Tsuyoshi Wada’s nine K’s help the Chicago Cubs secure a 3-2 win over the San Diego Padres

Tsuyoshi Wada in his first game of the 2015 season for the Chicago Cubs showed very good accuracy, as he was hitting his spots set up by his catcher Miguel Montero. Though he didn’t pitch enough to qualify for the win, Wada did play a pivotal role in securing the 3-2 victory for the Cubs.

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Down by a score of 2-1 to the Padres, Wada came up to the plate in the top of the fifth against opposing pitcher Tyson Ross and drew a walk to lead off the inning. After a strikeout by Addison Russell, Ross gave up a line drive to Dexter Fowler. Wada would score to tie up the game 2-2 as Fowler would end up with a one-out RBI triple. Kris Bryant followed with a sac fly to left to bring in Fowler to give the Cubs the 3-2 lead.

In the ninth the Padres would have their chance to tie up the game when Will Middlebrooks led off the inning with a single. He’d then be pushed over to second on a sacrifice bunt and then moved to third on a ground out by Will Venable. With two out and the tying run on third, Hector Rondon would strike out Abraham Almonte to close the game and get the Chicago Cubs (22-17) the win and tie up the series against the San Diego Padres (20-21).

The Chicago Cubs are now 12-7 on the year in one run games.

The Cubs scored first in the game on a Starlin Castro groundout that would drive in Bryant in the first inning.

The Padres struggled against Wada until the fourth inning when Justin Upton crushed a ball to deep center field for his 11th home run on the season to give the Padres a 2-1 lead.

Wada started out the fifth inning with a one-run lead but gave up a leadoff double to Middlebrooks. Wada then would hit Clint Barmes to put two on for Ross who then laid down a bunt that Montero would field and get Middlebrooks out at third. With two outs in the inning, Joe Maddon decided to go to the bullpen and pulled Wada for Justin Grimm to face Derek Norris.

Wada (0-0, 3.86 ERA) finished the game with a stat line of 4 2/3 innings pitched, two runs, four hits, one walk, and nine strikeouts. Grimm would register the win for the Cubs with his 1 1/3 innings pitched; it would be his first win of the season.

Ross (2-4, 3.93 ERA) pitched well for himself, but his team just couldn’t get the offense going. He finished the game going seven innings, four hits, three runs, three walks, and eight strikeouts.

Fowler and Bryant both were 1-for-3 in the game and each had one run scored and one RBI.

What’s Next: 

The rubber game in the three game series will feature the Chicago Cubs (22-17) and Kyle Hendricks (0-1, 5.15 ERA) battling the San Diego Padres (20-21) and Odrisamer Despaigne (2-2, 6.75 ERA).

Hendricks is still looking for his first win of the 2015 season. He is coming off a rough outing against the Pittsburgh Pirates where he was hammered for five runs over 5 2/3 innings pitched.

Despaigne will also look to bounce back from a rough outing against the Washington Nationals where he was lit up for seven runs on 10 hits in only three innings pitched.

The first pitch is scheduled for 8:10 CT from Petco Park and can be seen on the MLB Network or CSN+.

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