Following being swept by the Pirates, the Cubs head out west to play their next 6 games. The first three will be played against the San Diego Padres who come into the series at 19-20 while the Cubs enter at 21-18.
The Cubs still have increasingly high numbers of strikeouts on the season though it looks like the number of hits may also keep going up.
Morrow is typically a tough pitcher to get a read on and has had strong seasons when he is not plagued by injuries. This season appears to be no different as he seems to healthy and ready to mow down batters. Hendricks has been pitching well and will look to keep that up by getting some help at a pitcher friendly park.
Game 2
Jon Lester (5-0, 2.08) @ James Shields (1-5, 4.79)
The Cubs prized pitching acquisition against the Padres prized pitching acquisition. Lester has an unblemished record on the season while Shields can't seem to right the ship. Lester hopes to keep up his strong start to his season while Shields is looking to turn around one that he can only hope gets better.
Game 3
Jake Arrieta (3-3, 3.38) @ Andrew Cashner (2-1, 2.34)
Remember Cashner? He was the player that was a top prospect in the Cubs system until they decided to trade him for Anthony Rizzo. Cashner his a hard throwing pitcher and gets high numbers of strikeouts, he at one point was projected as anything from a #2 pitcher to a relief pitcher due to command issues but has always thrown hard. Arrieta is looking to recover from his last start and has pitched well this year when he has command of all of his pitches.
Following an off day, the Cubs and the Padres met for a night game in San Diego. Typically this season, when the Cubs get to another team's bullpen early in a game and in a series it bodes well for the Cubs. Well this game hopefully will be the later because it was not the former.
Brandon Morrow exited the game after just one inning in which he gave up 4 base runners but just one run. The Padres went quickly to the bullpen and were able to help shut down the Cubs as an entirety. The Cubs did not get a fantastic pitching performance from Kyle Hendricks who gave up 7 hits and four runs in 5.2 innings.
The Padres had 7 pitchers combine to go 9 innings and strike out twelve different batters. The Cubs had twelve base runners but were only able to push across three runs two of which came because of the bat of Chris Coghlan.
Chicago Cubs at San Diego Padres
May 19, 2015
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
R
H
E
Chicago (21-18)
1
0
0
0
0
1
0
1
0
3
6
1
San Diego (19-20)
0
0
0
2
0
2
1
2
0
7
11
1
Scoring Summary
SCORING DETAILS
CHC
SDG
CHC
1
Castro Sac Fly Fowler scores
1
0
SDG
4
Kemp doubles, Alonso scores
1
1
SDG
4
Norris singles, Kemp scores
1
2
CHC
6
Coghlan Sac Fly, Rizzo scores
2
2
SDG
6
Venable grounds into fielders choice; Alonso scores
2
3
SDG
6
Norris doubles, Venable scores
2
4
SDG
7
Alonso doubles, Solarte scores
2
5
CHC
8
Coghlan singles, Rizzo scores, Bryant to second
3
5
SDG
8
Norris doubles, Venable scores
3
6
SDG
8
Amarista grounds out to pitcher, E-1, Norris scores
This is when teams make or break seasons, maybe it is a little early to be thinking like that but the Cubs struggled yet again, with some of the same issues coming up in this game as have come up in many others.
The Cubs had three errors, two by star prospect Kris Bryant, these errors allowed for 3 unearned runs to score against the Cubs, who had in reality gotten a decent pitching performance from Jon Lester who gave up one earned run in 6 innings off of 4 hits. That isn't too bad until you add in the other two unearned runs, after two errors with two outs in the same inning.
Justin Grimm continues to struggle after his return from the disabled list and gave up another three runs, only two were earned due to another error.
The other problem the Cubs had was the lack of contact, as they struck out a total of 11 times which is continuing to be a big problem for the club and has expanded since Jorge Soler went to the disabled list. Hopefully this will be rectified soon.
This was the 5th straight loss for the Cubs who will look to avoid the sweep for two series in a row in game three against the Padres.
Chicago Cubs at San Diego Padres
May 20, 2015
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
R
H
E
Chicago (21-19)
0
1
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
1
7
3
San Diego (20-20)
0
0
0
0
2
0
2
2
0
6
9
1
W: Shields (2-5) L: Lester (5-1)
Scoring Summary
SCORING DETAILS
CHC
SDG
CHC
2
Russell grounds into Fielders choice, Szczur scores
The Cubs lost another one and another one that wasn't close. Yet again the same problems that have been plaguing them for the past weeks are starting to catch up, large numbers of strikeouts (13, including 10 from starter Andrew Cashner), errors (1) and the inability to have timely extra base hits (3 doubles and only 1 run)
Cashner dazzled and looked like the top prospect he was supposed to be when the Cubs brought him up. When Cashner was traded the Cubs figured he was at best a solid number 2 starter, by striking out 10 in 6 innings, it looks like it may have been the perfect theory for Cashner.
Jake Arrieta struggled and his line ended up a bit strange with 7 strikeout victims but also 6 hits allowed, unfortunately for the Cubs they won the hit battle but lost the game continuing their losing streak.
The Cubs continue their road trip out west against the Arizona Diamondbacks who come into the series at 13-28 while the Cubs limp in at 21-21.
The Cubs come in as losers of their last 6 games and 8 of their last 10. The Cubs last home run was by a player that isn't even on their roster, Wellington Castillo who is now with the Mariners, and their last win came on May 14th, 8 days ago. The last time the Cubs won a series was in the May 8-10 series against the Milwaukee Brewers.
Game 1
Tsuyoshi Wada (0-0, 0.00) @ Jeremy Hellickson (1-4, 3.69)
This will be Wada's first start of the year since coming off the disabled list and Hellickson will be looking to right his season on a team that is struggling worse than even the Cubs who can't seem to get their offense going.
Game 2
Jason Hammel (1-2, 3.10) @ Archie Bradley (0-4, 6.20)
The star D-Backs pitcher has been getting shelled so far this season but lucky for him he is running into the Cubs at a cold stretch, maybe it is lucky for the Cubs cold offense to run into a struggling Bradley who many predicted to be the next big star for the D-Backs.
Game 3
Kyle Hendricks (3-2, 4.00) @ Ruby De LaRosa (1-4, 7.71)
Neither pitcher has been doing anything to write home about this season but Hendricks seems to be getting offensive support in his starts while it doesn't look to matter for De Larosa who is sporting a whopping 7.71 era which, if your the Cubs hitters has to have you salivating.
The Cubs shook the monkey of their backs in game one of this three game series exploding for 7 runs in the first four innings of the game and gathering a total of 11 hits and 5 walks. Despite this explosion of offense, the Cubs did struggle in the exact categories that they have struggled in the past few weeks.
The Cubs had 11 hits and 5 walks but also struck out 10 times (5 off of Hellickson who was done in 3 innings), had an error (1 by Chris Coghlan) but they finally had a few strong deep extra base hits. The Cubs broke their home run less streak with two bombs today, one of which was by Miguel Montero who will want to keep that baseball because it is his 100th of his career.
The game was a decent first performance for the Cubs pitcher Tsuyoshi Wada who just recently returned from the disabled list. Wada went the distance and only allowed 7 hits, though he didn't have the punch out pitch working, only striking out one batter in the game (Jake Lamb) one time.
The Cubs look to continue this runs coring streak in the next two games against pitchers with overly inflated Earn Run Averages.
Chicago Cubs at Arizona Diamondbacks
May 22, 2015
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
R
H
E
Chicago (21-21)
1
0
5
1
0
0
0
0
0
7
11
1
Arizona (13-28)
0
0
0
2
0
0
0
0
1
3
7
0
W: Wada (W, 1-0) L: Hellickson (1-5)
Scoring Summary
SCORING DETAILS
CHC
ARI
CHC
1
Rizzo doubles, Castro scores
1
0
CHC
3
Bryant singles, Castro scores, Rizzo to third
2
0
CHC
3
Coghlan singles, Rizzo scores, Bryant to second
3
0
CHC
3
Montero homers (100th career homer) off Right field foul pole; Coghlan and Bryant score
06-23-2015, 03:43 PM
