Five-run fifth leads Cubs to win over White Sox |
MESA - Although the past two games were not official Cactus League games, the Cubs remained in Arizona for an extra two days to play the White Sox for a pair of exhibition games. After blowing a 6-1 lead on Monday and settling for a tie, the two teams were back at it again on Tuesday for what would be their final tuneup before the regular season.
Unlike most of the games this spring, this was about the prospects, as they saw most of the playing time. Sure, some starters like Nick Madrigal got a couple of at-bats, but apart from that, it was all about the future as they were the center of attention. If this is what Cubs fans can expect in the future, then the future will be bright as the Cubs used a five-run fifth inning to take the lead and took down the White Sox 8-5 to close out the spring late. One of the Cubs regulars that saw time on the field was their starter Drew Smyly as he was making his last start before the regular season. Smyly has been slowed this spring due to arm fatigue, but being a veteran, he knows what he needs to do to have his body ready. In the games he has thrown in, Smyly has had mixed results which was again the case on Tuesday. Smyly managed to get through four innings, but was tagged for five runs (4ER) on 10 hits. That is not a good sign, especially when two hits left the yard. Smyly walked one and struck out three as he will need to bounce back when he takes the mound for his first regular-season start. The first of the homers allowed by Smyly came just two batters into the game, with Romy Gonzalez homering in back-to-back games against the Cubs to give the White Sox a 1-0 lead. Smyly allowed a Gavin Sheets single later in the inning, but only the one run allowed to limit the damage. Facing off against Smyly was the hard-throwing Michael Koepech, who is looking to have an impressive showing this season. Koepech was solid through four innings before coming unraveled in the fifth, but he did manage to strike out seven in his start. Not only did the White Sox strike first, but they kept the pressure on in the second inning with Moises Castillo picking up the one-out single, followed by a DJ Gladney double to put a pair of runners on base. Castillo was thrown out trying to score on the play, as that was the momentum swing the Cubs needed to get going. That momentum continued to be in the Cubs favor in the bottom of the second when they mounted a two-out rally started by the Miguel Amaya hit-by-pitch. Chase Strumpf followed that up with a walk before they both came around to score on the BJ Murray Jr double to put the Cubs in front 2-1. The lead was short-lived, however, as the White Sox not only struck back for a pair of runs in the third, but also in the fourth. Andrew Vaughn tied things up in the third with a solo homer, while a wild pitch later in the inning gave the White Sox a 3-2 lead. One inning later saw Nate Mondou connect for an RBI double to extend the lead to 4-2, while Gonzalez added another RBI single to make things 5-2. Little did the Cubs know that those runs would be the final runs of the game for the White Sox as their pitching shut them down in the final five frames. With Koepech cruising through the first four innings, the Cubs knew runs would be tough to come by. Leave it to the prospects to prove that theory wrong as Murray Jr led off the bottom of the fifth with a walk. That set stage for Luis Vazquez, who cranked his second homer in three days to pull the Cubs within 5-4. Koepech allowed a sharply hit single to Luis Verdugo after that homer and was removed from the game in favor of Luke Schilling. Schilling struggled from the moment he stepped on the mound, hitting Pete Crow-Armstrong and then walking Kevin Alcantara to load the bases. In desperate need of an out, Owen Caissie kept the line moving as his RBI single gave the Cubs a 6-5 lead and proved to be the game-winning hit. Throw a sacrifice fly from Miguel Amaya, and the Cubs capped off the fifth by scoring five runs and took a 7-5 lead into the sixth. This was when the game tilted in their favor, with Bailey Horn working around a leadoff single in the sixth to finish his outing with four punchouts in two scoreless frames, while Michael McAvene delivered an impressive seventh. Speaking of the seventh, the Cubs continued to add to their lead in the bottom of the seventh with Pablo Aliendo reaching second base on a misplay by left fielder Ben Norman. Two batters later saw Alcantara bounce one over the head of the third baseman to score another run as the Cubs stretched their lead to 8-5. Looking to lock things down from there, Hunter Bigge was called on to pitch the eighth and immediately found himself in trouble. Bigge allowed a leadoff single to Norman, but Crow-Armstrong threw Norman out, trying to stretch that single into a double. That proved pivotal as Bigge walked the next two hitters before striking out Luis Mieses and Taylor Snyder to end the threat. Jake Reindl took care of the rest in the ninth, working around a leadoff walk to induce a game-ending double play to send the Cubs home with an 8-5 Spring Finale win. One of the themes for the Cubs this spring has been capitalizing on their opportunities. Despite being outhit 13-7, the Cubs made the most of their hits, with seven players picking up the hits. Caissie, Murray Jr, and Vazquez led the way with two RBIs as the Cubs will head home to prep for their season opener against Milwaukee on Thursday.
