Morel's blast lifts Cubs over Padres
Orlando Ramirez - USA Today Sports

Morel's blast lifts Cubs over Padres
by - Senior Writer - Wed Apr 10 08:42:10 GMT-04:00 2024

SAN DIEGO - Coming off one of the more difficult losses to swallow, many people were wondering how the Chicago Cubs (7-4) would respond. Anytime you lead a game 8-0 and find a way to lose that game; those losses tend to stick with you for a while and tend to linger into other games.

With rookie right-hander Ben Brown making his first career start against Joe Musgrove and the San Diego Padres (6-8) at Petco Park on Tuesday, the Cubs not only responded but responded in a big way. A five-run fifth inning was all the Cubs needed to take down the Friars and get back on the winning track 5-1.

Brown was sensational in his first start and, apart from his shaky MLB debut against Texas, has been sensational all season and spring long. The right-hander pitched into the fifth inning, allowing just three hits and striking out five. Had it not been for his pitch limit knocking him out at 4 2/3, he was well on his way to his first career MLB win, and a lot of people felt that Craig Counsell should've let him finish the inning.

Either way, Brown gave the Cubs just what they needed on the mound. He turned things over to Drew Smyly, Yency Almonte, Mark Leiter Jr., and Adbert Alzolay, who took matters into their own hands to make sure this game wouldn't slip away like the last one. Opposing Brown, on the other side, was Musgrove, who was equally as good in the early stages.

Musgrove is coming off a late-season injury that required offseason surgery, and through three starts, he doesn't appear to be close to healthy. His velocity is way down from a season ago, and he has been relying on his breaking ball more than ever to get people out. He lasted just four innings before getting knocked out after allowing four runs on five hits with four strikeouts.

Unlike their game on Monday, which saw the Cubs score early and often, offense was at a premium early on, as neither team was able to get much going. That's hard to believe when Seiya Suzuki picked up a one-out single in the first, followed by a Morel walk, while Brown also had to pitch around a leadoff Xander Bogaerts double in the early going.

That trend continued over the next three innings as neither team had trouble putting guys on base, but instead had trouble driving them in. Brown benefitted from his defense behind him turning several double plays to erase a leadoff baserunner while the Cubs struggled to make consistent hard-contact against Musgrove who started to look like the version of himself the Padres have been waiting for.

It was in the fifth inning that the scoring started, which is also when the Cubs decided to bring out the hard contact to make things happen. Three pitches into the top half of the fifth, it was the Cubs grabbing the lead for good as Yan Gomes connected for his first homer of the season to make this a 1-0 ballgame.

Considering his start to the season, this was a game Gomes desperately needed, as it does appear his bat is getting back to where he wants it to be.

Not only did that homer open the scoring, but it opened the flood gates for what would be a massive inning for Chicago as Ian Happ followed that homer with a walk while the Suzuki single put two runners on and no outs. Then came Cody Bellinger to the plate who was hit in the foot by a breaking pitch, loading the bases and chasing Musgrove with no outs in the inning.

That would be the final hitter Musgrove would face as the Padres went to their bullpen and called upon Stephen Kolek for the challenging task. For the most part, the Padres bullpen was solid once more, but sometimes all it takes is one swing for things to get out of hand as Christopher Morel launched a grand slam into the second level to break the game open and gave the Cubs a 5-0 lead.

Given how quickly the bullpen let that game get away on Monday, no one felt comfortable with a five-run lead, especially after watching Smyly surrender a solo shot to Eguy Rosario in the sixth to pull the Padres within 5-1. Rosario helped ignite the rally on Monday, and the Cubs were hoping that it wasn't going to be the start of something big.

It wasn't, as the Cubs bullpen responded the best way you can with a strong showing, allowing just two base runners the rest of the night to even up the series with the Padres, winning 5-1.

The Cubs will now turn to the Professor Kyle Hendricks on Wednesday as he will look to knock off Dylan Cease for the series win.

The Cubs had nine hits in the win, with Suzuki leading the way with three more hits as his blistering start continues. Gomes and Morel added two hits and were responsible for all seven RBIs, accounting for seven of the team's nine hits.

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