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Pena, Ramirez homer twice as Cubs down Rockies

Jun 28, 2011 - 12:32 AM Chicago, IL (Sports Network) - Carlos Pena and Aramis Ramirez each had two home runs and three RBI as the Chicago Cubs took a 7-3 win over the Colorado Rockies in a makeup game of an April 27 rainout.

Matt Garza tossed 7 1/3 solid innings for the Cubs, who were happy to be back in National League action as their 6-3 setback to the Royals on Sunday marked their seventh consecutive interleague series defeat. Garza (4-6) allowed three runs on five hits and struck out six to get the win.

"It was a good day and a good win," Cubs manager Mike Quade said. "Let's continue to do that."

Carlos Gonzalez slugged two homers in his second multi-homer game of the season for the Rockies, who have lost three straight. Starter Jhoulys Chacin (8-5) suffered the loss, allowing six runs on nine hits over five frames.

"I didn't make my pitches. I was just throwing it all over the place," Chacin said.

Colorado took the first two games of its original three-game series with the Cubs in late April before the finale was postponed.

Garza's fourth pitch of the game was smoked into the seats in left by Gonzalez for a 1-0 lead. It was the Rockies' first leadoff homer of the season.

Coming into the game, Chacin was one of the hottest pitchers in the National League, posting a 3-0 record in four starts in June and yielded just three runs over 26 2/3 innings.

However, the Cubs would get after him in the first and never look back. Starlin Castro's two-out triple off the ivy in center set up Ramirez's home run over the fence in left-center.

Pena ripped a deep homer into center during the fourth to push the lead to 3-1. Later on in the frame, Geovany Soto doubled and moved to third base after back-to-back walks to load the bases. Chacin's control issues continued with a wild pitch to the backstop that allowed Soto to race home.

Pena struck during the next inning with two-run homer that landed close to the same spot as his fourth-inning shot.

Todd Helton drove in Jonathan Herrera in the sixth to make it a 6-2 game but Ramirez got the run back with his second home run in the seventh as the Cubs regained a five-run lead.

In the eighth, Gonzalez belted his second home run with a line shot into the bleachers in right to make up the final score and end Garza's nice outing.

Game Notes

It was Ramirez's 24th multi-homer game and first since July 20, 2010, against the Astros...The Rockies have at least one home run in 10-straight games, tying their season-high. They have 16 homers over their last 10 games...Castro extended his hitting streak to 11 games...The Rockies still have won seven of the past nine meetings overall.