Cubs Beat Rockies 8-6 Behind Swanson and Crow-Armstrong Homers

The Chicago Cubs defeated the Colorado Rockies 8-6 on Wednesday night, powered by a dominant seven-run second inning that proved decisive in taking two of three games in the series. Dansby Swanson and Pete Crow-Armstrong each contributed home runs to lead the offensive explosion.

Swanson launched a two-run shot during the Cubs' explosive second inning, marking his first home run since May 18. Crow-Armstrong added his 15th home run of the season in the fourth inning, extending Chicago's advantage. The Cubs' second-inning barrage was set up by Matt Shaw's two-run triple and Carson Kelly's RBI double, with Seiya Suzuki adding a run-scoring double and Alex Bregman contributing a sacrifice fly to make it 7-0.

Cubs pitcher Javier Assad (5-1) earned the victory in his second consecutive start, allowing just two runs and five hits over 5⅔ innings. Jacob Webb closed out the game for his second save. Rockies starter Sean Sullivan (0-1), in his second career start, was tagged for eight runs and nine hits in four innings.

Colorado's offense mounted a comeback effort led by rookie Sterlin Thompson, who hit his first two major league home runs off Assad in the third and fifth innings. Hunter Goodman hit a two-run homer—his 21st of the season—off Ethan Roberts in the eighth, and Kyle Karros connected off Webb in the ninth to account for the remaining runs.

Looking ahead, the Rockies will face Pittsburgh's Bubba Chandler (2-7, 4.76 ERA) with Kyle Freeland (1-7, 7.98 ERA) taking the mound Friday night in Denver. The Cubs have not announced a starter for Friday's series opener against Toronto.