Alzolay Stifles Snakes at Salt River Fields

Pedro Martinez drilled an RBI single to drive-in Rochest Cruz and put the Cubs on the board in the top of the 3rd and then Diamondbacks Joey Rose and Keshawn Lynch belted back-to-back doubles with one out in the bottom of the 5th to knot the score, and that's the way it ended as the Cubs and D'backs played to a 1-1 tie in Cactus League Extended Spring Training game action Thursday morning on Whirlwind Field at Salt River Fields at Talking Stick Resort east of Scottsdale, AZ.    

SP Adbert Alzolay (on Iowa 7-day IL - lat strain) hurled three innings of shutout ball for the Cubs (F-9, P-5, 4-3 * P-4, 1B - CS, K * K, K, 1B, 6-4 FC). He threw 39 pitches (11 in the 1st, 12 in the 2nd, and 16 in the 3rd), of which 22 were strikes. All three of his strikeout victims went down swinging. Alzolay velo was FB 92-95 (T-96), CH 83-86, and CV 79-82, and he was generally able to command all three of his pitches. The FB gained velo during the outing, starting at 92-94 in the 1st inning before consistently sitting at 94-95 (touched 96 once) in the 2nd and 3rd. He mixed his FB & CV (only) in his first two innings, before introducing his CH (he threw five) in his third inning. Alzolay was almost too efficient, because after finishing his three innings of work in the game, he was directed to throw an additional 15 pitches in the bullpen (five FB, five CV, and five CH). 
 
The Cubs played only one Cactus League EXST game today, so the squad that traveled to Salt River Fields consisted of elements of both the "A" team and the "B" team. 

Here is the abridged box score from the game (Cubs players only): 

CUBS LINEUP:
1. Jacob Hannemann, CF: 1-3 (1B, 5-3, 3-U)
2. Rochest Cruz, DH #1: 1-2 (4-3 DP, BB, K, R, 2 SB)
3. Pedro Martinez, SS: 1-3 (F-9, 1B, P-6, RBI, CS)
4. Wladimir Galindo, DH #2: 1-3 (2B, 5-3, 6-3)
5. Fabian Pertuz, 3B: 0-3 (L-3, P-4, P-6)
6a. Jonathan Soto, C: 0-2 (P-2, L-7)
6b. Alexander Guerra, C: 0-1 (6-3)
7. Reivaj Garcia, 2B: 1-3 (5-3, 1B, K, CS) 
8. Jake Slaughter, 1B: 1-3 (F-8, E-6, 3B)
9. Dalton Hurd, RF: 0-3 (6-3, P-6, K)
10. Fernando Kelli, LF-DH: 0-2 (5-3, K)
11a. Widimer Joaquin, DH #3: 0-1 (K) 
11b. Brandon Vicens, LF: 1-1 (1B, CS)

CUBS PTCHERS:
1. Adbert Alzolay: 3.0 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 K, 2/3 GO/AO, 39 pitches (22 strikes) 
2. Chi-Feng Lee: 2.0 IP, 2 H, 1 R (1 ER), 0 BB, 2 K, 1 WP, 2/2 GO/AO, 27 pitches (18 strikes)
3. Fauris Guerrero: 2.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K, 1 WP, 1/3 GO/AO, 24 pitches (16 strikes)
4. Benjamin Rodriguez: 2.0 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K, 0/5 GO/AO, 27 pitches (16 strikes) 

CUBS ERRORS: NONE 

CUBS CATCHERS DEFENSE: 
Jonathan Soto: 1-1 CS 

ATTENDANCE: 14 

WEATHER: Partly cloudy with temperatures in the 80's 

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