Rockies 7, Cubs 2
Quintana’s outing
Overall, right-hander Jose Quintana was content with how he pitched Sunday. In his third outing of the spring, Quintana allowed four hits and two earned runs while walking two and striking out three in four innings. At the plate, he had an RBI on a sacrifice bunt in the second inning.
“All my stuff was good. I’ve been working the changeup, and fastball command was good,” Quintana said. “I feel great, and I battled a lot.”
With Opening Day less than two weeks away, Quintana feels like he’s on the right path. He wants to get to five or six innings in his next outing.
“I feel great,” he said. “I can hit my spots when I want. I can get ahead of the count quickly, and my breaking balls were good.”
Duensing gets rocked
Left-hander Brian Duensing got rocked in the seventh inning. After replacing reliever Steve Cishek, Duensing allowed four hits (three singles, one double) and four earned runs. He was pulled after getting only one out and replaced by left-hander Kyle Ryan.
Before the outing, Duensing was pitching well. In 6⅓ innings, he had a 2.85 ERA and allowed only four hits and two runs.
El Mago still has it
Only Javy Baez could do this. In the first inning, Baez stole second base. In real time, he looked out, but replay showed he avoided the tag by lifting his left arm. Baez went 1-for-3 with a strikeout.
Murphy’s day
Rockies second baseman Daniel Murphy went 1-for-2 against his former team. After drawing a walk in the first inning, Murphy hit a solo home run to right in the fourth against Quintana.
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On deck
The Cubs are off Monday. They have split-squad games against the Mariners (Mesa, 3:05 p.m.) and Royals (Surprise, 8:05 p.m.) on Tuesday.
— Madeline Kenney
