This recap of the Cubs' 6-1 loss to the Brewers Saturday afternoon is going to be short, because I spent much of the day at my daughter's college graduation and only heard some of it on the radio driving back to the Orlando airport. (Incidentally, the Sirius/XM radio that allowed me to listen to the game was worth the entire cost of the car rental. More on the radio broadcast later.)
Jake Arrieta didn't have it Saturday and even good pitchers are going to have days like that from time to time. Ryan Braun homered off him in the first inning, a two-run shot, and that was pretty much it, as the Cubs could only manage one run, a homer by Anthony Rizzo in the sixth.
There must be something about Mike Fiers and Wrigley Field. Fiers struck out 14 Cubs last August 14 at Wrigley and Saturday afternoon he struck out 12. Both of those outings lasted only six innings. Some pitchers just have another team's number and Fiers appears to have that in for the Cubs. Kris Bryant had a particularly bad day, striking out all four times he batted.
Fiers, in fact, didn't allow a hit until Chris Denorfia's fifth-inning single. The Cubs had only three hits besides that one and Rizzo's home run, all singles, and couldn't take advantage when Fiers walked two in the first inning. At that point the Cubs still had a shot at getting back into the game, but after the Brewers added a pair off Arrieta in the second inning, the rest of the game was just a long, rather dull slog through a total of three hours and five minutes before a near-sellout of 34,878 on what was a perfectly beautiful spring afternoon. Sunday, it's supposed to be even warmer and more windy and we could see some more home runs leave the yard.
Rizzo and Addison Russell collided going after a popup early in this game. Both seemed woozy for a while but both stayed in the game and, of course, Rizzo homered after this incident. I think that if there had been anything serious going on, both would have been removed as a precaution, so they're almost certainly fine.
Since this was the first time I'd really heard most of a game called by Ron Coomer, let me just say that I now agree with all of you who've said this: he's awful. He can pick up types of pitches well enough, but his cadence isn't any good for play-by-play and he doesn't really add anything to the broadcast with color commentary. Coomer was hired, in part, because he's a Chicago-area native who played briefly for the Cubs (2001), but it doesn't seem like he has much affinity for the team at all. I don't know how much time is left on Coomer's contract, but the Cubs and CBS Radio really has to replace him. Todd Hollandsworth, who reportedly wanted the position, would be a much better choice.
One final note. Edwin Jackson threw the ninth inning and allowed another unearned run on another Starlin Castro error (and then a throwing error by Anthony Rizzo). It was noted during spring training how many errors Castro made while Jackson was on the mound. I'm not sure if this is a thing or not, but it's something that should be noted. Otherwise Jackson threw all right; the ball Castro threw away should have been a ground-ball out.
That's all I've got. My flight is about to board and I'll be back at Wrigley for the series finale Sunday as the Cubs have another chance to win the series. Jason Hammel pitches against Jimmy Nelson.