Game Four Recap: Cubs 9 Rockies 5

Top Play (WPA): Dexter Fowler’s second inning triple, which scored Jason Hammel and Arismendy Alcantara and gave the Cubs an early 3-0 lead (.154 WPA).  This liner into the right field corner was Fowler’s second on a two-triple evening.

Bottom Play (WPA): Nick Hundley’s 4-6-3 double play with no one out in the bottom of the fourth inning (-.099 WPA). The Rockies had cut the Cubs’ lead to 5-3 and had the leadoff man on, but Jason Hammel induced this pretty double play to neutralize the threat. Hammel really settled in after this and ended up pitching a very solid six innings in the light air of Coors Field.

Key Moment: Dexter Fowler’s leadoff triple in the top of the first. This game had a different feel to it right from the start, and much of this was attributable to Fowler’s night at the top of the order. Fowler hit this ball into the left-center field gap and used his easy-looking speed to glide into third base. Jorge Soler’s sacrifice fly then quickly scored Fowler, and the Cubs had an early lead. The offense extended this lead throughout the game and never really looked back. This was a welcome outburst for the Cubs, whose offense had looked alternatively bad and unlucky through the season’s first three games. The Cubs were always going to break out, but the early lead undoubtedly relieved a little bit of pressure. Fowler paced the lineup from the top of the order the whole night—he had some great at-bats and ended up 2-3 with two triples and two walks.

Trend to Watch: Home runs! The Cubs came into the season as a team loaded with potential power bats, but until facing Kyle Kendrick tonight they had failed to hit one. They broke out of their mini-drought in the third inning, when Chris Coghlan and Mike Olt went back to back. Starlin Castro followed them up with a long home run to left field in the fifth. The Cubs were a home run-reliant offense last year—they were fifth in the league with 157—and we are likely to see even more long balls this season as the weather gets warmer and players like Jorge Soler and—yes, he’ll be here soon enough—Kris Bryant see more at-bats at the major-league level. Saturday night we got our first sneak preview of the power that the 2015 Cubs lineup should display.

Coming Next: Dartmouth product Kyle Hendricks makes his 2015 debut against the Rockies’ Jordan Lyles in the series finale on Sunday. Hendricks, 25, is looking to follow up his excellent audition last year (2.46 ERA, 3.29 FIP in 13 starts) and solidify his role as a future mainstay in the Cubs rotation. He’s likely to have success if he can keep inducing groundballs at the 51 percent rate that he did last year, and this will be especially important tomorrow in spacious Coors Field. Watch also for updates on Mike Olt’s health. Olt left Saturday’s game after being hit on his right wrist/hand with a pitch, with reports coming late in the evening that X-rays were negative. Bryant is the obvious long-term replacement at third base, but if Olt needs a trip to the DL, it will be interesting to see who is called up from Triple-A and who will fill in at third base in the meantime.