5 Reasons why you shouldn’t be surprised that the Colorado Rockies beat the Cubs

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Kyle Freeland

Perhaps the biggest reason why the Cubs lost was the buzzsaw that has been Kyle Freeland.

We all know how dominant he has been all season long for the Rockies but let’s look at what the numbers are saying for the Rockies ace.

Overall, on the season, he went 17-7 with a 2.85 ERA of 33 starts. He also had a 1.245 WHIP and he averaged nearly 6 1/3 innings per start as he had north of 200 innings this, his sophomore campaign.

He was even more dominant down the stretch for the Rockies as he did not go less than six innings in any start after his start on August 1 (11 starts). He went 8-0 with a 2.18 ERA with a WHIP of 1.194 while striking out 8.7 batters per nine innings (he averaged 7.7 on the season) with a .234/.297/.326 opponent slash line.

Most importantly, though, the Rockies won ten of those eleven starts.

On Tuesday, he went 6 2/3 innings allowing only 4 hits, one walk, and zero runs. Some, including myself, questioned Bud Black pulling him after only 82 pitches but now that the Rockies won, it looks great because Freeland wasn’t stretched out to the max. In his 33 regular season starts, he only threw less than 82 pitches in two of those starts.

It could prove to be important in Game 3 against Milwaukee in the Rockies first playoff game at home since 2009.