Levine: Kris Bryant Comes Through For Cubs

By Bruce Levine--

CHICAGO (CBS) -- Monday night's save for the Cubs had go to rookie third baseman Kris Bryant, after his first career walk-off home run bailed out a bad bullpen performance. Mired in a slump, Bryant came through at an opportune time with a two-run blast with two outs in the bottom of the ninth off John Axford that gave the Cubs a 9-8 win against the Rockies at Wrigley Field.

The Rockies trailed 7-4 entering the ninth before scoring four runs off of Cubs relievers Jason Motte and Rafael Soriano. Carlos Gonzalez's second home run of the game -- off Soriano with out out after Motte allowed a homer, a single and a double before getting yanked -- gave Colorado its 8-7 lead.

Enter Axford, who surrendered a one-hit single to Dexter Fowler and the two-out homer to Bryant.

"The last three or four games, I have hit five or six to the warning track," Bryant said after his 14th home run. "I believe in baseball gods, and I believe they pay you back. I guess I got one today. It was a cutter, the first pitch he tried to  throw was a cutter down and away."

Like many of his teammate, Bryant had been in terrible slump the last 30 games, hitting just a shade over .200 despite leading the club in RBIs. He was 1-for-14 on the homestand before his two-hit, three-RBI game Monday.

Bryant's blast snapped Chicago's three-game losing streak.

"This kind of woke us up a bit," Bryant said. "We had been kind of nonchalant the last couple of games, myself included. That energy of a walk-off home run can spark us and spark that energy we had earlier in the year."

Cubs manager Joe Maddon had supervised a pre-BP early hitting session with Bryant and a few of the his slumping teammates before the game Monday.

"Sometimes you have to switch some stuff up," Bryant said about his early batting practice. "Yeah, getting on the field and hitting on the field, seeing the ball where it goes, it obviously, it can help a lot."

The walk-off home run was the first by a Cubs player when they were trailing since since Aramis Ramirez pulled off the feat against the Brewers on June 29, 2007.

"That was really fun," Bryant said of his first walk-off. "It has to be one of the best feelings in sports. To do it on this stage in front of the fans of Chicago (was fantastic). I continue to work as hard as I can knowing it will turn around. It did today."

The Cubs are now tied with the Cardinals for the most one-run wins in baseball, with 22.

Bruce Levine covers the Cubs and White Sox for 670 The Score and CBSChicago.com. Follow him on Twitter @MLBBruceLevine.