MESA, Arizona — Well, they’re still undefeated.
The Cubs were that close — as noted above, one strike away — from winning Thursday afternoon’s game, when Brooks Kriske served up a two-run homer to Angels minor leaguer Kyren Paris. The Cubs loaded the bases in the bottom of the ninth but could not score, and so the game ended in a 4-4 tie, the team’s second straight deadlock by that score.
Kriske’s likely not going to be anywhere near the Cubs bullpen this year, so I wouldn’t be too concerned. Some good things did happen in this game, so let’s look at them.
Jordan Wicks threw reasonably well. He allowed a first-inning homer to, of all people, Tim Anderson, the former White Sox star who’s a NRI in Angels camp. Anderson will probably hit just well enough to make the Angels Opening Day roster and then go south.
Anyway.
In the second inning, Wicks was victimized by some shoddy defense, even though no errors were committed. A couple of dinky ground balls didn’t even get through the infield, but resulted in another Angels run. Wicks would have completed the third inning if not for yet another infield hit with two out in the third.
Wicks might wind up making the Opening Day roster as a swingman. It seems likely he’ll continue to get spring starts.
Ryan Pressly threw the top of the fourth and looked much better this time than in his previous outing. Here are his two strikeouts [VIDEO].
The Cubs did nothing over the first four innings — 12 up, 12 down against Angels starter Caden Dana and reliever Hans Crouse.
In the fifth, they finally broke through. Michael Busch singled and scored on this double by Dansby Swanson [VIDEO].
Swanson stole third while the Angels weren’t paying attention to him and then he scored on this single by Carson Kelly [VIDEO].
I like Kelly. He’s a good defensive catcher and has had good hitting years in the past, though not recently, largely due to injury. If he and Miguel Amaya split the catching duties fairly evenly that’s a very good tandem.
So the game’s tied 2-2 after five. Here’s a really nice play by Nicky Lopez that ended the top of the sixth [VIDEO].
Lopez isn’t going to make the Opening Day roster but if the Cubs can stash him at Triple-A Iowa, he could be useful at some point this year.
After Pressly’s good inning, Nate Pearson, Keegan Thompson, Ethan Roberts and Daniel Palencia combined to throw four shutout innings, allowing one hit and three walks, with five strikeouts.
The Cubs took a 4-2 lead in the bottom of the eighth. Dixon Machado singled with one out. After Christian Franklin walked, Jordan Nwogu (remember him? Second-round pick out of Michigan in the abbreviated 2020 draft) struck out, Jonathon Long came to the plate [VIDEO].
Long can hit, no question about it. He looks pretty good at first base. He’ll also be at Iowa this year and I can see him up in the big leagues at some point in 2025.
As noted above, Kriske had the Angels on the ropes. He struck out the first two he facd in the ninth, then allowed a walk. Paris followed with that home run and then there was a two-out double. Jose Escobar, a 20-year-old outfielder who played at Myrtle Beach last year, made a fine running catch on a sinking liner to end the top of the ninth.
The Cubs got a one-out double from Cristian Hernandez in the bottom of the ninth, and one out later Escobar was given an intentional walk after running a 3-0 count. I don’t remember the last time I saw an IBB in a Spring Training game.
After Machado walked to load the bases, Franklin had the chance to be the hero, but popped up to end things in another tie.
Some good bullpen performances are the takeaway from this game, always good to see.
Attendance watch: The smallest crowd of the spring so far, 9,223, attended Thursday’s game. That makes the season total for five dates 61,321, or 12,264 per date.
Friday, the Cubs head west to Surprise to face the Rangers. Justin Steele will start for the Cubs and Cody Bradford will go for the Rangers. Game time is 2:05 p.m. CT. No TV for Friday’s game. There will be a radio broadcast on 670 The Score.
