Game Recap: Cubs collapse late against Padres

Dustin Riese - Senior Writer - 15 hours ago

CHICAGO - It's one thing to sweep the Sacramento Athletics. It's another thing to sweep the San Diego Padres (8-2) as they continue to be one of the best teams in the league. That is what the Chicago Cubs (7-5) had a chance to do at Wrigley Field on Sunday as their Season Opening Homestand continued.

For the most part, things were trending in the right direction for a sweep, despite Ben Brown's struggles on the mound, as the Cubs opened up an early 7-3 lead after three innings. Typically, seven runs would be enough, but with Brown going just four innings and allowing five runs, it was evident that more runs would be needed.

The only problem was an offense that went completely silent after the second inning and failed to score the rest of the way. That opened the door for the Padres to tee off on the Cubs' pen, as they rallied for a ninth-inning run off Ryan Pressly to avoid the sweep 8-7. It was a painful reality that the bullpen is still a work in progress, but any time you can take two of three from the Padres, you will take that any time.

Many people questioned Brown's decision to be named the starter over Colin Rea, especially when the Cubs are paying him five million dollars. Brown has a bright future, but with less than 80 innings under his belt and coming off a season-ending injury, there are some questions about how the Cubs will handle him this season.

When on, he has by far the best stuff on this staff and can generate plenty of swings and misses. When off, well, you get what you have today, as he never looked comfortable on the mound. Not only did he walk two of the first three hitters he faced, but Luis Arraez added a single in between that as the Padres had the bases loaded with one out. The command issues continued throughout the first inning as he walked Jason Heyward with the bases load to go with a hit by a pitch that led to two first-inning runs.

Xander Bogaerts also added an infield single during a rough first inning as the Cubs found themselves in a massive 3-0 hole. With Kyle Hart starting for the Padres, the Cubs were fortunate to avoid the Padres' big three in their rotation. Knowing that the Cubs had a big inning of their own up their sleeve as Hart had even more struggles than Brown in the first and was lifted after just 2/3 of an inning.

Like Brown, Hart struggled with his command from the start, walking the first two batters he faced to set the Cubs up, while Kyle Tucker delivered an RBI knock to make this a 3-1 game. Chicago was just getting warmed up as Justin Turner added a sacrifice fly to pull within 3-2, while a clutch double by Nico Hoerner later in the inning made this a 3-3 game.

Still with the bases loaded and two outs, the Cubs continued to keep the pressure on and benefited from a pair of balks from new pitcher Logan Gillaspie, leading to two runs as the Cubs capped off a five-run first inning, taking a 5-3 lead. Chicago continued to do their damage from the top of the order in the second inning, as Ian Happ started things off with a leadoff single and came trotting home on Tucker's first Wrigley Field homer as a Cub, making this a 7-3 game.

Unfortunately for the Cubs, that would be it for their offense, but considering the score, you had to like their chances of holding onto their lead. After working out of a two-on, no-out jam in the third, Brown continued to face traffic on the bases in the fourth, with Manny Machado coming through with a two-out single to keep the inning alive. A Jackson Merrill homer followed that to pull the Padres within 7-5, and it was the end of the line for the right-hander.

In what became a battle of the bullpens from the fifth inning on, you had to give the Padres the advantage, knowing how the Cubs pen has performed this season. Watching Caleb Thielbar walk a pair of hitters before allowing an RBI single to Arraez in the fifth wasn't what the fans had hoped for, but Julian Merryweather and Brad Keller came in to put out the fire, keeping the Cubs ahead late.

Then came the late innings, when the back of the Cubs pen was once again the center of attention as Porter Hodge took over in the eighth. Walks continued to be an issue for the Cubs, regardless of who was on the mound, as Hodge walked Merrill to begin the eighth inning. Whenever you walk a player like Merrill, it tends to haunt you, as he used his legs to steal second base before coming home on the game-tying single by Gavin Sheets.

One inning later, it was the same story, as Elias Diaz worked a leadoff walk against Pressly and set up the Padres' offense again. Diaz was lifted for a pinch runner, and after Arraez came through with a single, the winning run was now in scoring position. That proved costly for the Cubs, as Machado managed to drive home the go-ahead and eventual winning run with an RBI force-out, giving the Padres their first lead since the first inning, 8-7.

Down to the final three outs, the Cubs needed to get something done against the hard-throwing Robert Suarez and went down in order as the Padres avoided the sweep 8-7. The Cubs had six hits in the game, with Hoerner leading the way with three. Tucker added two hits with three RBIs with Happ adding the final hit. The Cubs will continue their six-game homestand on Monday, welcoming the Texas Rangers.