Kilian exits with injury as Royals blank Cubs |
SURPRISE - It's hard enough to be shut out once during Spring Training, but to be shut out three times in the first two weeks has to be a cause for concern. That is what this Chicago Cubs offense must address in the coming weeks, as they have been nothing short of inconsistent thus far.
One day, they are mashing the ball to the point where you want the season to start, and the next, you're thankful it is still Spring. Going with a prospect-heavy lineup against the Royals on Tuesday, the Cubs offense struggled to get much of anything going against Brady Singer and company as the Royals shut down the Cubs 4-0. More importantly, Caleb Kilian got the start and had to exit with an injury in the third inning after putting together two impressive innings again. Of all the pitchers this Spring, Kilian has arguably been by far the most impressive thus far. He has not only put himself in position to make this team, but some have said he is generating some buzz to earn the final spot in the rotation. Hopefully, the injury isn't anything serious, and he can get back on the bump soon, as he was off to a great start once again. Through two innings, Kilian allowed just one baserunner on a leadoff error, but after getting a double play ball to end the first, he faced the minimum through two. Then came the bottom of the third when Kilian allowed a leadoff single to Drew Waters before being looked at by the training staff and promptly removed from the game in favor of Frank Scalzo Jr. Scalzo was thrown into a tough spot, allowing a one-out single to John Rave to put runners on the corners before the Maikel Garcia sacrifice fly gave the Royals a 1-0 lead. Little did anyone know that that run would be the lone run for a while as it was the pitching once again dominating the game. Had it not been for the Garrett Cooper single in the first, the Cubs would have been no-hit through three innings, only to have Michael Busch lace a leadoff double against Will Smith to begin the fourth and set the offense up. Busch would reach third later in the inning, but after Pete Crow-Armstrong was picked off of first, the Cubs were left scoreless again. Ben Brown was next out of the pen for the Cubs, who put together his best outing of the Spring. Despite his great stuff, Brown has struggled with his command at times, but you wouldn't have guessed it in this one. He gave the Cubs two scoreless frames before handing things over to Luke Little. Little allowed a two-out single to Bobby Witt Jr, but most importantly, he worked around that single without any damage as the score remained 1-0. A second consecutive three-up, three-down inning had the Cubs offense searching for answers as seven straight hitters were retired after the Luis Vazquez single in the fifth. Great play from Matt Shaw at the hot corner! 👏 pic.twitter.com/VdptF3JgFA That put a ton of pressure on Richard Lovelady in the bottom half of the seventh, and it wasn't his best performance of the Spring. After striking out the first two batters he faced, Lovelady completely lost his command. After hitting Rodolfo Duran, a costly walk put a pair of runners on with two outs. That set the stage for Tyler Gentry, whose swing delivered the biggest backbreaker of the game, using a three-run shot to put the Cubs in a 4-0 hole. Needing runs in a hurry, the Cubs went down in order in the eighth before starting in a similar fashion in the ninth, as strikeouts by Chase Strumpf, and Busch had the Cubs down to their final out. Leave it to Owen Caissie to keep things alive as he continued to build on his already massive Spring with a double while the Jake Slaughter walk put two runners on. Unfortunately, the Cubs couldn't do anything with that chance as Matt Sauer struck out Brett Bateman to end the game and lifted the Royals to the 4-0 win. With only four hits, the Cubs offense was lifeless for the most part, but you continued to see Caissie and Busch play well. That is something to keep an eye on the rest of Spring as Busch entered Spring with more questions than answers while Caissie is trying to lock down a roster spot. The Cubs return to Sloan Park on Wednesday for the most anticipated game this Spring, as Cody Bellinger is set to debut at DH.
