The Cubs opened a three-game series against the Colorado Rockies at Wrigley Field on Monday, June 15, with Shōta Imanaga scheduled to start for Chicago against Michael Lorenzen and first pitch set for 7:05 p.m. CT on Marquee Sports Network.
Chicago’s advantage here is not anecdotal: the Cubs had won nine straight home games against Colorado entering the series and swept three-game home series against the Rockies in each of the past three seasons. Over the last three home series that included Colorado, the Cubs outscored the Rockies 51-21; their all-time edge in home series reads 21-14-2, and 18-6-1 since 2000.
The backdrop weakens any simple prediction. Colorado arrived having lost eight of 11 games and nine of its last 13 on the road; the Rockies were 13-25 away from home. Chicago, meanwhile, had just snapped a drought by winning a weekend series in San Francisco and rides that momentum into Wrigley.
The decisive matchup Tuesday’s crowd will see begins with Imanaga, who was listed for the Monday start with a 4-6 record, a 4.44 ERA, a 1.062 WHIP and a 4.72 FIP. Lorenzen is scheduled to take the mound for Colorado. How each starter handles traffic and the long ball at Wrigley will matter: recent history says the Cubs win those matchups more often than not.
Practical details for fans: Edward Cabrera and Ryan Feltner were slated to start Tuesday’s game, and Javier Assad and Sean Sullivan were scheduled for Wednesday, with all three contests listed for 7:05 p.m. CT on Marquee Sports Network.
The series carries a built-in tension. On Sunday, only a day before arriving at Wrigley, the Rockies erupted for a 23-9 win over the Athletics in Sacramento — a startling outburst given their road ledger. That 23-run game complicates the simple narrative that Colorado cannot score away from home, and it supplies the most immediate reason the Cubs cannot take this set for granted.
Which is the real Rockies team when facing the Cubs at Wrigley: the club that has been pummeled on the road all season or the lineup that produced a 23-9 explosion a day earlier? That unanswered question is the single clearest thing this series will resolve. Tuesday and Wednesday’s matchups—Cabrera vs. Feltner and Assad vs. Sullivan—will either reinforce Chicago’s recent dominance in Wrigley series or show that Colorado’s sudden offensive outburst can survive travel and mount a road turnaround.
