April 29th Game’s Results and Analysis

April 29^th Game’s Results and Analysis

Chicago Cubs 5 – San Diego Padres 3

Winning Pitcher: Bowden (1-1) Losing Pitcher: Richard (0-3)

Save by Gregg (4)

Player of the Game: Cody Ransom

The Chicago Cubs rebounded from their loss to the Marlins by taking their first game against the Padres in their four game series against them. The Chicago Cubs brought their bats to the game and scored enough runs to lead the Cubbies to a 5 to 3 victory over the Padres. The Cubs got great performances from their 7^th and 8^th hitters in the game and solid performances from other hitters in their lineup. Darwin Barney provided the Cubs with not only a great glove in the field, but also provided them with some pop in his bat by going 2 for 3 with a walk, two RBIs and two doubles. However, Barney was outshined by his teammate Cody Ransom who hit back to back homers with Scott Hairston in the second inning and in addition to his homer he went 2 for 4 in the game with two runs scored and had two RBIs which earned him the player of the game.

Impressive: The most impressive thing in today’s game was the Cubs’ bats. The Cubs hitters had five extra base hits in the game and toiled a total of ten hits in the game, seven of which came off the left-handed former Michigan football player, Clayton Richard. The Cubs hitters showed that they can hit off left-handed pitchers in their game and that they can win games for the Cubbies. Another impressive thing about this game was Kevin Gregg, who went 1.1 innings with two strikeouts and allowed no base runners on base. I believe the Cubs have found someone reliable enough to become their closer.

Surprising: The thing that caught my attention was Jeff Samardzija’s performance. Samardzija only went five innings where he threw 101 pitches, basically he was just a little too wild which can account for his four walks in the game. He allowed three earned runs, but those runs could have been avoidable if he just had a little better command on his pitches. Don’t get me wrong I believe that Samardzija is the best pitcher that the Cubs have and has elite stuff, but he needs to find the strike zone more and learn to not overthrow his pitches. I strongly believe Samardzija has enough talent to receive a Cy Young award in his career, but he needs to understand that he doesn’t need to pitch every pitch perfectly, he just needs to limit the walks.

Concerning: What I found concerning in today’s game was how Shawn Camp pitched. Camp only recorded one out, however he gave up two hits and one walk in the seventh inning and has had a difficult time getting outs so far this early season. Shawn Camp has been getting rocked out of the bullpen and needs to find a way to provide the Cubs the outs they need. Another concern of mine, which has been a concern of mine for a long time, is how poorly the Cubs hit when they have runners in scoring position. I know that I am beating this like a dead horse, but the Cubs hitters need to step up when they are given the chances.