5-1 Road Trip: Cubs show offensive firepower in sweep of A's
Darren Yamashita - USA Today Sports

5-1 Road Trip: Cubs show offensive firepower in sweep of A's
by - Senior Writer - Wed Apr 19 18:58:57 GMT-04:00 2023

OAKLAND - If this is the last time the Chicago Cubs (11-6) that the Cubs will play at the Oakland Colusseum, they may not want to leave, as it has been more than a decade since they last lost a game there. Granted, they don't play the Oakland Athletics (3-16), but when they do they have a ton of success sweeping them in Oakland in 2016 and looking to do that again in 2023

You rarely have one pitcher leading the league in ERA, let alone two. That is the case for the Chicago Cubs as Tuesday's starter Marcus Stroman leads the NL in ERA, with Justin Steele coming in second. Looking to continue his unbeaten start to the season following a dominating outing in Los Angeles last weekend, Steele wasn't at his best, but he didn't need to be as the Cubs offense continued to lead the league in runs scored as the Cubs swept the A's 12-2.

The one constant with Steele going back to last June is that you will get a quality outing every time out. That is why he is ranked second in Major League Baseball in ERA during that span and could find himself No. 1 before long. Steele has pitched at least five innings in every start including three times into the sixth, as he gave the Cubs six strong innings of two-run (1ER) ball.

Steele walked two, scattered four hits, and struck out five on another day at the office for him.

Steele had to be on top of his game as the A's countered with their No. 3 prospect and top pitching prospect Mason Miller. Known for his triple-digit heater, Miller made life difficult on the Cubs and allowed two runs on four hits in 4 1/3. Miller walked one, hit a batter, and struck out five in a strong debut.

Facing a highly touted pitching prospect can be difficult as there is not a lot of film on them if you haven't faced them. The Cubs fell into that trap in the early innings as Miller kept the Cubs off the board through three innings and kept the pressure on Steele to match him. Apart from a two-out double from Conner Capel in the third, Steele didn't have much to worry about as this was looking like Tuesday night all over.

Then came the fourth inning, when both offenses started to settle in. Walking Dansby Swanson to lead things off is never good, as he would advance to second on a wild pitch. That set the stage for Ian Happ, who struck the ball all game and ripped an RBI double to right center, putting the Cubs in front 1-0.

Give the A's some credit, they could have packed it in at that point, but they battled back in their half of the fourth, with Jesus Aguilar getting the party started with a one-out walk. On the verge of getting out of the inning unharmed, Carlos Perez ensured that wouldn't happen as he laced an RBI double to right field to tie things up 1-1.

The fifth saw the same story as both teams exchanged runs again to keep things tied 2-2. Tucker Barnhardt picked up a sacrifice fly in the Cubs half of the fifth, with Jordan Diaz grabbing an RBI double for Oakland. This was when the game changed for both sides as the A's not only failed to score the rest of the way, but went hitless until the ninth inning.

Chicago also saw their bats come to life in their half of the sixth as they continued to hammer the A's pen. With Chad Smith walking Swanson and Happ to start the inning, Sam Moll was put in a tough spot. Despite getting Cody Bellinger to roll one over, Swanson beat the throw home from Aguilar, as that fielder's choice was the game-winner.

The big hit in the frame came from Patrick Wisdom, who drove one off the wall the other way for a two-run triple as the Cubs built a 5-2 advantage.

Wisdom would score on a wild pitch later in the inning to push the lead to 6-2 as they were now in complete control. Following the start from Steele, it was time for David Ross to go to his pen, with Keegan Thompson the first to be called on.

Thompson wasn't as crisp as he would have liked, but he is getting back into a nice groove after two scoreless frames. Chicago continued to build on their lead in the eighth with Eric Hosmer going deep for his first of the season, but it was in the ninth inning when the Cubs put the peddle to the medal as they scored five more times.

Luis Torrens delivered the first huge hit of that inning as his bases-loaded double off of Adam Oller pushed the Cubs lead up to 10-2.

Wisdom followed that up with a walk while Nick Madrigal connected for another RBI double as the Cubs lead grew to 12-2. That would be it for them offensively as Julian Merryweather came in to slam the door in the ninth and capped off a 5-1 West Coast trip.

It may not have been 20 hits, but the Cubs still managed to grab 11 hits while walking seven times. Hoerner led the way with three hits and is now hitting .347 from the leadoff spot. Happ, Hosmer, and Madrigal added multi-hit games for the Cubs, with Swanson picking up three walks. Next up for the Cubs is a massive seven-game homestand that starts with four against the Los Angeles Dodgers on Thursday. Jameson Taillon takes the ball in that one and will face Mitch Grove.

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