Cubs smack three homers to overpower Guardians
Mastrobuoni homered in the win (Rick Scuteri - USA Today Sports)

Cubs smack three homers to overpower Guardians
by - Senior Writer - Sun Mar 03 19:39:16 GMT-04:00 2024

MESA - It has taken a little while for the Chicago Cubs offense to use the long ball, but that is now becoming part of their game. That is something you would expect playing in Arizona, but for whatever reason, this team doesn't rely on the home run as much as other teams do.

That all changed on Sunday against the Cleveland Guardians as the Cubs used not one, not two, but three home runs to battle back from an early deficit to take down the Guardians 5-3. Coming off their loss against the Los Angeles Dodgers, this was a much-needed win, and now this team can focus on another week of spring ball beginning next week.

Kyle Hendricks made his second start of the spring as he faced off against LT Allen. Hendricks looked sharp in his first outing despite allowing a run, which is a great thing to see. Remember, he didn't even have spring training last season due to his healing shoulder, so to have him back on a regular routine is just what this team needed.

Unlike his first outing, where Hendricks was sharp from the start, the Guardians got to him in each of his three innings, pushing across one run in each frame. That started in the first after Tyler Freeman was hit by a pitch and stole second as he came around to score on the Deyvison Davis single. Hendricks would hit two batters in the first inning, which is uncharacteristic for him.

A leadoff double from Angel Martinez opened up the second inning as the Guardians were again in business. Martinez was still standing on base with two outs, only to have Freeman come through with an RBI single to give the Guardians a 2-0 lead. Cleveland would add a third run on a wild pitch in the top half of the third as Hendricks day was done with the Cubs trailing 3-0.

Little did they know, those would be the game's only runs for the Guardians as the Cubs bullpen pitched phenomenally well. Despite that, Allen was excellent early on as he silenced the Cubs through his two frames, striking out three batters also. He turned things over to Xzavion Curry, who was promptly greeted by Miles Mastrobuoni and his solo shot to put the Cubs on the board 3-1.

Chicago had a chance to add on with singles from Joe Hudson and Luis Vazquez, but a costly double play killed the rally and kept the Cubs from adding on.

However, that homer was only the beginning for the Cubs and their offense as they were locked in against the Cleveland pen. The only problem was that the Cubs were unable to pick up the big hit despite putting plenty of traffic on the bases in each of the next three innings. All it took was for Kevin Alcantara to connect for his first spring homer off of Tim Herrin to make things 3-2, as that seemed to be the wake-up call this team needed.

Following great pitching performances from Hector Neris, Adbert Alzolay, and Daniel Palencia, Edwin Escobar entered to pitch the seventh and delivered a scoreless frame. Escobar would also qualify for the win as the offense continued to play well in the bottom of the seventh. With Jorge Alfaro picking up a one-out single to put the tying run on base, David Bote answered with his team-leading third homer of the spring to put the Cubs in front for good 4-3.

For someone who was removed from the 40-man roster last season and often forgotten about by the fans, Bote is undoubtedly making a lasting impression this spring, and with Ian Happ nursing a hamstring injury, maybe there is a scenario where Bote can return to the MLB roster.

With Porter Hodge taking over in the eighth, the Guardians had a chance to at the worst draw even as singles from De Los Santos and Raynel Delgado put a pair of runners on with two outs. Hodge buckled down to strike out Lorenzo Cedrola as Hodge finished the inning with a pair of punchouts.

The Cubs added to their lead in the bottom half of the eighth as one-out singles from Brett Bateman and Bradlee Beesley put runners on the corners only to have Matt Shaw deliver a sacrifice fly to cap off the scoring with the Cubs in front 5-3. Brad Weick finished things off from there as he entered the game to pitch the ninth inning and promptly retired the Guardians in order to secure the save.

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