Carlos Gonzalez came to the plate in the bottom of the ninth with a chance to make history and give his team the win.
He did both.
Gonzalez hit a game-ending home run to complete the cycle as the Colorado Rockies rallied to beat the Chicago Cubs 6-5 on Saturday night after blowing a three-run lead in the eighth.
"That was unbelievable," Gonzalez said. "It was a great feeling. All the crowd screaming, it’s a moment you just want to pass out because you don’t know what to do. Just try to get with my teammates and celebrate."
Gonzalez became the sixth Rockies player to hit for the cycle and the first since Troy Tulowitzki did it last Aug. 10, also against the Cubs.
"I put a really good swing on the ball," Gonzalez said. "The pitch helped me. It was 90-something, inside, and I put it right on the barrel."
Derrek Lee hit a tying three-run homer in the eighth off Rafael Betancourt for Chicago.
"It’s been a struggle offensively for us, no question about it," Lee said. "We just haven’t clicked on all cylinders. Tonight was tough. We battled back, but Carlos Gonzalez just had a great night."
Elsewhere in the National League it was: Florida 6 San Diego 3; St. Louis 11 Pittsburgh 1; N.Y. Mets 5 Arizona 4; Washington 7 Philadelphia 5; Houston 6 Milwaukee 0; Cincinnati 5 Atlanta 2; and San Francisco 2 L.A. Dodgers 1.
At Denver, Melvin Mora, who went 2-for-2 during Colorado’s record-setting 13-hit, 12-run eighth inning Friday night, went 4-for-4 Saturday to stretch the streak to six hits in six at-bats.
Huston Street (2-2) retired the Cubs in order in the ninth and Gonzalez crushed the first offering from Sean Marshall (6-3), driving the ball into the third deck beyond the centre-field fence, 462 feet away. He thrust his arms into the air as he rounded third and touched home plate as his teammates swarmed around him.
Marshall said he went right after Gonzalez, who singled, tripled and doubled in his first three at bats.
"He’s a good hitter," Marshall said. "He’s locked in right now. He’s putting good swings on bad pitches and good swings on good pitches. He’s probably the guy in the lineup that we didn’t want to beat us. I went in and challenged him and he beat me."
The Cubs were dealt their fourth straight loss on a day when they sent pitcher Ted Lilly and Ryan Theriot to the Los Angeles Dodgers in exchange for infielder Blake Dewitt, two minor leaguers and cash.
The game also marked the return of Cubs pitcher Carlos Zambrano, who was activated from the restricted list Friday. Zambrano, who was placed on the list June 29 in the aftermath of a dugout altercation with Lee, came on in relief of starter Tom Gorzelanny with one runner on and one out in the seventh inning.
Zambrano apologized to his teammates after Friday’s activation and he made a grateful return to play, kneeling quietly beside the mound for a moment before pitching and pointing a finger skyward as he walked to the dugout after working out of the seventh-inning jam by fanning pinch-hitter Seth Smith and getting Brad Hawpe to pop out.
Zambrano said he wasn’t uneasy taking the mound again after the month-long layoff.
"Not at all," he said. "Just another game for me. That’s what I think every time I go to the mound. I just wanted to get the hitters out and do my job."
Gorzelanny came in having gone 4-0 with a 3.42 earned-run average in July but got a no-decision in his final start of the month, giving up five runs and nine hits before leaving in the seventh after allowing a sacrifice fly to Gonzalez.
Colorado starter Jason Hammel also didn’t figure in the decision after leaving in favour of Betancourt with one out and two on in the eighth and holding a 5-2 lead. Betancourt fanned Starlin Castro but Lee jumped on Betancourt’s first pitch, driving it over the centre field wall for his 12th homer and pulling the Cubs into a tie 5-5.
Trailing 4-0, the Cubs pulled to within two in the fifth. Marlon Byrd led off with a single and Alfonso Soriano followed with an RBI double, taking third on the throw home. Soriano then scored on Geovany Soto’s sacrifice fly that right-fielder Ryan Spilborghs caught with his back against the wall.
Marlins 6 Padres 3
At San Diego, Ricky Nolasco took a two-hitter into the ninth inning and Dan Uggla hit his 144th home run to become Florida’s franchise leader to lead the Marlins over the NL West-leading Padres.
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At St. Louis, Albert Pujols hit his 24th homer and finished with three hits, helping Jeff Suppan get his first win since September.
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At New York, Jesus Feliciano tripled and scored on Carlos Beltran’s sacrifice fly in the ninth inning, lifting the Mets past Arizona.
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At Washington, Ryan Zimmerman hit a three-run homer in the ninth inning to lead the Nationals.
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At Houston, Wandy Rodriguez added another impressive start to his dazzling streak and the Astros young hitters got off to a fast start against Milwaukee.
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At Cincinnati, Ryan Hanigan hit a tiebreaking double during a wacky seventh-inning rally as the Reds held on against Atlanta.
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At San Francisco, Pat Burrell lined a go-ahead two-run homer into the left-field seats with two outs in the eighth inning, rallying the Giants over Los Angeles.
