CHICAGO -- For almost five innings in Game 1 of Wednesday’s seven-inning doubleheader at Wrigley Field, Austin Gomber’s slider was untouchable.

Of the first 21 hacks the Cubs took at Gomber’s slider, nine of them resulted in whiffs. Another six sliders went down as called strikes. Gomber ended his outing with eight strikeouts in 4 2/3 innings, and the punchout pitch for seven of them was the slider.

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But when Gomber finally missed with the pitch, Chicago made him pay. With two outs and runners at the corners in the bottom of the fifth, Gomber threw a 1-1 slider to Cubs left fielder Patrick Wisdom. The breaking ball stayed too close to the middle of the zone, and Wisdom’s ensuing three-run shot gave the Rockies a 5-2 loss and dropped them to a Major League-worst 14-47 on the road.

“I felt like my stuff was fine today,” Gomber said. “Obviously, I got some strikeouts and got out of some spots. Just didn't make the pitch when I needed to. Got to do a better job of keeping the ball in the yard. Pretty much all around, just got to be a little bit better.”

Gomber had earlier allowed two solo home runs -- the first coming on a four-seamer to Cubs second baseman David Bote, and the second on a knuckle curve to catcher Austin Romine. Wisdom’s homer was the only hit Chicago recorded off Gomber’s slider.

“I made some good pitches with the slider today,” Gomber said. “Just made a bad pitch late that cost us the game.”

As Gomber watched that final ball sail over the left-field bleachers and leave the ballpark, all he could do was hang his head and wait for Colorado manager Bud Black to take the ball and end his day.

“He had a good slider today. Unfortunately, threw the one bad one to Wisdom in the fifth, but I thought he threw the ball well,” Black said. “[Eight] strikeouts through 4 2/3, mix of pitches, couple hard contacts, but overall, I thought he was fine. Just the fifth inning came back to bite him -- and us.”