Rockies on Tuesday.
One of the biggest questions while the Cubs were dropping six of seven to fall seven games below .500 over the weekend was when was Ramirez going to find his stroke. The 31-year-old third baseman and clean-up hitter for Chicago entered Monday's contest batting a miniscule .167 - good for 114th in the National League out of 117 players with at least 100 plate appearances.
But Ramirez, who is making nearly $16 million this season, may have answered that question on Monday night when he drove a 1-0 pitch from Rockies right-hander Matt Belisle over the fence in left-center for a two-run walk-off homer in the 11th inning, lifting the Cubs to a 4-2 victory in the series opener.
It was the fourth blast of the season for Ramirez, who averaged nearly 32 home runs per season between 2004 and 2008 before being held to 15 during an injury-marred 2009.
Ramirez got some help on Monday from rookie phenom Starlin Castro, who went 3-for-5 and scored on Ramirez's blast. Castro made his major league debut on May 7 and is now batting .361. He also notched his first career stolen base in the win.
One player who still hasn't gotten into the groove is Derek Lee, who went 0-for-5 in the opener and left five runners on base. He is now batting .230.
Chicago manager Lou Piniella made headlines over the weekend when he questioned the team's consistency, calling out the bullpen in particular. Despite Monday's win, the relief corps let its manager down again, when John Grabow allowed a hit and a pair of walks to load the bases before Carlos Marmol came on to walk in the tying run in the eighth inning.
Attempting to keep the ball out of the bullpen's hands on Tuesday will be right-hander Carlos Silva. The portly veteran has earned a win in each of his last two outings and is coming off a 6 1/3-inning stint against the Marlins last week in which he allowed two runs on seven hits.
Silva, who was aquired from the Seattle Mariners in the Milton Bradley trade over the winter, has yielded two runs or less in four of his seven starts due to his strong command, issuing just nine walks in 42 1/3 innings.
The Rockies will counter with youngster Jhoulys Chacin. The 22-year-old rookie right-hander did not allow a run in his first 15 1/3 innings this season before getting rocked for six runs in five innings against the Washington Nationals last week.
Chacin surrendered two homers in the loss and struck out only three after punching out 14 without allowing a blast in his two previous starts.
Colorado got two hits from veteran slugger Todd Helton on Monday - both singles. The veteran first baseman still has not homered this season and has tallied only seven RBIs.