Hunter Goodman's career night and Austin Gomber's strong start lead the Rockies to victory over the Cubs

Hunter Goodman was on his way to a good game when he entered the batters' box in the bottom of the eighth inning.

With another hit he made the night of his career perfect.

Goodman's leadoff grand slam capped the Colorado Rockies' 9-5 win over the Chicago Cubs on Friday night in front of 38,406 fans at Coors Field. It was Goodman's second home run of the game and his third hit. He had seven runs batted in, the most by a Colorado hitter since Elias Diaz batted seven runs in a game against Arizona on Sept. 9, 2022.

“You work every day for nights like this,” Goodman said. “All the work in the cage, all that stuff. That's what you dream about as a kid, to have nights like this.”

The Rockies' bullpen has been a strength of late, but Michael Busch hit a three-run home run off reliever Victor Vodnik to tie the Cubs in the eighth inning. Chicago had twice sent two players out without scoring since the first inning, but Busch left no doubt with a home run into the second deck in right field.

Before this misstep, Adalyn Gomber's father had been struggling to deal with his first-inning problems while on vacation for the birth of their daughter, but he delivered an outstanding performance in his first start after returning.

Austin Gomber allowed two runs on three hits and a walk in the first inning. He has now allowed 33 runs on 47 hits and 12 walks in 28 first innings, a 10.61 ERA. That was about it for the Cubs against him – Gomber went six innings, allowing just two runs and was on his way to the win before Busch hit the home run.

Gomber now has a 2.84 ERA in the 130 innings he has pitched after the first inning this season.

“Sometimes things don't go well or you don't have the best performance, but you have to find a way to make it work,” Gomber said. “I thought if I have to throw in important situations, I'll do it.”

“I felt like I was good until I had to be good, and then I was good.”

Gomber entered the game with 27 home runs allowed, the most in the MLB. An important key to this result: He kept the ball in the field, something the Cubs pitchers could not do.

The Cubs had several chances against Gomber after the first inning, but he caused an inning-ending double play in the fourth inning and then made two consecutive weak fly ball outs in the sixth inning after the first two guys reached base.

Goodman had the big hit during a three-run second inning to put the Rockies ahead. His 430-foot, two-run home run to left field put Colorado ahead 3-2. Brendan Rodgers put the Rockies on the scoreboard with a double down the left field line that scored Ryan McMahon before Goodman was heroic with two outs.

Goodman also scored the club's fourth run in the fourth inning with a soft line drive to left that brought home Michael Toglia. He narrowly missed another home run in the sixth inning, sending Cubs center fielder Pete Crow-Armstrong to the wall with a 401-foot out that would have been lost in five of MLB's 30 ballparks.