Tsuyoshi Wada, Cubs fall 7-4 to Indians in split-squad action

Just a day after actor and comedian Will Ferrell entertained both the Cubs and the fans of professional baseball, Chicago found themselves in split-squad action Friday afternoon.

Despite putting together what appeared to be another brief late inning rally in the bottom of the ninth, the (SS) Cubs would fall to the (SS) Cleveland Indians 7-4 in their first game of the day.

With the Cubs trailing 7-3 in the bottom of the ninth, both Gleyber Torres and Rafael Lopez tacked on two runs with a double and a single, bringing their club within three runs. Outfielder Billy McKinney was given the opportunity to drive in another run with Lopez in scoring position after advancing to second base on defense indifference.

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McKinney would ground out to shortstop Yu-Cheng Chang to end the game.

Left-handed pitcher Tsuyoshi Wada made a brief start today for the Cubs, lasting only 2/3 of an inning.

Wada (0-0, 5.94 ERA), who is competing for the fifth spot in the rotation, gave up a home run to Yan Gomes in the first inning of play. He would be replaced by Zach Cates.

Shortly after Gomes gave his team with a solo blast to left field, Outfielder Matt Szczur evened things up at 1-1 with a solo jack of his own on the second pitch of the at-bat. It was his first home run of the spring, as Szczur would finish the game 1-3 at the plate with his lone hit and RBI coming in the very first inning.

Both teams failed to score in the second frame, but Cleveland’s offense would break things open by hanging a four spot in the third. Indian’s Jerry Sands started things off with an RBI single off Jeff Lorick to right field and would later come around to score on a three-run shot by Clint Frazier.

Cleveland would score their seventh and final run of the contest on another RBI single, this time by Bobby Bradley.

What Stood Out: 

Although the Cubs offense still refuses to give up during the later innings, they managed to strikeout 11 times against the Indians. Just in case you missed it, strikeouts appeared to be an issue against the Texas Rangers as they struck out 12 times in the 6-4 loss just four days ago.

Now today against the split-squad Indians, Cubs hitters whiffed a total of 11 times compared to Cleveland’s seven. This is something that needs to be addressed.

Utility man Arismendy Alcantara led the team with two this afternoon as he failed to record a hit while starting at second base.

What’s Next: 

The Cubs second split-squad game will see Jake Arrieta take the mound in Las Vegas against the Oakland Athletics. Arrieta (0-1, 4.50 ERA) worked through two innings in his last appearance – giving up a home run while issuing three walks and recording two strikeouts.

Oakland will send 26-year-old lefty Drew Pomeranz to the mound opposite of Arrieta. Pomeranz (0-0, 0.00 ERA) has given up only two hits through two innings with four strikeouts and one walk.

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