EXST Cubs

LHP Hunter Green and four relievers combined to toss a seven hitter with eight strikeouts, as the Angels edged the Cubs 2-1 in Cactus League Extended Spring Training Opening Day action this afternoon on Field #6 at the Under Armour Performance Center at Riverview Park in Mesa, AZ.

Tyler Alamo flied out to the warning track in RF with two outs and the bases loaded in the bottom of the 9th to end the game.  

LHP Jonah Weseley struck out five Cubs in just two innings of relief, and ex-Cub Trevor Gretzky played 1B for the Angels and went 1-3 with a double and a stolen base.    

Jae-Hoon Ha (post-2013 broken wrist) continued his EXST rehab, playing CF and going 1-3 with a line-drive rope single, a walk, a stolen base, and two fly outs to RF.  

Here is the abridged box score from today's game (Cubs player's only):  

John Leonard belted an RBI triple, singled twice, and scored a run, and Carter Bell drilled a two-run double, as one squad of Diamondbacks defeated one squad of Cubs 5-2 on Field #3, while on Field #4, 16-year old Sergio Alcantara doubled, tripled, and scored a run and Michael Brenly singled, doubled, and scored two runs for the Diamondbacks, and Neftali Rosario singled, walked, scored a run, and knocked-in another for the Cubs, as the two squads played to a 4-4 tie, in Cactus League Extended Spring Training doubleheader action this morning at Fitch Park in Mesa, AZ.

Shawon Dunston Jr reached base four times on three singles and a walk, scored twice, and drove-in a run, Yasiel Balaguert singled twice, tripled, and knocked-in four runs, and Jacob Rogers smacked a two-run triple and walked, leading one squad of Cubs to a 7-3 victory over one squad of Diamondbacks on Field #3, and Francisco Sanchez hammered a two-run triple and then scored on a WP in a three-run 5th, and Garrett Schlecht, Erick Castillo, and Wilfredo Petit punched-out consecutive singles with two outs in the bottom of the 7th, rallying the other squad of Cubs to a 4-4 tie with the other squad of D'backs on Field #2, in a Cactus League Extended Spring Training doubleheader played this morning at Fitch Park in Mesa, AZ.

As is usually the case when they play an EXST doubleheader, both games were seven-inning affairs, and the games were played simultaneously on adjoining fields.

RHP Dayan Diaz saw his first 2013 game action today, starting and pitching one inning in the game on Field #3. Signed by the Cubs as a minor league free-agent last November, Diaz got an NRI to Spring Training, but never got to pitch in an MLB Cactus League game because of a sore arm. (In fact, he never even threw "live" BP while with the big club). He has been rehabbing at Fitch Park for the past six weeks.   

The Cubs have signed 30-year old veteran switch-hitting C-1B-3B-PH Jose Morales to a minor league contract, and he was a DH in the game on Field #2. He went 2-3, roping two line-drive singles and striking out (swinging). With Steve Clevenger on the DL for at least 60 days with a strained oblique, it's possible that Morales was signed to eventually provide Manager Dale Sveum with the third catcher he seems to covet. 

The Cubs have been working out Jose Dore (acquired from SD last month) at 3rd base this week, and he played there in yesterday's intrasquad game and then again in today's EXST game on Field #2. He looks like a "natural" at the hot corner, and although he probably will continue to see action at 1B-LF-RF, it looks like he wil be playing a lot of 3rd base in the coming days. (He also got three innings at 2nd base last week, as the Cubs apparently see him as a bit of a "super-sub"). 

Conversely, I doubt that 18-year old slugging INF Luis Acosta (signed on July 2, 2011 - $1.1M bonus) will be remaining at 3rd base. His throws have been consistently scatter-gun (in fact, about the worst I have ever seen), and he was worked-out at 2nd base in pre-game infield practice this morning (although he did not play in the game). He was signed as a ahortstop, but was moved to third-base at DSL Instrux post-2012 because of defensive struggles at SS. If second-base doesn't work out, he'll probably be moved to LF. (He also needs to learn how to hit breaking balls, or at least recognize a breaking ball and then not swing at it).  

Here are the box scores from today's games (Cubs players only):

Here are the final Cubs Cactus League Extended Spring Training game statistics.

There is no official scorer at the games, so the stats are unofficial.

Trey Martin ripped two doubles and a home run, drove-in two runs, and scored three, and James Pugliese threw four innings of shutout ball with five strikeouts, leading the Cubs to an 8-2 victory over the Reds in Cactus League Extended Spring Training action this morning at Fitch Park Field #3 in Mesa, AZ.

Four Rockies pitchers combined to toss a six-hit shutout, as the Cubs were blanked 3-0 in Cactus League Extended Spring Training action this morning at Dust Storm Field at Salt River Fields at Talking Stick, east of Scottsdale, AZ.

Trey Martin singled twice, walked, stole two bases, drove-in a run and scored another, Dong Yub Kim singled and doubled and knocked-in two runs, and Danny Lockhart and Justin Marra belted back-to-back RBI triples, but it wasn’t enough as the Angels scored five runs in the top of the 2nd inning and cruised to a 9-5 victory over the Cubs in Cactus League Extended Spring Training action this morning at Fitch Park Field #3 in Mesa, AZ.

RHP James Pugliese threw four innings of two-hit shutout ball with five strikeouts and Marco Hernandez and Wilson Contreras collected consecutive two-out RBI singles to cap a three-run 5th, leading one squad of Cubs to a 4-1 victory over one squad of Diamondbacks on Field #3, and Yosbel Gutierrez laced an inside-the-park two-run home run to spark the other squad of D’backs to a 5-3 victory over the other squad of Cubs on Field #2, in a Cactus League Extended Spring training doubleheader played this morning at Fitch Park in Mesa, AZ.

Both games were seven-inning affairs.

Neftali Rosario lined an RBI double into the LF corner and Trey Martin clubbed a two-run triple off the CF fence to highlight a four-run Cubs 2nd, but the Athletics rallied to score two in the 6th, two in the 7th, and three in the 8th en route to an 8-6 victory over the Cubs in Cactus League Extended Spring Training action this morning at Fitch Park Field #3 in Mesa, AZ.

Gioskar Amaya hit for the cycle and drove-in five runs, as the Cubs edged the Rockies 6-5 in Cactus League Extended Spring Training action this morning at Dust Storm Field at Salt River Fields at Talking Stick east of Scottsdale, AZ.