CI Recap (Sloan Park Game) – Cubs 4, Padres 9: Yes, They Actually Played Another One
Like their World Series win, you might have forgotten that the Cubs played a second game on Sunday. While their brethren were up in Lost Wages taking in the Reds’ new comedy act, the Mesa-bound half of the roster tangled with the Padres.
Between the 22 runs the Cubs put up in the other game and the NCAA tournament, I’ll forgive you for not paying attention to this particular contest. If I can confess to you, dear reader, I didn’t really mind it closely myself. So maybe we can just dispense with the pleasantries and get down to brass tacks.
New Cub Alec Mills had a rough 1st inning, giving up five hits and issuing a walk to allow four runs to score. He settled in nicely after that, getting four groundouts over the next two frames and giving up only one more hit. In all, Mills generated five groundouts and picked up three strikeouts.
Outside of that, there really wasn’t much of note in the prospect-centric game.
Stats that matter
- Jason Heyward didn’t have an official at-bat, but walked three times; he may be seeing the ball better
- Matt Szczur was 0-4 with a strikeout as his status remains in flux
- Cubs batters stuck out 14 times
Bottom line
The only real takeaway from this game is that you should be happy that it wasn’t the one being televised. We’re now less than a week away from the regular season, which makes these obvious throwaway games that much more tedious.
On deck
I hope the Cubs aren’t too tired, as they’ll be driving to Goodyear Monday to face Danny Salazar and the Indians. Get it: tired, Goodyear? TBD, who isn’t expected to survive the next round of roster cuts, will be on the mound for the Cubs. First pitch is at 8:10pm CT.
