Stroman dominates as offense steps up late against A's |
OAKLAND - It is still early in the 2023 MLB season, but we are getting to the point where we have to face the facts and admit a few things. One of those things has to be the Chicago Cubs (10-6) are a much better team than most people thought.
Say what you will about the Oakland Athletics (3-15) and their overall struggles this season, but they are still a major league baseball team with major league talent. Take them away, and the Cubs haven't had a cakewalk of a schedule and are still holding their own against some excellent teams. Looking for a fourth consecutive series win and their fifth straight win at the Oakland Coliseum, the Cubs turned to their ace Marcus Stroman as the Stro-show hit the road. Despite some early traffic that forced him to throw more pitches than he would have liked, Stroman continued to dazzle and gave the Cubs six shutout innings of two-hit, five-strikeout ball. That makes three of his four starts six-inning, shutout starts as his ERA fell to 0.75 for the season. Marcus Stroman, Painted 85mph Breaking Ball. 🖌️🎨 pic.twitter.com/X74Jh77igb Despite his dominance on the mound, the Cubs had a ton of trouble getting to Ken Waldichuk, who entered the game with an ERA north of 10. Despite his wildness on the mound, the Cubs could not capitalize as he gave Oakland a much-needed five-inning, shutout start. Fortunately for the Cubs offense, they managed to get into the horrendous A's bullpen and took care of business by pushing across four eighth-inning runs, which proved to be the difference in the 4-0 victory. Looking for a repeat of Monday when the Cubs blasted 20 hits and 10 runs, Nico Hoerner started the game with a leadoff double as his happy homecoming continued. That was followed by a Dansby Swanson walk and a one-out infield single from Seiya Suzuki as the Cubs loaded the bases and were on the verge of busting things open. Unfortunately, Waldichuk managed to get Patrick Wisdom and Cody Bellinger out as the Cubs were held scoreless in the first. Despite their record, the A's have made life difficult for a few pitchers this season and had Stroman on the ropes in the first. With Ryan Noda starting things off with a single, Stroman would walk Bren Rooker and Jace Peterson to load the bases with two down. Like Waldichuk, Stroman escaped the jam as this was the only real time he was in trouble during his outing. Following a one-out double from Connor Capel in the second, Stroman was lights out as he finished his outing by retiring the final 14 batters he faced and did his part for the offense. The problem was apart from Suzuki, who reached base five times, the Cubs offense couldn't do much of anything after that first inning as the game remained tied 0-0 entering the sixth. The scoreless battle continued into the seventh, but now it became a matter of who had the better bullpen. Advantage Cubs, as Mark Leiter Jr took the ball from Stroman in the seventh. One of the bigger surprises on the team this season, Leiter walked Peterson to begin his outing before responding by retiring the next three hitters. Two came on strikeouts as the Cubs moved to the eighth, looking for the game's first run. Originally scheduled to start Wednesday, James Kaprelian pitched the seventh inning and then turned things over to Trevor May looking to rebound from a tough start. Things only worsened for May, who walked Suzuki to start the eighth before a clutch double from Wisdom had the Cubs knocking on the door. Coming off his first career five-hit game, Bellinger entered the eighth inning hitless, only to come away with the game-winning single to put the Cubs in front 1-0. Cody Bellinger is loving life in Chicago! That hit opened the floodgates as Yan Gomes doubled the lead with an RBI groundout and moved Bellinger to second. With two outs, the Cubs continued their late-game offensive surge, with Nick Madrigal cashing in with an RBI single off Richard Lovelady and then coming home to score on an error by Capel in right as the Cubs took the 4-0 lead in the blink of an eye. Now in complete control, it was time for the pen to slam the door as Michael Fulmer and Michael Rucker tossed scoreless eighth and ninth innings to lift the Cubs to another series win. The Cubs had eight hits in the win, with Suzuki leading the way with two and grabbing three walks. The Cubs will go for the series sweep tomorrow when they send their left-hander Justin Steele to the mound against the A's flame-throwing No. 3 prospect Mason Miller. The Big right-hander is coming off a 74-pitch outing last time, where 43 of his pitches reached triple digits. "Belli's an incredible talent."@STR0 on Cody Bellinger's hot start. pic.twitter.com/XrqqSIpfu2
He comes up with another huge hit to finally break through for the Cubs and is absolutely on fire 🔥 pic.twitter.com/cogsOY2yRA
