The Cubs got the bats going in San Diego for the second straight night, highlighted by Pete Crow-Armstrong’s three-run homer that broke the game open in the seventh inning. That, plus some solid pitching from Edward Cabrera, Hoby Milner and Ryan Rolison, gave the Cubs an 8-3 win over the Padres, breaking their three-game losing streak.
The Cubs got on the board first, in the top of the second. Ian Happ and Michael Busch walked. After Carson Kelly struck out, Dansby Swanson doubled both runners in [VIDEO].
Swanson then stole third, but was stranded. When the bottom of the second began, Swanson was out of the game, with Nico Hoerner moving to short and Nicky Lopez taking over at second. Here’s what the Cubs said about that a couple of innings later:
There were no updates on Swanson postgame, but this doesn’t sound too serious. I’d think Swanson might sit out of today’s game and, with Thursday’s off day, be ready to go on Friday.
Xander Bogaerts homered off Cabrera in the bottom of the second to make it 2-1.
The Padres tied the game up in the bottom of the fourth. Bogaerts walked to lead off the inning, and I want to show you two (!) pitches he got overturned in that at-bat.
First, a strike 2 call was overturned to ball 1 [VIDEO].
Then, Bogaerts was called out on strikes and he got that one overturned, too [VIDEO].
I mention these because both of those pitches were almost in the exact location of the pitch that got Bogaerts called out on strikes in the ninth inning of Game 3 of the Wild Card Series last October at Wrigley Field. You have to believe Bogaerts has not forgotten that — and that the Cubs were very lucky that ABS challenges were not available for that game.
Anyway, Bogaerts then stole second and was singled in by Ty France to make it 2-2.
The game stayed that way until the sixth, in part because of this nice sliding catch in the fifth by Seiya Suzuki [VIDEO].
Then the Cubs took that two-run lead back in the top of the sixth. Kelly singled. Lopez tried to sacrifice him to second, but Kelly was forced. PCA walked and after a pitching change, reliever David Morgan wild-pitched both runners up a base.
One out later, Nico Hoerner doubled in Kelly and Lopez [VIDEO].
In the bottom of the sixth, Cabrera got in trouble on a single, hit batter and RBI single by Luis Campusano that made it 4-3. Cabrera was removed and wasn’t happy after that RBI hit [VIDEO].
Milner entered the game and got out of the jam by striking out Bryce Johnson [VIDEO].
Overall, though, I thought Cabrera had a nice outing. He struck out seven [VIDEO].
Here’s more on Cabrera’s outing. As usual, he relied mostly on that devastating changeup [VIDEO].
The Cubs put the game away with a four-run seventh. Seiya Suzuki led off with a walk. One out later, Michael Busch was hit by a pitch, and had to be checked out by trainer Nick Frangella. Ultimately Busch stayed in the game [VIDEO].
Kelly followed with a ground ball. Busch was forced at second, but Kelly beat the relay throw, putting runners on first and third with two out. Craig Counsell sent Alex Bregman up to bat for Lopez. Bregman had not started this game to try to give him a bit more rest from the sore foot he had after being hit by a pitch in Los Angeles on Sunday. If it seems like the Cubs have been hit by pitches a lot, they’re in the middle of the pack with 16 HBP. The Angels and Cardinals lead MLB with 24.
Anyway, Bregman singled, with Suzuki scoring [VIDEO].
PCA was the next hitter and he hit this baseball a very, very long way [VIDEO].
That made the score 8-3 and, as that home run was off a left-hander, I thought you might be interested in seeing that PCA has had strong reverse splits so far this year.
PCA vs. RHP: .215/.261/.292 (14-for-65) with two doubles, one home run, four walks, 20 strikeouts
PCA vs. LHP: .277/.370/.404 (13-for-47) with a double, a triple, a home run, five walks, 17 strikeouts
You’d think that eventually he’ll hit RHP as he did last year (.271/.315/.523 with 24 home runs) and will have the year everyone expects from him.
The Cubs shut down the Padres the rest of the way. Ryan Rolison, who’s been a real find for this team, threw two shutout innings, retiring all six batters he faced, striking out two. He’s allowed just three of the 19 batters he has faced this year to reach base and hasn’t walked anyone. Perhaps it’s early for this declaration, but could Rolison be this year’s Drew Pomeranz? Rolison was once a first-round draft pick (Rockies, 2018) so… maybe?
In any case, here’s the final out of the game [VIDEO].
This win was a milestone for Counsell, the 900th of his managing career.
Here’s PCA talking about his home run and about the team offense in general [VIDEO].
PCA talked about all the walks the team is drawing in that clip. The Cubs have 136 walks in 30 games, 4.53 per game. That’s second in MLB to the Yankees, who have 137, and that pace would shatter the franchise record, which is 656, set in 2016. And the eight-run outburst gave them 164 runs for the season, 5.47 a game, a pace for 886. The 164 runs is third in MLB behind the Dodgers (165) and Braves (171).
The Cubs will go for the series win, which would give them a 3-3 road trip, Wednesday afternoon in San Diego. Jameson Taillon will start for the Cubs and Matt Waldron goes for the Padres. Game time is 3:10 p.m. CT and TV coverage will be via Marquee Sports Network
