Bryant homers, Chicago Cubs drop 7-2 contest to Cleveland

Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports

After dropping a close 1-0 contest against the Cleveland Indians yesterday afternoon at Goodyear Ballpark, the tribe brought their big sticks to Cubs Park today, tallying seven runs on 9 hits for their eight victory of the spring. The 7-2 rout of the Cubbies was fueled by a 2-run dinger from Mike Aviles and a big three run ninth for a fairly easy win.

The Chicago Cubs had a very offensively challenged afternoon at Cubs park, finishing the day with just four hits and two runs after being relatively shut down by Indians righty Carlos Carrasco, getting just 2 runs (none earned) over his three innings. Kris Bryant flashed his huge power potential in this one, hammering a two run homer to right for his second of the spring. While he displayed the gun show in Mesa, he also showed that spring training is just spring training, striking out his other two at-bats.

The scoring started off of Edwin Jackson in the very first inning, with infielder Mike Aviles slamming a long ball over the fence for two runs right off the bat (no pun intended). Jackson had another sub-par outing, surrendering three runs on four hits in three frames. The Cubs came back quickly however, with big-time power prospect Kris Bryant tying it up on a 2 run home run, as mentioned before.

The Indians weren`t fazed, coming through with a run in the the third courtesy of a Yan Gomes RBI two bagger, and added another with a David Cooper RBI single in the sixth. The game was still certainly in reach for the north siders at this point, with a few innings left and just a two run deficit facing them.

It all changed in the ninth inning when right-hander Blake Parker took the mound as the tribe pushed this out of the Cubbies` reach, scoring three runs off of Parker featuring a bases loaded walk, single, and sac fly to beat Chicago the second day in a row. On a bright note across Arizona, the other half of the split squad today played the Angels at Tempe Diablo, rallying for two runs with two outs in the ninth to win 3-2.

The Cubs (3-6) will stay together as one squad tomorrow afternoon, facing the NL Central rival Cincinnati Reds at Goodyear Ballpark. Jason Hammel will take the hill at 2:05 CT to square off against fellow righty Alfredo Simon and look to redeem Chicago against the Reds after getting defeated by the Indians, the other Ohio baseball team.

*Insert friendly nudge to find me on twitter at @GarrettFilson for spring training coverage, thanks for reading!