Game Recap: D-backs pummel Cubs |
Dustin Riese
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- 4 hours ago
SCOTTSDALE - In what is a preview of the official MLB opening weekend, the Chicago Cubs traveled to Salt River Fields in Scottsdale to take on the Arizona Diamondbacks.
Corbin Burnes is expected to be the Diamondbacks opening-day starter. Burnes was on the bump in this one as he took on Caleb Kilian, who won't even be on the Cubs roster. That alone is why the result of this game shouldn't be looked at too much, as the Diamondbacks handled the Cubs from start to finish for the 10-2 win. Four of the Diamondbacks runs came in the early innings, but their four-run sixth inning broke the game open and handed the Cubs their second straight defeat. Looking at Kilian's outing, he continues to be one of the biggest mysteries in the entire Cubs organization. The former top pitching prospect is teetering on bust status. There was some good in his outing, as the five strikeouts in 2 1/3 innings would indicate, but also plenty of bad, as he was charged with three earned runs across those innings. The first of those runs came in the first inning as Ketel Marte led things off with a single. Marte would advance to second on a throwing error later in the inning before Eugenio Suarez drove him home with a single to put the Diamondbacks in front 1-0. Although Burnes was solid in his two-plus innings, he was far from at his best as the Cubs managed to tie things up in the second on a two-out rally started by the Nicky Lopez double and finished off by another Gage Workman single as his impressive Spring continues. Arizona continued to keep the pressure on Kilian and the Cubs in the second inning, with Randal Grichuk leading off the bottom of the second with a solo shot to make this a 2-1 game. Arizona would never look back as Suarez tacked on a third-inning sacrifice fly ahead of the Gabriel Moreno RBI single to push their lead to 4-1. Once Burnes left the game, the Cubs had their chances to climb back into the game, especially in the fourth inning off AJ Puk. A two-out walk from Carson Kelly kept the inning alive while the Lopez single put a pair of runners on with Workman coming to bat. Unlike his first at-bat that delivered a single, Workman hit one right on the screws but also right at the right fielder as the Diamondbacks escaped any trouble. Gage Workman stays hot in spring training 🔥 pic.twitter.com/4Qc9qVaR4M With Daniel Palencia holding down the fort across 1 1/3 innings to keep the Cubs close, it was time for the offense to go to work as they had a massive opportunity in the sixth. Facing Joe Mantiply for the second time this Spring, Michael Busch and Justin Turner led things off with a pair of singles as the Cubs had runners on the corners with no outs. These are the situations the offense needs to capitalize on this season, but with Dansby Swanson grounding into a double play, the Cubs saw a great opportunity go to waste despite a run coming in to score. To show how costly that double play was, Kelly followed that up with a double, and what could have been a 4-4 game saw the Cubs down 4-2 as they were unable to score the rest of the way. The same can't be said about Arizona, who not only showed up in a big way during the sixth inning, but Tyson Miller went on to have by far the worst outing of his Spring as he allowed four runs in the bottom of the sixth. For a guy with no guarantee to be on the team this season, these are the types of outings he can't have as he allowed three straight hits to begin the inning, including a two-run double to Jorge Borrosa to make this a 6-2 game. After picking up a strikeout to try and extinguish the situation, Jake McCarthy and Josh Naylor tacked on two more RBI hits as the Diamondbacks broke the game wide open 8-2. Arizona continued to tack on late in the game as Brooks Kirske gave up his second homer in as many outings to Kristian Robinson to extend the Diamondbacks lead to 10-2 in the eighth. That is how the game would end as the Cubs wasted a leadoff Cristian Hernandez single in the ninth to drop their second consecutive game. Despite the overall struggles from most of the offense, Workman and Busch continued to crush the ball as Workman racked up two more hits with an RBI, and Busch reached base two more times. Lopez also delivered a pair of hits as he is doing his best to earn the final bench spot on this roster.
