DENVER — The rarified air of Coors Field saw a true baseball rarity Sunday afternoon, when Mickey Moniak walked off the Cubs with a triple in the ninth inning as the Rockies avoided a season sweep with a 6-5 victory.
It was Moniak’s second walk-off RBI of his career and his second triple in two days, but he never before had a walk-off triple at any level.
It’s a baseball anomaly given the rarity of both triples and walk-offs, plus the fact that the winning run generally scores before the batter reaches third base — if he ever does — in the midst of a game-winning celebration.
“I was going to make sure I touched third base, just in case,” Moniak said, emphatically affirming that he made it to third after lining Cubs closer Daniel Palencia’s 1-1 slider into the right-field corner.
Moniak entered the game in the eighth inning as a defensive replacement with the Rockies leading, 5-2. A three-run home run from Ian Happ tied the game, but Moniak connected for the game-winner in his first at-bat after nine-hole hitter Ryan Ritter singled to left to open the inning.
It was just the second walk-off triple in the Majors this year. Jesús Sánchez, then with the Marlins, did it on May 19, 2025. He connected off — wait for it — Palencia.
“They were aggressive today,” Cubs manager Craig Counsell said of the Rockies lineup. “[Ritter] was aggressive, and Daniel’s trying to get ahead. Probably a pitch that found a lot of the plate. And then Moniak, middle of the plate.”
Since complete play-by-play data became available in 1969, only three pitchers previously allowed multiple walk-off triples (Don Aase, Terry Forster, Tom Wilhelmsen). Palencia joins them but stands alone with it happening twice in one season.
The last team to give up multiple walk-off triples in the same season was the 2007 Astros (June 18 vs. the Angels, Sept. 23 vs. the Cardinals). The Astros were a part of three walk-off triples that season — the sum total in all of Major League Baseball that year — as they also hit one of their own in 2007.
Moniak is the fourth Rockies player to hit a walk-off triple and the first since Brandon Barnes on June 7, 2014 vs. the Dodgers.
Rookie Tanner Gordon struck out a career-high nine batters while allowing two runs over six innings and departed with a lead. He could have become the first Rockies pitcher to win four straight starts since Austin Gomber in 2023. Instead, Happ’s homer off Luis Peralta ensured a no-decision.
Still, Gordon recorded the Rockies’ highest K count this season and joined Kyle Freeland as the only Rockies pitchers to record three straight quality starts this season.
“I was just trying to stay on the attack,” Gordon said, noting recent work on his change-up paid off Sunday. “These guys are really good hitters, super aggressive for the most part. I just tried to get ahead, and I wasn’t going to chase the strikeout. It was a product of trying to get ahead and execute pitches.”
Happ’s homer gave Chicago a chance to finish 6-0 against Colorado this year, and the visitor’s fans started to make noise. Moniak, however, made sure the home crowd had the last word.
“That’s what we’re in the business for, to quiet the other crowd,” Moniak said. “It’s all part of the game. I enjoy it.”
