Rockies top Cubs despite comeback |
MESA - If the early portion of Spring Training has taught us anything about the Cubs, it would be that they love trends and the kids are special. When this team scores first, the Cubs haven't lost a game in Spring, but when they don't score first, they have yet to win a game.
Looking to keep that trend going against the Colorado Rockies on Thursday, the Cubs offense came to life as the kids once again led the way. Unfortunately for the Cubs, the pitching struggled as they dug themselves an early hole they couldn't climb out of before falling 10-9. Making his second start of the Spring was Drew Smyly as he looked to keep pace with Jordan Wicks in a battle for the final spot in the rotation. The Cubs had an excellent opportunity to strike first against Dakota Hudson as Dansby Swanson worked a one-out walk to put a runner on base. That was followed by a Christopher Morel double and a Mike Tauchman walk to load the bases, but Hudson was able to wiggle out of trouble without any damage. After a scoreless first inning by Smyly, the left-hander ran into some early trouble to begin the second by allowing a pair of singles to Michael Toglia and Brenton Doyle to put a couple of runners on with no outs. Smyly was on the verge of escaping without any damage, only to have Julio Carreras touch him up for the three-run shot as the Rockies opened up a 3-0 lead. As has been the case every time the Cubs have trailed this Spring, things only got worse with Ezequiel Tovar taking Smyly deep to begin the fourth and extending the lead to 4-0. Colorado continued to have their with Smyly in the third as singles from Nolan Jones and Elehuris Montero kept the pressure while the walk to Toglia loaded the bases and was the end of the road for Smyly. Chris Clarke was called on to take over and, despite allowing another run to score on a double play ball, managed to limit any further damage, but the Cubs still trailed 5-0. With Peter Lambert on for his second inning of work in the third, the Cubs had something going offensively, with Swanson starting things off with a one-out single ahead of the Morel walk. After a wild pitch moved both runners into scoring position, Nico Hoerner picked a great time to come up with his first hit of the Spring as the Cubs were on the board trailing 5-2. Nico's first hit of the spring brings in two! pic.twitter.com/sQ0wjkcYkM You knew that Craig Counsell would start to implement more pitchers as the Spring went on, and Thursday marked the debut of Hector Neris, who got off to a great start with a perfect fourth inning. Looking to keep things close, the Cubs continued to battle back in the fourth as Owen Caissie ripped an RBI double to pull them within 5-3. Owen Caissie's RBI double brings us within two! pic.twitter.com/D43RTqEX3e Caissie had a massive game as he went a perfect 3-3 with a walk in the game and continues to show why he was the best player in the system last season. One of the many arms looking to lock down one of the final bullpen spots is hard-throwing Daniel Palencia. After an excellent first outing last week, Palencia struggled on Thursday, which was the case a lot last season. Allowing a leadoff double to Tovar didn't help, as Jones followed that with an RBI single to push the lead to 6-3. That was only the start for the Rockies as Montero took Palencia deep a few pitches later to extend the lead to 8-3 as the Cubs were trailing by five runs again. Colorado added two more hits off Palencia before Hunter Bigge took over as Colorado finished with 18 hits in the game. Another player who has gotten off to a great start to Spring is Morel, who continues to impress both offensively and defensively. After leading off the bottom half of the fifth with a single, Hoerner kept the line moving with a hit by pitch while a fielder's choice put runners on the corners. That set the stage for Jorge Alfaro, whose RBI single brought home Morel and pulled the Cubs within 8-4. Trailing 9-4 in the seventh after the Rockies tacked on another run, the Cubs offense came to life as the young stars continue to lead the way. Joe Hudson started that with a solo shot to begin the bottom half of the seventh, while 18-year-old Jefferson Rojas doubled off the wall to keep the Cubs in business. Rojas would come around to score on the Jonathan Long single as the Cubs were within 9-6. Chicago continued their comeback bid in the eighth, with Caissie starting things off with his second double of the game before coming home on the long David Bote blast to make things 9-8. It's great to see Bote back in the Cubs organization as he is looking to rejuvenate his professional career. ⛵️ blast! pic.twitter.com/5D66wAX5m5 Looking to keep things at one run, Cam Sanders was called on to pitch the ninth, and the right-hander was greeted with a leadoff single from Grant LaVigne. LaVigne stole second a few pitches later, which was huge for the Rockies as he came around to score on the Warming Bernabel single to push home the winning run. That didn't bother the Cubs as this team continues to display a ton of fight and most of that coming from the kids who will play a role in the future. Pete Crow-Armstrong started the ninth-inning rally with a bloop single to left and would go on to steal a second to set himself up. Down to their final out, the Cubs had the right man at the plate in Caissie, as his infield single kept the inning alive. Crow-Armstrong would ultimately score on a wild pitch to make things 10-9, but that is as close as the Cubs would get as Bote saw his potential game-tying double get snared by Bernabel as his diving stop ended the Cubs comeback effort. Final: Rockies 10, Cubs 9. pic.twitter.com/uiIQmwuwZV
