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 "The ball flies here," the 21-year-old second baseman said.
"There was no wind today, and the ball was flying everywhere."
Not really. Cubs shortstop Starlin Castro also homered, but outside
of two Rockies doubles, the teams combined for 10 other hits, all
singles.
Baez went 3-for-4 with four RBIs as the Cubs won the rubber game of
the series. The victory concluded a 4-2 road trip and gave Chicago
its seventh win in 10 games.
Baez flied out on his first at-bat, leaving him 1-for-11 in his
career that began Tuesday at Coors Field. However, after a single in
the third, Baez led off the sixth with a home run. He added a
two-run shot in the eighth to leave him 4-for-14 with three homers
and five RBIs.
"Today, I thought he had some really good approaches," Cubs manager
Rick Renteria said. "Gave himself a chance, and he was able to put
the barrel on the baseball and do some damage."
Baez drove a 3-2 slider from Yohan Flande (0-4) down the left field
line for his first homer. He hit what Renteria called a "clothesline
homer to right-center" on an 0-1 slider from Juan Nicasio, who made
his first career relief appearance after being recalled from
Triple-A Colorado Springs before the game.
"He can swing the bat hard," Rockies manager Walt Weiss said. "He
doesn't swing like a middle infielder."
Baez is projected to be a big part of the Cubs' future, but he
wasn't the only young player to contribute to Chicago's seventh
victory in its past 10 games.
Kyle Hendricks, 23, making his fifth major league start, pitched a
career-high eight innings and allowed two runs on six hits. He got
11 outs on ground balls and lowered his ERA to 2.10 while throwing
71 of 107 pitches for strikes.
"He carved us up," Weiss said. "Nothing that would light up the
(radar) gun. There was a lot of late movement. That was the
challenge."
Hendricks (3-1) retired the first nine batters he faced, five on
grounders as he followed his game plan.
"Early, I tried to get a lot of early outs," he said. "Just throw my
sinker over the plate, try to get ground balls, keep it in the
yard."
Center fielder Arismendy Alcantara's single in the second inning
gave the Cubs a 1-0 lead after right fielder Justin Ruggiano led off
with a single and moved up on a groundout.
Baez's two-out single in the third inning scored first baseman Chris
Valaika and made it 2-0. Valaika led off with a single and was
sacrificed to second.
The Rockies scored a run in the fourth on first baseman Justin
Morneau's double, but Hendricks snuffed out what could have been a
bigger inning when he struck out right fielder Carlos Gonzalez and
got left fielder Corey Dickerson to fly out with runners on first
and third.
"He's a very poised young man," Renteria said. "And I think he's the
type of kid, when he prepares for a test, he knows he's going to do
well. You can't expect it all the time, but I hope that he's making
believers out of a lot of people."
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The back-to-back homers by Baez and Castro to open the sixth were one more
home run than Flande allowed in 28 1/3 innings in his previous six
career games, including five starts. He gave up a homer to the St. Louis
Cardinals' Matt Adams in his major league debut June 25.
The Rockies made it 4-2 in the bottom of the sixth inning. Dickerson's
two-out single on a 1-2 pitch scored Morneau, who singled with one out
and moved to second on a two-out walk by Hendricks. Hendricks got
catcher Wilin Rosario to hit a tapper in front of the plate to strand
runners at first and second.
The Cubs begin a seven-game homestand Friday, when Baez will make his
Wrigley Field debut. No Cubs player since 1914 had his first multi-home
run game by his third career game, and Baez joined Joe Cunningham of the
1954 Cardinals as the only players since 1914 to hit three home runs in
his first three career games.
Asked if he might be nervous about playing his first game in Chicago,
Baez said, "Not really. I already played three games here. Even though
we're playing away, you have a lot of fans for the Cubs, so I don't
think so."
NOTES: Cubs 1B Anthony Rizzo was rested. He played in each of the Cubs'
first 112 games, including 106 starts. Rizzo went 0-for-8 with four
strikeouts in the first two games of the series and a sacrifice fly, the
only ball he hit to the outfield. ... Rockies RHP Juan Nicasio was
recalled from Triple-A Colorado Springs, where he was moved to the
bullpen. RHP Brooks Brown was optioned to Colorado Springs. ... Chicago
RHP Kyle Hendricks went to Dartmouth where for two years, his catcher
was Chris O'Dowd, who is playing at the Rockies' Double-A Tulsa
affiliate. O'Dowd's father, Dan, is Colorado's general manager. ... Cubs
RHP Neil Ramirez (right triceps soreness) began a rehab assignment
Wednesday in the rookie-level Arizona League and allowed two runs (one
earned) in two-thirds of an inning. ... Cubs LHP Felix Dubront (left
calf strain) threw 88 pitches in a side session Wednesday. He might
begin a rehab assignment next week. ... The start of the game was
delayed 39 minutes by rain.
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reserved.]
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