![\"Cubs](\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/CTC-Z-CUBS-ROX_366154.jpg\")
Cubs third baseman Alex Bregman, right, is congratulated at the plate by Pete Crow-Armstrong after hitting a two-run home run in the seventh inning against the Rockies at Coors Field on June 11, 2026, in Denver. (Justin Edmonds\/Getty)<\/p>\nDENVER \u2014 Even after Alex Bregman broke through with the type of power that has been lacking too often this season, the Chicago Cubs third baseman still wasn\u2019t satisfied.<\/p>\n
Bregman\u2019s two-run home run in the seventh inning Thursday was one of four Cubs extra-base hits in a 9-3 win over the Colorado Rockies to avoid a sweep at Coors Field and move back over .500. Seiya Suzuki delivered the first big blow, connecting on an 0-1 slider from Rockies starter Ryan Feltner for a grand slam that put the Cubs ahead 4-1 in the fourth. They added a pair of runs in the fifth inning, and catcher Carson Kelly capped their scoring with a solo home run in the eighth.<\/p>\n
Bregman\u2019s homer, his sixth of the season, was his first with a runner on base. Still, he wasn\u2019t satisfied. Bregman felt he should have homered on either of the first two pitches left over the plate in his second at-bat that resulted in a popout.<\/p>\n
Cubs third baseman Alex Bregman, right, is congratulated at the plate by Pete Crow-Armstrong after hitting a two-run home run in the seventh inning against the Rockies at Coors Field on June 11, 2026, in Denver. (Justin Edmonds\/Getty)<\/p>\n
\u201cThe whole series was better, still missed too many pitches in the heart of the plate,\u201d Bregman said. \u201cNormally I have a 1.000 to 1.200 OPS in the middle of the plate. Right now, it\u2019s not there. It\u2019s god-awful. So today was a step in the right direction.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Cubs hadn\u2019t slugged three home runs in a game since April 25, part of a four-week stretch to start the season of recording five games with three homers. Their nine runs in the win snapped a five-game streak of scoring three or fewer, which tied their longest such streak of the season. Right-hander Edward Cabrera did his part in the win, tossing 5 1\/3 innings and allowing two runs on solo homers.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have very good offensive players, I think they\u2019ve shown that this year, so the length, yeah, it\u2019s surprising absolutely, and it\u2019s challenging,\u201d manager Craig Counsell said before the victory. \u201cWe\u2019re all trying to do our best to put it in the right direction. We haven\u2019t been able to come up with solutions so far.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur players are the source of the optimism. We have very talented, good players, and that absolutely creates optimism. There\u2019s going to be struggles, and sometimes they confuse you, but the talent of our players is the source of optimism.\u201d<\/p>\n
It\u2019s arguably a tossup between Suzuki and Bregman as to who needed a home run more. Bregman has looked better at the plate lately, though the power isn\u2019t fully there and he\u2019s missing too many hittable pitches over the plate. After Thursday\u2019s performance, he has reached base in 31 of his last 35 games since May 3 (.327 on-base percentage).<\/p>\n
\u201cHappy to contribute to help our team win a baseball game,\u201d Bregman said. \u201cWe have maybe three guys playing to their potential, so we\u2019ve got a lot of work to do, and we\u2019ve got to be better. We\u2019re way better of a ball club than we\u2019ve shown, so got to look in the mirror and figure out a way to get it done on the field, and that\u2019s my impression, we\u2019ve got to play better. Today was a good step in the right direction, but win tomorrow and it\u2019s a winning streak.\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"Cubs](\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/CTC-Z-CUBS-ROX_90ed77.jpg\")
Cubs right fielder Seiya Suzuki reacts after hitting a grand slam against the Rockies in the fourth inning Thursday, June 11, 2026, in Denver. (David Zalubowski\/AP)<\/p>\n
Suzuki\u2019s third career grand slam extended his season-high hitting streak to eight games, during which he has posted a .308\/.379\/.654 slash line with three home runs and seven RBIs. The relief at coming through in that spot Thursday was quickly apparent as Suzuki let out fist pump as he started his trot toward first base.<\/p>\n
\u201cI felt like I haven\u2019t been able to help out our pitchers, they\u2019re pitching in tough situations,\u201d Suzuki said through interpreter Edwin Stanberry. \u201cThere\u2019s more sort of frustration that I had towards myself, not hitting in those opportunities, and I was finally able to get that hit.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"DENVER \u2014 Even after Alex Bregman broke through with the type of power that has been lacking too…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":723615,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2399],"tags":[72,5,34,138,24,4245,52,576,161,90410,4,105],"class_list":["post-723614","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-chicago-cubs","tag-alex-bregman","tag-baseball","tag-carson-kelly","tag-chicago","tag-chicago-cubs","tag-chicagocubs","tag-colorado-rockies","tag-craig-counsell","tag-cubs","tag-ddward-cabrera","tag-mlb","tag-seiya-suzuki"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@mlb\/116734636098433319","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/723614","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=723614"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/723614\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/723615"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=723614"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=723614"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=723614"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}