Chicago Cubs can’t solve Salazar as he strikes out nine in 4-3 win

The Chicago Cubs hit two home runs–both from Willson Contreras–but couldn’t solve Danny Salazar as the Cleveland Indians beat the Cubs, 4-3.

The fans in Goodyear, Arizona got a solid rematch of the Chicago Cubs (11-16) and Cleveland Indians (15-14). The starters played most of the game, but it was the Indians who held on to get the victory on Monday night with a 4-3 win.

The Indians’ Danny Salazar was impressive in his final tune-up before the season. Salazar struck out nine Cubs in 5 2/3 innings in outdueling the Cubs ace, Jon Lester. Lester had a rough second inning, allowing three runs before settling in to go six innings on the evening. He allowed a solo home run to Abraham Almonte in the fifth, which turned out to be the deciding factor.

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While Salazar was baffling Cubs hitters, Willson Contreras wasn’t fooled. Contreras took Salazar deep twice, accounting for two of the Cubs three runs.

Behind the plate, Contreras and Lester seemed to be in tune with each other. Replacing David Ross is no small task, but the Cubs’ young catcher seems to be taking to the job well.

Other than missing his location on a few pitches–especially his cutter–Lester looked sharp in his final outing before Opening Night as well. He also accounted for the Cubs final run by lining a two-strike single into left to cut it to a 4-3 lead.

But that was all the Cubs could muster on the night. Kris Bryant, Contreras and Albert Almora each collected a pair of hits while Lester added his RBI single to round out the offense for the night.

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The World Series rematch brought a record crowd to Goodyear Ballpark as 11,624 came to see Monday’s game. The Cubs will play the San Francisco Giants tomorrow at 3:10 p.m. CT.