Rockies Vs. Cubs: Weather Forces Postponement, Game Rescheduled For June 27

The Colorado Rockies had already won their series against the Chicago Cubs, but were looking for a series sweep. Unfortunately, the weather did not cooperate.

Heavy rain showers forced a game delay, and eventually a postponement. Since this is the last time these two teams will play each other in 2011, the game was more difficult to reschedule.

The Rockies will play the rubber match of this series on June 27. Colorado will be flying in from their series against the New York Yankees and will already be in town for a series against the Chicago White Sox.

The Cubs will also be flying into town early that day, fresh from an interleague series against the Kansas City Royals. They will start a series against the San Francisco Giants the following day, on June 28.

With the postponement, the Rockies now get two straight days without a game. They will fly back to Denver and start a brief three game series against the Pittsburgh Pirates before heading out on yet another road trip, their first against NL West opponents. The rotation order will stay the same, as Jhoulys Chacin (the original starter against the Cubs) is still scheduled to pitch the series opener against the Pirates.

Rockies Vs. Cubs: Jhoulys Chacin Looks To Repeat Previous Start Against Cubs

The Colorado Rockies finish their regular home-and-home series with the Chicago Cubs on Wednesday afternoon, having won the overall series contest. But, the Rockies can do better than in the home series they had with the Cubs if they win Wednesday's game to complete the road sweep.

The Rockies will have Jhoulys Chacin on the mound. Though he is coming off a loss to the Florida Marlins on April 22, Chacin's start before then came against the Chicago Cubs at Coors Field. He threw a gem, finishing a six-hit complete game shutout in under two-and-one-half hours. He struck out seven on the way to his third win. A victory on Wednesday afternoon will tie him for the team lead in wins at four with Jorge De La Rosa, last night's winner.

Cubs starter Casey Coleman will be a familiar sight to the Rockies as he pitched Chicago to their only victory over the Rockies so far. He limited the Rockies to one run on four hits and three walks in 5.2 innings. But this is just his fourth start; his last start came against the Dodgers and he failed to make it out of the third inning, surrendering six runs. Does he have the Rockies' number?

First pitch is scheduled for 12:20 p.m. MT (weather permitting), and ROOT Sports, as always, will have coverage.

Rockies Vs. Cubs: Todd Helton Homers Twice In 4-3 Victory

The Colorado Rockies got a rare glimpse of the vintage Todd Helton on Tuesday night when he hit two home runs in a 4-3 victory over the Chicago Cubs. He began and ended the Rockies' scoring in the game with his second homer in the first inning and his third one in the fifth inning.

The Rockies scored in four of the first five innings, as Troy Tulowitzki hit an RBI double to plate Dexter Fowler in the third inning and Ty Wigginton hit his second homer of the season in the fourth inning.

Jorge De La Rosa improved to 4-0 after another strong performance. This time he went seven innings, allowed two runs on six hits and a Troy Tulowitzki and struck out nine. The Cubs struck for two runs in the first inning, which saw De La Rosa labor to get through. He allowed back-to-back singles to Starlin Castro and Darwin Barney before recording a fly out and a strikeout. Former Rockie Jeff Baker drove Castro in on a single, but on the next play Tulowitzki let the ball get beyond him, allowing Barney to score.

Huston Street opened the bottom of the ninth with a home run to Alfonso Soriano but then got three straight outs to record his ninth save of the season.

The Rockies (16-7) improved to 10-3 on the road and will go for the sweep on Wednesday afternoon. Jhoulys Chacin will look to replicate his previous complete shutout against the Cubs, who will have Casey Coleman on the mound. First pitch is scheduled for 12:20 p.m. MT.

Rockies Vs. Cubs: Jorge De La Rosa Goes For 4th Win

The Colorado Rockies have already thanked Chicago Cubs shortstop Starlin Castro for his three errors that led to three unearned runs in Monday's 5-3 victory, but they'll need a different approach on Tuesday night.  Cubs outfielder Kosuke Fukudome went 5-for-5, all singles. The Rockies had four hits total. Cubs starter Matt Garza and two relievers combined to strike out 11 Rockies.

The Rockies will have Jorge De La Rosa on the mound. He didn't pitch in the previous series with the Cubs, but he enters the game on a two-game winning streak. He kept the Giants down in his last start, allowing just two runs on four hits and two walks. He struck out six over seven innings. He has allowed just one home run so far this season.

James Russell, meanwhile, will make his first start against the Rockies, but it will be his second appearance. He pitched one inning of relief against them in an April 15 5-0 loss (the Jhoulys Chacin complete game shutout). Russell has been making relief appearances in between starts, and in his April 20 start he left in the fifth inning, having allowed four runs. The Rockies will look for his fastball that averages around 87.5 M.P.H. and a slider he uses about 30 percent of the time. He's started to use his changeup more, but his curveball makes just rare appearances.

First pitch is scheduled for 6:05 p.m. MT. Tune into ROOT Sports for coverage.

Rockies Vs. Cubs Final Score: Chicago's Starlin Castro Commits Three Errors, Helps Rockies To 5-3 Victory

On a rainy night in Chicago, plenty of things went wrong for both the Chicago Cubs and the Colorado Rockies. But the Rockies pulled out the 5-3 victory thanks to Starlin Castro's three errors in the second inning.

To start the inning, Troy Tulowitzki reached first base on Castro's first fielding error of the inning. After a Todd Helton strike out, Seth Smith singled to put runners on first and third. Jose Lopez followed with a ball hit to Castro, who failed to get the ball properly again. This allowed Tulowitzki to score. And then on the very next play, Chris Iannetta hit into a fielder's choice, but botched the throw and allowed two runs to score, tying the game at three.

That was the bad for the Cubs. The bad struck for the Rockies in the bottom of the first. Kosuke Fukudome (who out hit the Rockies, 5-4) started the frame off with a single off Esmil Rogers and then scored on a Darwin Barney first career home run, a two-run shot to left field. Alfonso Soriano later added a sac fly to score former Rockie Jeff Baker. But Rogers settled down after that and left the game after 5.1 innings, four walks (two came in the first) and three strikeouts.

The game turned in favor of the Rockies in the fifth inning on, yes, another error. This time Matt Garza made an errant throw to second base, allowing Esmil Rogers to score. A Carlos Gonzalez ground out immediately followed to score Jonathan Herrera.

Matt Lindstrom, Rafael Betancourt and Huston Street kept the Cubs in check for the final 3.2 innings. Street picked up his eighth save to secure Rogers' third victory of the season.

This series continues on Tuesday night at 6:05 p.m. MT. Jorge De La Rosa takes on James Russell.

Rockies Vs. Cubs: Colorado Looks For Better Things On The Road

The Colorado Rockies will look to put their 2-4 record last week behind them when they play the Chicago Cubs for three games in the Windy City. And why wouldn't they? Though they ultimately got out of them, the Rockies faced the Giants' Tim Lincecum (6-plus innings) and Marlins' Anibal Sanchez (8 innings) and Josh Johnson (5 innings) deep into those games with no hits put on the board.

At 14-7, the Rockies still lead the NL West and already have two wins over the Cubs this season. Jhoulys Chacin, Wednesday's starter, threw the best game of any starter so far with a complete game shutout, striking out seven along the way. He pitched against the Cubs' Matt Garza, who starts Monday's game. Garza was roughed up for five runs, four on a Chris Iannetta triple/throwing error.

The Rockies are still waiting for Carlos Gonzalez to break out. He is hitting just .228/.284/.304 with one home run. Production at third base is also non-existent. Ian Stewart is in the minors and neither Ty Wigginton (.587 OPS) nor Jose Lopez (.475 OPS) has taken advantage of that opening.

Troy Tulowitzki continues to be the offensive weapon of choice (1.135 OPS), followed closely by Seth Smith (.922). Second baseman Jonathan Herrera continues his hot start with a .327 batting average and .918 OPS.

The forecast for Monday's game is rain at game time, so it may not be played.

The expected pitching matchups as follows:

Monday, April 25, 6:05 p.m. MT, ROOT
Esmil Rogers vs. Matt Garza

Tuesday, April 26, 6:05 p.n. MT, ROOT
Jorge De La Rosa vs. James Russell

Wednesday, April 27, 12:20 p.m. MT, ROOT
Jhoulys Chacin vs. Casey Coleman