MESA, Arizona — The Cubs defeated the Athletics 4-3 on a gorgeous Saturday afternoon at Sloan Park, largely on the strength of home runs by Pedro Ramirez and Ian Happ. Those were good!
Not so good was yet another home run allowed by Shōta Imanaga hit by A’s catcher Brian Serven. That homer accounted for two of the three A’s runs. (Incidentally, if Serven’s name rings a bell, he was a Cubs waiver claim in January 2024 and was on the 40-man roster for 11 days before being waived again and claimed by the Blue
Jays.)
I’m here to tell you that Shōta actually threw a pretty good game. He allowed hits to the first two batters he faced, then retired eight A’s in a row. It would have been nine — and ended the third inning — if Happ had been able to catch up to a long drive that just missed his glove near the fence in left field. that went for a double. There’s no video of the play, but the photo at the top of this post shows what happened to Happ. He actually got closer to catching the ball than that photo would indicate.
A single scored the A’s first run and then Shōta served up the home run.
Here’s the pitch that went for the homer:
I’m not going to blame Shōta for this one. As you know, he has the propensity for the long ball. This pitch was a decent pitch, looks like he just didn’t get the location he wanted. Here’s Imanaga’s pitch selection for this game [VIDEO].
The Cubs, as I noted, had two homers of their own. Here’s the one by Ramirez, with two out and nobody on in the second:
Now that’s a well-placed hit. That’s an outside fastball and Ramirez got all of it. I’ve been impressed by Ramirez’ offense and defense this spring. He turns 22 next month and will likely be at Triple-A Iowa this year. He’s a player to watch.
The Cubs scored another run in that inning. Josiah Hartshorn, who is only 19 and was the Cubs’ sixth-round pick out of high school in California last year, singled after the Ramirez homer. He went to second on a walk by Michael Busch and scored on a single by Nico Hoerner.
Happ’s homer came with one out in the fifth. Here’s where that pitch was:
That was a high fastball and Happ did not miss it.
The Cubs’ fourth run, the eventual game-winner, came in the sixth. Carson Kelly doubled and was replaced by pinch-runner Ludwing Espinoza. Espinoza took third on a ground out and scored on a sac fly by Ramirez.
The Cubs bullpen did an excellent job in this one. Grant Kipp, Riley Martin, Gavin Hollowell, Jack Neely and Jeff Brigham combined to throw 5.1 shutout innings, allowing one hit, three walks and striking out seven. I’ve been particularly impressed with Hollowell this spring. He’s got a chance to make the Opening Day roster. As you know, Jed Hoyer has been really good at picking good relievers off the scrap heap and Hollowell, who is 28, could be one of those guys.
That’s all I’ve got for this one. There’s no video to share, not even from the two-camera feed.
Attendance watch: 13,574 paid to see this game at Sloan Park. That makes the season total 105,775 for nine dates, or 11,753 per date.
Sunday, I promise you I’ll have video highlights, as the game against the Giants will be televised via Marquee Sports Network. The Cubs are going with all relievers Sunday, and Hunter Harvey will throw first. He’ll be followed by Phil Maton, Caleb Thielbar and Hoby Milner. Landen Roupp will start for the Giants. Don’t forget that with Daylight Saving time starting overnight, game time Sunday is 3:05 p.m. CT. In addition to TV, there will be a radio broadcast via The Score.
