Wrigley Field
Chicago, IL
4/17/15
The Cubs face the struggling San Diego Padres today as they continue to try to stay close to the talented Dodgers and Pirates teams that are just ahead of them in the standings. Today’s game sees Robbie Erlin (0-2) in a mismatch with Jake Arrieta (1-1). The clock high atop the scoreboard shows 1:05 so it’s time for the game to begin.
While the sky is clear, it’s a little chilly today and the wind is blowing out pretty strongly today and struggling Justin Upton takes Jake’s first pitch to the right field seats for his second homer of the season and the Padres stun the home fans with a quick 1-0 lead.
While Justin has struggled this year, brother B. J. has had a fine start to the season. Hitting about .350 coming in. He hits a single up the middle. Arrieta makes a couple of tosses to first, but with the count at 1-2 he is off with the pitch and Miguel Montero’s throw has no chance and he is in safely with his third stolen base of the season.
Montero comes to the mound and in addition to changing the signals he gives his hurler a chance to catch a quick break. The plan works as the visitors can’t get the ball out of the infield and the score is just 1-0 Padres after one inning.
Erlin has a bit of an adventure in the bottom half of the inning. Starlin Castro draws a one out walk and was on second with two out when a cutter tails right into Kris Bryant’s shoulder and he takes first and runners are on first and second with two out. Montero flies to deep center field but the Cubs don’t score and the inning ends.
Jake continues to have command issues as the second inning continues. Jedd Gyorko rips one hard to left field and Chris Coghlan can only look up as it lands a couple rows into the bleachers for his third dinger of the year. Fortunately the 8-9 hitters offer no resistance for two quick outs and the Padres now have a 2-0 lead as we head to the bottom of the second.
Randy Erlin allows a one out single to Austin Jackson, but he was gunned down trying to steal second and Addison Russell grounds weakly back to the pitcher and the Padres continue to lead 2-0, but the Cubs have forced him into a pretty high pitch count after just two innings.
Joe Maddon and Chris Bosio are having a concerned conversation as Melvin Upton walks on four pitches to start the third inning. Fortunately for Arrieta he is gunned down by Montero trying to steal. Meanwhile B. J. slaps a single to right for his second straight hit of the day. Unfortunately he is stranded at second with no runs allowed.
Erlin must not have received a team scouting report as he sees a pitcher at the plate an throws a juicy fastball on the first pitch and Arrieta catches all of it and it lands just inside the foul pole in left for a solo home run!
Perhaps distraught about the homer Dexter Fowler, who has not had a good start this year pulls the third pitch of the at bat into right for a single. He moved to second with his second steal of the year and moved to third on a fly ball by Castro.
Anthony Rizzo then gets a hanging curveball, and he hits this one hard to left and it looks like it’s gonna be a home run, but he got under it a little too much and this one is caught at the warning track in the left field corner. Fowler tags and scores and this game is now tied up at two apiece. Bryant hits a ball that bounces off of Yangervis Solarte’s glove for an error, but Montero strikes out to end the inning with no further damage done, but this is a new game.
Having hit a homer the previous inning, Arrieta seems rejuvenated, and he fans the first two hitters and gets the next to ground out as he gets his first perfect inning of the day. Unfortunately the Cubs cannot capitalize on an error by Yonder Alonso to start the bottom of the inning and we go to the top of the fourth inning with a 2-2 tie.
Arrieta continues to stay sharp, as he gets another two strikeouts and perfect inning and you can almost feel the momentum shifting to the home team at this point. Starlin Castro hits a shot that second baseman Gyorko can’t handle and was on second with two out and Bryant comes through with a single to right center that scores the go ahead run. Montero continues to have a tough day as he grounds out to Alonso who takes this one himself to end the inning with the Cubs on top 3-2.
The Padres seem to have had their chances with Jake early and now he has made the adjustments and they have no counter at this point, and the Cubs come to bat in the bottom of the sixth with a one run lead.
Erlin has struggled, but managed to keep the game close enough to stay in it, but he is beginning to tire at last as Coghlan draws a walk to start the inning. Jackson hits a smash just out of the third baseman’s reach and this one is picked up just past the Cubs bullpen so Coghlan has to stay at third.
As the Padres bullpen gets busy Addison Russell is taken care of on three straight breaking balls for out number one. Arrieta has to skip out of the way of Erlin’s errant pitch and Coghlan scores with Jackson moving to third. Erlin gets a visit from the pitching coach and he settles down to strike out the Cubs hurler for out number two, and Fowler pops up weakly to left and the inning is finally over with the Cubs leading 4-2.
San Diego elects to keep its tiring hurler in the game as he is due to bat next inning. Castro is retired to start the inning, and Rizzo hits a hard grounder into the hole at short, and Alexi Amarista’s throw is off the mark and bounces off the screen in front of the Padres dugout. Rizzo moves to second on the error.
Bryant draws a walk but nothing comes of it and the Padres dodge a bullet and the score is still 4-2 Chicago at the end of seven innings.
The Padres go quietly in the top of the eighth inning and San Diego goes to reliever Shawn Kelley comes in for the bottom of the inning. Kelley, who is a fireballer, gets Jackson to whiff to start the inning, but Addison Russell ropes a double off the door in left field for a double. Arrieta strikes out, but Fowler hits an RBI single to right and the Cubs get an insurance run.
Castro grounds to short and the inning ends with the score now 5-2 Chicago going to the top of the ninth. It looks like Arrieta is going to go the distance today. He has retired 17 straight hitters and has been overpowering late. Unfortunately B. J. Upton has his third hit of the day, this time a double to right to start the inning and the Cubs bullpen is up for the first time today.
Upton moves to third with one out and Matt Kemp hits a soft single to center and the Padres cut the lead to 2 with Alonso due to bat. Maddon has seen enough and Jake is done for the day. He leaves to a standing ovation as Hector Rondon comes on.
Hector has been a bit of a roller coaster ride this year. He comes in with a win and a save, but also has a blown save and a 8.18 ERA, so this is anything but a sure thing now. Alonso hits a hard smash, but Castro makes a great stop throw to short for one, Russell fires over to Rizzo at first and it’s a game ending double play!
Jake Arrieta goes 8 innings, allows 6 hits, and allows just three runs despite the two homers early. He walks just one and strikes out 8. Rondon finally has a good relief appearance for save number 2.
Randy Erlin picks up his third loss of the year, and while he struggled, he did a fair job to keep the Padres in the game. B. J. Upton picked up three hits and a steal for the tough luck losers.
Around the horn
The Mets capped a come from behind victory with a game winning pinch hit home run from Mike Conforto for a 9-6 victory over the Marlins.
The White Sox and the Tigers had a marathon 18 inning game with Chicago coming out on top for a 5-4 victory.
The Indians pounded the Twins 12-4, with Carlos Santana hitting a grand slam.
The Red Sox may be struggling with a .233 team batting average, but don’t tell that to young Xander Bogaerts who is currently hitting .357. If it were not for him yikes!
