Cody Bellinger hits 2-run homer Cubs pound Rockies
CHICAGO (AP) — Cody Bellinger, Seiya Suzuki, Christopher Morel and Garrett Cooper homered, and the Chicago Cubs pounded the Colorado Rockies 12-2 on Tuesday night for their third straight win.
Bellinger's two-run drive off the right-field scoreboard at Wrigley Field was his first homer of the season. The 2019 NL MVP re-signed with the Cubs for a $80 million, three-year contract in February.
Some fans in the crowd of 26,555 chanted "Cody! Cody! Cody!" when Bellinger stepped to the plate in the seventh on a chilly, breezy night. It only got louder when Bellinger launched his 425-foot shot on a 1-2 fastball.
"Yeah, that was cool," Bellinger said. "Sometimes you hear it and sometimes you don't, but I definitely heard that one.
"I was just in the moment and saw a good pitch that I wanted to swing at."
Cooper hit a three-run shot in the sixth that gave Chicago a 10-0 lead. He also doubled and tripled in his first home start with the Cubs.
Cooper, a right-handed batter in his eighth season, struck all three hits to right field. The 33-year-old Cooper likes to drive the ball to the opposite field, and he said Wrigley's dimensions and characteristics were a factor for him in signing with the Cubs in March.
"Over my seven-year career, there's a lot of those balls in the right-center gap that I've hit," said Cooper, who played for the Marlins for five-plus seasons. "You know in Miami, those are usually doubles and it's nice to get rewarded for driving the ball that way."
Nick Madrigal added two hits and three RBIs. Ian Happ and Dansby Swanson each had two of the Cubs' 14 hits.
Chicago right-hander Javier Assad allowed four hits in six scoreless innings. He struck out five and walked one in his first start of the season.
Michael Toglia hit a two-run homer for Colorado in the seventh against Jose Cuas. Charlie Blackmon had three of the Rockies' seven hits.
Colorado has been outscored 49-16 during its 1-5 start. The Rockies lost 5-0 to Shota Imanaga and the Cubs in the series opener on Monday.
'We're not swinging the bats and we're not pitching," Rockies manager Bud Black said. "So it's a bad combination. You never know coming out of spring training what's going to happen."
Rockies left-hander Kyle Freeland (0-2) was roughed up for the second straight start. He was tagged for seven runs and nine hits in 3 1/3 innings.
He also started on Thursday on opening day and was tagged for 10 runs and 10 hits in 2 1/3 innings in a 16-1 loss at Arizona.
Suzuki gave Chicago a 2-0 lead when he drilled Freeland's down-the-middle 2-0 pitch to the batter's eye in center in the first. The drive had an exit velocity of 115 mph and barely cleared 20 feet off the ground.
"I think we hit some balls really, really good tonight," Chicago manager Craig Counsell said. "Certainly Seiya's ball, that's as hard a hit a baseball that I've seen.
"We just put good swings on the baseball all night."
Madrigal hit an RBI single in the second, and Morel made it 4-0 with a solo shot in the third.
TRAINER'S ROOM
Cubs: RHP Jameson Taillon (back strain) threw live batting practice at the team's training facility in Arizona, and INF Patrick Wisdom (back strain) took part in the session, Counsell said.
UP NEXT
RHP Cal Quantrill (0-1, 9.00 ERA) starts for the Rockies in the series finale on Wednesday. LHP Luke Little (0-0) will start for the Cubs in what should be a bullpen day.
