Cubs prospects deliver against Angels in Prospect Breakout |
Dustin Riese
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- 1 day ago
MESA - At long last, the Chicago Cubs Prospect Breakout game got underway as the Cubs faced off with the Angels on Saturday night. After last season's Breakout game against the White Sox rained out, the fans were looking forward to not one, but two prospect games this week to make up for the mishap last season.
Unfortunately, Mother Nature again got in the way as the Cubs saw their first breakout game against the Dodgers rained out on Thursday. Hoping to get at least one of their two games in, Mother Nature wouldn't stop this game from getting played at Sloan Park as the Cubs and Angels finally got underway. All the Cubs needed to take care of business was a pair of massive innings, including a four-run first as the Cubs took an early lead and never looked back in an 8-3 victory over the Angels prospects. Of all the pitchers the Cubs elected to go with, all eyes were on starter Cade Horton, and boy, did he impress. Horton gave the Cubs two innings of work, scattering two hits and striking out three as he finally started to look like the prospect the Cubs know he is. Horton was charged with a first-inning run, which came off a Cole Fontenelle single in the first to put the Angels in front 1-0. That would be the only lead they would have as the Cubs offense got right to work in the bottom of the first and never looked back. Two batters into the bottom of the first, and the Cubs were already threatening as Christian Franklin led things off with a walk before stealing the second. Franklin would come in to score on a Moises Ballesteros single, and just like that, it was a 1-1 game two hitters in. That was only the start of a massive inning as Kevin Alcantara connected for the long two-run shot to put the Cubs in front for good 3-1. Chicago would add an additional run later in the inning as James Triantos and Cristian Hernandez pulled off a double steal with Triantos coming home to make things 4-1. Following the strong outing from Horton, it was time to see who else would take the mound, and that started with another hard thrower in Jaxon Wiggins. Despite going just one inning, it was a perfect inning as Wiggins added a strikeout to his outing. He was followed by Will Sanders, Sam Thoresen, Frank Scalzo Jr, Riley Martin, and Jack Neely, who combined to allow two runs the rest of the way. Already with a comfortable lead in hand, the Cubs offense continued to show up in a big way as a pair of singles from Ben Cowles and Triantos opened up the bottom of third. Hernandez kept the line moving with a third consecutive RBI single to push home another run to make this a 5-1 game. It took the Angels four innings to score their second run, and that run came off Sanders in the fifth. In what was otherwise a very good outing by the right-hander, it was the Randy De Jesus homer that was the lone blemish as the Angels were trying to battle back 5-2. That would be the game's final run for the Angels until late as the Cubs put the game away in the later innings. After wasting a pair of singles from Alcantara and Jonathon Long in the sixth, the Cubs offense cashed in for another big inning in the seventh to break the game wide open. It all started with a one-out homer from Ethan Hearn to push the lead to 6-2, as homers were a theme for the Cubs in this one. Following a walk to Michael Carico, the Angels were on the verge of escaping trouble only to have Ariel Armas connect for the Cubs second homer of the inning to push the lead to 8-2. Riley Martin and Jack Neely took care of the rest from there, striking out five over the final two frames, although Fontenelle managed to take Neely deep in the ninth to close out the scoring on the night. Chicago collected 12 hits in the win, with Ballesteros, Alcantara, Triantos, and Hernandez picking up a pair. Fly the W: #SpringBreakout Edition
Chicago Cubs take the win over the Angels 8-3.#SpringBreakout #Cubs #SBCubs pic.twitter.com/WBHuKjcd2G
