Samardzija sharp on mound, plate in Cubs' win

CHICAGO -- Jeff Samardzija did more than turn in a sharp pitching performance on Wednesday night.

The Chicago Cubs right-hander also contributed at the plate -- including his second career home run and later with a critical bunt -- to help the Cubs earn a 6-3 victory over the Colorado Rockies.

"As a pitcher you're just trying to make contact and try not to look stupid out there," said Samardzija, now 2-5 after snapping a personal five-game losing streak. "You can't just accept the out as a pitcher."

The Cubs took two of three from the Rockies for their first series victory at Wrigley Field this season. They've now won four of their last five games.

Samardzija's eight innings matched a 3-1 Opening Day effort at Pittsburgh, his only other 2013 victory. He allowed two earned runs on five hits, walked a pair and struck out seven.

"He knew what he was doing tonight," Cubs manager Dale Sveum said. "He was pitching. He wasn't throwing to one side of the plate, he was mixing it up, keeping them a little bit off balance."

Samardzija also seemed to know what he was doing with the bat. His successful sacrifice bunt was one of the keys in the seventh inning as the Cubs scored three times to open a 6-2 lead.

Darwin Barney walked and stole second to open the seventh inning. Samardzija's sacrifice moved Barney to third where he scored on Starlin Castro's single.

"That was a nice bunt to get Barney over and obviously it snowballed into a few extra runs there," Sveum said. "That's situational hitting, bunting. Those kind of things help a lot when you're trying to scratch out runs."

"We got that (early) lead and that really allowed me to calm down and get into a zone," Samardzija said.

Sveum turned the ball over to Cubs left-handed reliever James Russell to begin the ninth. Russell struck out the only batter he faced, Carlos Gonzales.

Kevin Gregg came in and after a single and an error, gave up an RBI single to Josh Rutledge with two out that cut the lead to 6-3. But Gregg then got Wilin Rosario to fly out to center and end the game.

John Garland (3-4) took the loss after working five innings.

"I don't want to come out of these games," Garland said. "I like to keep going to see if I can give the team a chance. It almost feels like I'm hurting the team going five."

DeJesus gave the Cubs a 1-0 lead, greeting Garland with a first inning lead-off home run. It was DeJesus' fifth overall, second lead-off homer of the season and was the 500th RBI of his career.

The Rockies matched the run in the second when Rutledge singled home Todd Helton from third with one out.

Samardzija clubbed his second career home run to give the Cubs a 3-1 lead with two out in the second. He took the first pitch he saw from Garland and launched a two-run shot into the left-field bleachers, which also brought home Barney.

"The report coming in was that (Samardzija) swings the bat pretty well," Rockies manager Walt Weiss said. "We treat him like a hitter. He's a good athlete and he put a good swing on it."

Garland gave up two-out singles to DeJesus and Castro, and walked Rizzo to load the bases in the bottom of the fifth for Soriano, the Cubs' cleanup hitter.

But Garland escaped as Soriano lined out to third baseman Nolan Arenado to end the threat.

"I felt like (Garland) gave us a chance," Weiss said. "It probably wasn't his 'A' game, but I felt he pitched well enough to keep us within striking distance and win that game."

Pinch-hitter Reid Brignac batted for Garland and belted a solo home run to center to lead off the sixth, cutting the Cubs lead to 3-2.

NOTES: The Cubs and Rockies meet again for three games between July 19-21 at Coors Field where Colorado swept Chicago last year. ... Colorado set a season-high with nine extra-base hits in Tuesday's 9-4 victory -- the most extra-base hits in any National League game this season. ... The Rockies ranked second in the league with 128 extra-base hits entering Wednesday's game. Only the Cubs (135) had more. ... Colorado's Jhoulys Chacin makes his ninth career start on Thursday against the Giants. He's 3-4 all-time with a 3.59 ERA. ... The Cubs are off before opening a three-game home weekend series on Friday against the Mets. ... Cubs lead-off batters were hitting .361 (13-for-36) entering Wednesday with three walks to start games. ... Rizzo has not struck out in 31 at-bats dating to the sixth inning on May 7 against the Cardinals.