Fly the W: Cubs blast three homers in series win over Padres |
CHICAGO - With April coming to a close and the Chicago Cubs (14-10) entering Thursday with 13 wins, all it would take for a winning month was to secure a victory in one of their final four games this month. Considering the schedule they have faced this season, that is an accomplishment, as things have been good thus far.
With a ton of road games on the horizon, the Cubs need to win the few games they have at Wrigley Field, and that needed to start by bouncing back against the San Diego Padres (13-14). Despite coming away with a losing homestand, any time you can beat a team like the Padres, you have to consider yourselves fortunate, and the Cubs were hoping to end the homestand on a positive note. Looking to put his rough start behind him was Hayden Wesneski, as the 2022 season hasn't been kind to him. Wesneski may not have been at his best, but he did give the Cubs five good innings allowing one run and striking out five. He left with a 3-1 lead as the Cubs used a trio of solo homers to kickstart the offense in their 5-2 win. A big part of Wesneski's game a season ago was his ability to command the strike zone and blow hitters away. With his command iffy at times this season, Wesneski has gotten away from the strikeouts and instead focuses more on pitching to contact and letting his defense go to work. He did that for the most part, allowing a first-inning single to Fernando Tatis Jr while Manny Machado took him deep in the second for the early 1-0 lead. That was the only run Wesneski allowed in his outing, but the long ball continues to be an issue, as he has now allowed five homers this season. Opposing Wesneski was Seth Lugu, who has gotten off to a surprisingly good start this season. Entering the game with a 2-1 record and a sub 3.30 ERA, Lugu has been one of the bright spots in the Padres rotation so far and was hoping to keep things rolling. Like his counterpart, who allowed a Machado homer in the second, the long ball got the better of Lugu in the bottom half of the second as Eric Hosmer and Nelson Velazquez used back-to-back homers to give the Cubs the lead for good 2-1. Eric Hosmer - Chicago Cubs (2) pic.twitter.com/o1chYa36NU
Nelson Velazquez - Chicago Cubs (2)
Not only did those homers come with two outs, but it was the fourth time this season the Cubs have gone back-to-back, the most in the Major Leagues. Now playing with the lead, Nick Madrigal kept the Cub's second inning alive with a hit by a pitch before mother nature aided the Cubs in scoring an additional run. With Tucker Barnhardt at the plate, the left-handed hitting catcher lofted one to center field, where Trent Grishman lost the ball in the sun. The ball landed in front of him and allowed Madrigal to score from first as the Cubs stretched their lead to 3-1. Despite the Padres putting runners on base in every inning but the fifth, Wesneski did what he needed to avoid damage but ran into serious trouble in the fourth. That trouble started with a two-out single from Machado before a Matt Carpenter walk and a catcher interference loaded the bases for the Padres. Needing to make a big pitch, Wesneski got Ha-Seong Kim to ground out to end the threat as he finished off his outing by retiring the Padres in order in the fifth. While Wesneski did his part on the mound, a two-run lead didn't feel comfortable, especially with the win blowing out. Leave it to the top of the Cub's order to get things going again in the fifth, with Nico Hoerner extending his on-base streak to 22 games with a one-out single. That was followed by a Dansby Swanson single ahead of another single from Ian Happ as the Cubs extended their lead to 4-1. Lugu would finish the fifth without further damage, but that was it for him on the afternoon. Looking to preserve their lead, David Ross turned to his pen in the sixth and went with Michael Fulmer and Mark Leiter Jr in the sixth and seventh. Despite both pitchers allowing runners on base, they did what they had to do to prevent damage, as Keegan Thompson finished the seventh with a one-pitch out. Knowing that the weather at Wrigley could change the game with one swing, Swanson wanted to do his part to ensure that wouldn't happen as he took Tim Hill deep for his first homer as a Cubs and pushed the Cubs lead to 5-1. Dansby Swanson - Chicago Cubs (1) pic.twitter.com/YWicjGdICY
With Thompson coming back out for the eighth, you had to like the Cubs chances despite Thompson struggling with his command this season. You saw those struggles in the eighth inning, with Juan Soto picking up his only hit in the series to lead things off and advancing to second on a wild pitch. Xander Bogaerts followed that up with a walk to extend his on-base streak to 29 games, while Machado just missed his second homer for the first out. With runners on the corners, Carpenter drove in the Padres first run since the second inning as his sacrifice fly pulled San Diego to within 5-2. Thompson managed to recover from that shaky stretch, and with the Cubs offense going down quietly in the eighth, it was time for Ross to figure out how to win a game in the ninth inning. Brad Boxberger may be his answer, as he does have more than 90 career saves to his name. Boxberger didn't start the inning how he would have liked, walking Kim to lead things off only to bounce back with a double play from Nelson Cruz. A few pitches later, this one was over as Jake Cronenworth flew out to Happ to end the game as the Cubs took the series from the Padres 5-2. [𝐖]rigleyville pic.twitter.com/gJ5kuIoiEf
After struggling for the past 10 days, Happ and Swanson showed signs of life as they had two hits and combined for two RBIs. The Cubs had nine hits in the game as their league-best team batting average continued to rise. Chicago will now head out East for a seven-game trip which starts with three against the Miami Marlins on Friday. Marcus Stroman is set to pitch that game as he will oppose Jesus Luzardo. Dansby Swanson hits his first HR with the #Cubs & his team take the series from the Padres. pic.twitter.com/AI5uGVUKZP
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