Cubs lose pitching duel with Padres |
PEORIA - When you look at the Grapefruit League or the Cactus League, you immediately notice one big difference. The offensive numbers in the Cactus League are miles better than the Grapefruit League as the light air allows the ball to travel more freely. You wouldn't have guessed that on Monday as the Chicago Cubs and San Diego Padres were locked into a rare Cactus League Pitchers duel.
Despite each team coming away with nine hits in the game, an eight-inning sacrifice fly by Jakob Marsee against Chris Clarke proved to be the difference as the Padres held off the Cubs 2-1. While the loss is meaningless at this point, you have to look at Jordan Wicks's start on the mound to give you confidence heading into the regular season. Wicks is one of several pitchers battling for the final starting spot in the rotation. After two good starts to begin the spring, he was on the mound for his third start. This was quite possibly his best one yet. Despite only striking out one hitter, Wicks pitched into the fourth inning before being removed and allowed just one run in the process. He now has a 2.25 ERA this Spring and is the favorite to win the starting spot. "I want to get myself in the best position possible for Opening Day and wherever that is, it is," Wick told the media following his outing. Opposing him was the young Jhony Brito, who also matched Wicks in terms of length. Brito also pitched into the fourth inning, allowing five hits. The big difference for him was that he didn't allow a run and struck out six in his dominating effort. One of those hits allowed came in the first inning as Dominic Smith made his spring debut with a one out double in the first only to be left stranded on the bases. Fernando Tatis Jr. followed suit with a one-out single in the bottom of the first, but he would play an even bigger role later on. Wasting the first-inning scoring opportunity was bad enough, but the Cubs were in a position to strike first in the second, with Miguel Amaya and Owen Caissie picking up one-out singles to set the Cubs up. However, back-to-back groundouts from Alexander Canario and Pete Crow-Armstrong prevented any damage as the game remained tied. In the second, it was Deja Vu for the Padres, with Jake Cronenworth picking up a one-out walk ahead of the Eugy Rosario double, and just like that, the Padres were threatening. Credit Wicks for working out of that jam, but he wasn't as lucky in the third, as the Padres struck first for the lead. That came after Nico Hoerner and Smith opened the top half of the third off with leadoff singles, as the Cubs offense was held in check yet again. After allowing a leadoff double to He-Seong Kim, the Padres finally broke through as Tatis Jr. picked up an RBI single to push across the game's first run. Wicks was able to limit the damage with a double play ball before getting through the rest of the third. After a scoreless fourth inning, it was more firsts for the Cubs in the fifth as their offense finally broke through against Matt Waldron. That all started with Christopher Morel picking up a two-out single to extend the inning, while Garrett Cooper came through with his first hit of the Spring with a double to tie things up 1-1. Like Smith, this was Cooper's first game of the Spring, and both men delivered at the plate. Speaking of firsts, Keegan Thompson was finally on the mound for the Cubs after not being seen with the team for the first two weeks. Despite his velocity being a bit down at times, his location was good, which is what the Cubs wanted to see as he gave Chicago a scoreless fifth. Throw in a scoreless sixth from Jose Cuas and a scoreless seventh from Colten Brewer, and things remained tied heading to the eighth. As he did most of his outing, Waldron made quick work of the Cubs in the eighth to close out his outing, giving the Padres four innings of work. That set the stage for their offense in the bottom of the eighth, as Clarke surrendered one-out singles to Mason McCoy and Cal Mitchell to put runners on the corners. Needing a ground ball to get out of the inning, Clarke did manage to retire Marsee, but it wasn't the result he wanted, as his fly ball was deep enough to drive home the go-ahead run, with the Padres retaking the lead 2-1. Down to their final three outs, the Cubs had work to do and were forced to go against Wandy Peralta, a free-agent target for the Cubs this offseason. After striking out the first two hitters he faced, Peralta suddenly found himself in a bit of a jam as Matt Shaw roped a two-out double to left to keep the inning alive and move into scoring position. Wandy Peralta was overpowering hitters until Matt Shaw stepped up. He stays back on a breaking ball and splits the left center gap for a double. That brought up arguably the Cubs best hitter in David Bote who had a chance to play hero. Unfortunately, Bote was unable to do that, as his grounder ended the game and gave the Padres a 2-1 victory. The Cubs remain on the road tomorrow as they face the Kansas City Royals. Owen Caissie flicks a single the other way with two strikes. Now 9 for 15 (.600) on the spring. Nick Madrigal left Monday's Cubs game with a right leg cramp. He started at 2B and grounded out in his only plate appearance. Craig Counsell said on @MLBNetworkRadio that the Cubs’ 3B situation is “not going to be solved in spring training” and will become clearer over the long term. Play ball! pic.twitter.com/OICFVSJraC Final: Padres 2, Cubs 1.
The dude hits and hits and hits. Our conversation with him on @The_CallUpPod will be live this week. pic.twitter.com/wTkmY4kvYy
Finished 2023 as @JustBB_Media’s No. 29 overall prospect. pic.twitter.com/zUA9UkBCg4
Madrigal has been hampered by leg injuries throughout his career and is competing for a spot on the Cubs' Opening Day roster.
Counsell said he’s been pleased with the consistency of Christopher Morel’s defensive work.@MLBNetwork @670TheScore
