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Wilson Contreras
Cubs Pitchers No Match for A's Fast Break Offense
Oakland A's 2012 1st round draft pick (#11 overall) Addison Russell walked, tripled, and belted a two-run home run, Vicmal de la Cruz clobbered a solo home run and an RBI double, Reynaldo Mateo blasted a two-run HR, and Matt Olson singled twice and drove-in two runs, as the Athletics out-slugged the Cubs 13-8 in Arizona Instructional League action this afternoon at Fitch Park Field #3 in Mesa.
Meanwhile, Jesse Hodges hammered a two-run home run and a double, Jorge Soler drilled a two-run triple, Marco Hernandez roped an opposite-field two run double, and Tim Saunders doubled, walked, stole a base, and drove-in a run, to help propel the Cub offense.
Brewers Pitching Magnifico at Maryvale
Mitch Haniger belted a solo home run with one out in the bottom of the 4th to break a scoreless tie, and four pitchers combined to toss a four-hit shutout, as the Brewers blanked the Cubs 3-0 in Arizona Instructional League action this afternoon at Maryvale Baseball Park Field #7 (AKA “Paul Molitor Field”) in Phoenix.
Bogaerts Knows How to Whistle, Blows Out Three-Run Blast at Fitch Park
Jair Bogaerts crushed a 420-ft HR over the CF fence to cap a four-run 5th inning and James Pugliese (four innings of one-hit shutout ball with five strikeouts) and three relievers combined to throw a three-hit shutout, as one squad of Cubs blanked one squad of Giants 4-0 on Field #2, and Javier Baez and Jeimer Candelario each doubled and drove-in two runs, Dong-Yub Kim doubled and tripled and scored two runs, Brian Inoa doubled and tripled and knocked-in two runs, and Wilson Contreras belted a solo HR, but Stephen Yarrow blasted a solo home run and Hector Mercedes hammered a three-run shot to propel the other squad of Giants to victory over the other squad of Cubs by a score of 11-9 on Field #3, in a Memorial Day Weekend Cactus League Extended Spring Training doubleheader extravaganza played this morning at Fitch Park in Mesa, AZ.
Both games were seven-inning affairs.
Angels Can't Even Contain Baez, Much Less Stop Him
Javier Baez drove-in six runs with a two-run HR and a grand slam, Yasiel Balaguert knocked-in four runs with a three-run home run and a sacrifice fly, Dong-Yub Kim drove-in two runs with an RBI single and a solo HR, and Wilson Contreras ripped a two-run double, leading the Cubs to a 14-4 demolition of the Angels in Cactus League Extended Spring Training action this morning at Fitch Park Field #3 in Mesa, AZ.
Late Angel Rally Leaves Cubs Fit to Be Tied
Wilson Contreras tripled twice, singled, scored two runs, and drove-in another, and Eduardo Gonzalez ripped a two-run triple and a single, but the Angels rallied for two runs in the bottom of the 8th and two more in the 9th, as the Cubs and Angels played to a 6-6 tie in Cactus League Extended Spring Training action this morning at Diablo Park Field #3 in Tempe, AZ.
The game was called after the Angels tied the game in the bottom of the 9th.
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Cubs Rally to Avoid Double-Dip Sweep at Fitch Park
Neftali Rosario had three hits including a solo home run and a game-tying RBI single in the bottom of the 7th, as one squad of Cubs and one squad of Diamondbacks played to a 3-3 tie on Field #2, and Wilson Contreras singled, doubled, and tripled, scored a run, and drove-in another, but the other squad of D’backs clubbed Frank del Valle for six runs on nine hits en route to a 6-4 victory on Field #3, in a Cactus League Extended Spring Training split squad doubleheader this morning at Fitch Park in Mesa, AZ.
Both games were seven-inning affairs.
Cubs Play to Win (and Also to Tie) at Indian School Park
Starling Peralta threw three perfect innings and Wilson Contreras, Kevin Encarnacion, and Garrett Schlecht smacked run-scoring hits in a five-run 7th, as one squad of Cubs rallied from a 5-0 deficit to tie the Giants 5-5 on Field #1, while meanwhile three pitchers were combining to throw a two-hitter on Field #2 as the other squad of Cubs edged the Giants 2-1, in a Cactus League Extended Spring Training split squad doubleheader this morning at Indian School Park in Scottsdale, AZ.
Both games were seven-inning affairs.
Recent comments
First.Pitch.120 (view)
Honorable mention to Jim Bullinger via BleedCubbieBlue:
Bullinger, a converted shortstop, had pitched in three games before he came to the plate. He had entered the game to relieve starter Shawn Boskie after four innings, and came to the plate to lead off the fifth, and hit Rheal Cormier's first pitch over the left-field wall to give the Cubs a 1-0 lead; they eventually won the game 5-2 in 14 innings. Of the 129players to homer in their first MLB at-bat, Bullinger is one of just 32 to hit that blast on the first big-league pitch he saw (including Contreras) and one of just six pitchers to do so.
TarzanJoeWallis (view)
Most of this activity will lead nowhere, of course, but it is fantastic that they’re looking for talent in every nook and cranny. You never know where that can lead, and virtually nothing is lost if if leads nowhere, as long as no one of superior talent and potential is losing an opportunity.
First.Pitch.120 (view)
Fun 1st Hit / HR Fact…
Recent Cubs players to have HR as 1st MLB hit:
PCA
Morel
Happ
Contreras
Baez
Soler
Castro
Arizona Phil (view)
Childersb3: Miguel Cruz walked six in 1.2 IP in his last start, so I guess he is improving. Wilme Mora also walked six in one of his appearances a week or two ago, and one or two others have walked five. I don't know what would be the most I have ever seen a pitcher throw in a game out here, because the manager / pitching coach usually gets the pitcher out of the game if it gets too ridiculous.
As for the attendance, probably about 20 of the 25 were early arrivals for the Savannah Bananas game who came over to Field # 1 to see what was going on, and once they saw all the bases on balls (12 walks by Cubs pitchers and four by Angels pitchers) they ran away screaming. I'm used to it so it didn't bother me that much.
Childersb3 (view)
Jed has added Teheran, Tyranski, Kissaki, and now Straily and Nico Zeglin today.
Zeglin is 24 yrs old. Pitched well at Long Beach St in '23 and well in some Indy Ball.
They also added Reilly and Viets in late ST.
Have to search for MiLB arm depth anywhere you can and at all times!!!
Childersb3 (view)
25 in Attendance!!!
Phil, is that a backfield record?
Also, 6 BBs for Cruz in 2 IP. What's the most walks you've seen in one EXT ST outing that you can recall?
TarzanJoeWallis (view)
He has a pulse. Apparently that’s the only requirement at this point.
crunch (view)
cubs sign dan straily...for some reason. minor league deal.
welcome back.
zac rosscup is down in mexico trying to make it happen...maybe they could throw him a contract, too. junior lake is his teammate. shore up a bunch of holes with some washups.
fullykräusened (view)
The great thing about going to live sports events is you don't know if you're going to see something historic. Today I went to the Cub game, after putting the liner back in my coat and fishing my Cubs knit hat out of the closet. I needed all that- my seats are in the upper deck, left, so the east wind was in my face. Both teams failed to capitalize on good situations, but both starters did a good job to accomplish this. So, we go to the bottom of the sixth inning. The Cubs tie it up, and then Pete Crow-Armstrong comes up. We all know he would still be in AAA if not for injuries, and future Hall-of-Famer Justin Verlander absolutely carved up the young fellow up in his first two plate appearances. So this time he hits a fly ball. The wind was blowing in and had suppressed several strong fly balls- including a rocket off Altuve's bat that Canario hauled in (does anybody else remind me of Jorge Soler?) , but the ball kept carrying and carrying. 107mph, legit angle and carry. The crowd went nuts, the dugout went nuts. Maybe, just maybe, I saw the first homer from a long-term Cub.
TarzanJoeWallis (view)
Which was my original premise. They won the trades but lost their souls. They no longer employ the Cardinal way which had been so successful for so long.