The San Diego Padres took the opening game of their series against the Chicago Cubs, 6-3. Yu Darvish threw five scoreless innings before handing the ball off to five relievers to finish Chicago off. A sixth inning onslaught gave the Padres the lead on the strength of three hits and propelled them to the victory.
For the Chicago Cubs, Justin Steele made his return to the mound but was limited to 4 2/3 IP as he revs back up for the rest of the season. The sixth inning barrage by the Padres pummeled the Cubs bullpen and proved to be too much to overcome, overshadowing two home runs from the Cubs lineup.
Aces Dealt in Chicago
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In the first game of a three-game series, the pitchers dominated early. Former-Cub Yu Darvish toed the rubber for the Padres, making his way through five innings without allowing a runner to score. Darvish gave up three hits and one walk, struck out five and threw 83 pitches. The Chicago Cubs hitters battled and forced Darvish to make many high-leverage pitches. After the San Diego Padres’ offensive eruption in the sixth, manager Mike Schildt handed the game over to the San Diego bullpen.
Justin Steele took the mound for the Chicago Cubs for the first time since Opening Day. After recovering from a hamstring injury, Steele picked up right where he left off, tossing 4 2/3 innings of scoreless baseball. The Cubs ace was taken out after 68 pitches as part of manager Craig Counsell’s plan to reintroduce him into the starting rotation. While in the long run, this may pay off, on Monday night, it cost the Cubs.
San Diego Padres Put Up Six in the Sixth
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Richard Lovelady came in to relieve Justin Steele in the fifth and got out of the fifth. When he came out for the sixth, however, he found no such luck. Lovelady allowed three hits and, after allowing two runs to score, was removed in favor of Daniel Palencia. Palencia was working for the second day in a row and was not nearly as effective.
Jurickson Profar put the first runs of the game up on the board with a two-run single. Three hits later, San Diego was up 6-0. Donovan Solano and Luis Campusano drove in the other four runs off Daniel Palencia before the damage stopped. The six-run inning was just the latest 4+ run inning for the San Diego Padres, who lead the league in that category with a total of 18.
Chicago Tries to Mount a Comeback
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After finding themselves down six late, the Chicago Cubs did their best to make it interesting. In the bottom of the sixth, Christopher Morel hit his team-leading eighth home run that drove in two. Yan Gomes launched a solo home run in the seventh, and going into the final two frames, the game was within three.
The San Diego Padres were comfortable with the lead until the bottom of the eighth when the Cubs loaded the bases with no outs. After Jeremiah Estrada struck Pete Crow-Armstrong out, Mike Schildt opted to go to his closer, and Robert Suarez was tasked with getting a five-out save. Suarez fanned Yan Gomes and got Nico Hoerner to pop out to short, and the threat was averted.
Suarez struck out two more in the ninth and a Christopher Morel fly out ended the game, and the Padres took the first game of this series, 6-3.
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