The Spring Breakout game may be the most fun game of Spring Training and the Cubs prospects hit four solo home runs to beat the Padres prospects, 7-5 at Sloan Park.
Will Sanders started for the Cubs and he was impressive, throwing his fastball at an average 95 miles per hour, which is about 2.5 mph harder than he threw it last year. Yes, it’s expected that pitchers throw harder in early in the season and when they know they’ll be on a low pitch count, but he was still hitting 94.8 in his third and final inning.
The Cubs broke out to an early 1-0 lead when DH Owen Ayers golfed a low fastball 419 feet to dead center. [VIDEO]
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Ayers was the big Cubs story of the Arizona Fall League last year, so he’s definitely one to keep an eye on this year.
But the Padres tied the game up in the top of with a solo home run by Kale Fountain off of Sanders. But that’s about all Sanders would give up. He would leave after throwing three innings and allowing just the one run on two hits. He struck out three and walked no one.
The Cubs would go back up in the top of the fourth. First baseman Cole Mathis doubled with one out, went to third on a ground out to second and scored on an infield single by pinch hitter Carter Trice.
Brooks Caple replaced Sanders to start the fourth inning and he pitched around a leadoff single and an error in that inning. But in the fifth, he got rocked by a three-run home run by top Padres prospect Ethan Salas. [VIDEO]
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Caple finished with having allowed three runs on three hits and two walks over two innings. He struck out four.
The Cubs re-took the lead with a four-run sixth inning. First, last year’s fifth-round pick Kade Snell clobbered one 449 feet to dead center to make it 4-3 Padres. [VIDEO]
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That’s Cubs prospect James Triantos going “Wow, that’s really far” on the call. Triantos went 1 for 3 in the game.
Two batters later, catcher Ariel Armas tied it up with a 398-foot home run. [VIDEO] As Triantos said, “Oh my gosh!”
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The Cubs would plate two more runs later in the sixth. Trice, who stayed in the game, singled after Arias. Next, last year’s second-round pick Kane Kepley doubled to put runners on second and third. Two wild pitches would score both Trice and Kepley.
Both teams had just one more run in them after that. Trice hit the Cub’s fourth solo home run in the eighth inning. [VIDEO]
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The Padres scored once in the top of the ninth off of reliever Luis Martinez-Gomez, who gave up a leadoff double. The runner then went to third on a flyout to right field and scored on a sacrifice fly. Martinez-Gomez got the save after giving up one run on one hit over one inning. He did not walk or strike anyone out, but he did hit one batter.
Yenrri Rojas threw two innings of relief and got the win. Rojas gave up no runs on two hits. He struck out two and walked one. Last year’s fourth-round pick, Kaleb Wing, pitched the eighth inning. He issued a two-out walk, but no other baserunners. Wing struck out one.
Trice didn’t even start this game, but he ended up as the big bat, going 3 for 3 with the home run.
Mathis was 2 for 3 with a double.
Kepley played the entire game in center field and went 2 for 4 with a double, a walk and a stolen base.
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