Bleed Cubbie Blue - Cubs vs. Athletics Tuesday 3/9 game threadsA Chicago Cubs Fan Community Since February 9, 2005https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/community_logos/47557/cubbieblue.png2021-03-09T17:30:00-06:00http://www.bleedcubbieblue.com/rss/stream/220845662021-03-09T17:30:00-06:002021-03-09T17:30:00-06:00Cubs 9, Athletics 8: Rafael Ortega hits a walkoff grand slam
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<figcaption>Rafael Ortega batting last week against the Royals | Matt Kartozian-USA TODAY Sports</figcaption>
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<p>You don’t see that very often in a spring training game.</p> <p id="MuGgCS"><strong>MESA, Arizona</strong> — Rafael Ortega is not a power guy. In 410 career MLB at-bats, he has three home runs. </p>
<p id="9PEtHd">He did hit 21 homers at Triple-A Gwinnett in the Braves system in 2019, but that’s nearly a third of his 68 career minor league home runs in 4,135 at bats.</p>
<p id="eyon64">Ortega might never hit a regular-season home run for the <a href="https://www.bleedcubbieblue.com/">Cubs</a>. Heck, he might not play a regular-season <em>game</em> for the Cubs.</p>
<p id="aM2BOy">But he will certainly cherish the memory of hitting a walkoff grand slam Tuesday afternoon in Mesa before an enthusiastic gathering of 3,423 at Sloan Park, giving the Cubs <a href="https://www.mlb.com/gameday/athletics-vs-cubs/2021/03/09/642210#game_state=final,game_tab=box,game=642210">an unexpected 9-8 win over the Athletics</a>.</p>
<p id="iVt4II">Walkoff wins are pretty rare in spring training; I can’t remember the last time the Cubs had one, must be six or seven years ago.</p>
<p id="1tCdAR">Before I get to the rest of this game, <a href="https://mlb-cuts-diamond.mlb.com/FORGE/2021/2021-03/09/451e70ea-f70b0543-9fccefab-csvm-diamondx64-asset_1280x720_59_4000K.mp4">let’s watch the walkoff homer [VIDEO]</a>! </p>
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<p id="C0kFgv">Now, let’s rewind tho the beginning. Trevor Williams threw three innings today and two of them were quick, efficient 1-2-3 innings. In the other, he allowed back-to-back doubles to Mitch Moreland and Chad Pinder and the A’s took a 1-0 lead. Overall, though, I thought Williams threw well and that gives him two consecutive good spring outings. It’s only spring training, but I think the Cubs got themselves a steal in Williams.</p>
<p id="QTTZoh">The Cubs tied the game in the bottom of the second. Jason Heyward singled and David Bote walked, and that brought up new Cub Eric Sogard <a href="https://mlb-cuts-diamond.mlb.com/FORGE/2021/2021-03/09/4ae17709-45377e33-71c1b029-csvm-diamondx64-asset_1280x720_59_4000K.mp4">for his first Cubs at-bat [VIDEO]</a>.</p>
<div id="cF6Mzu"><div style="left: 0; width: 100%; height: 0; position: relative; padding-bottom: 56.25%;"><video controls="" style="top: 0; left: 0; width: 100%; height: 100%; position: absolute;">Your browser does not support HTML5 video.<source src="https://mlb-cuts-diamond.mlb.com/FORGE/2021/2021-03/09/4ae17709-45377e33-71c1b029-csvm-diamondx64-asset_1280x720_59_4000K.mp4" type="video/mp4"></source></video></div></div>
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<p id="nBSRjW">Nice piece of hitting for Sogard to tie the game.</p>
<p id="BaS5ML">Unfortunately, that brought Craig Kimbrel into the contest. Kimbrel wasn’t as bad in this one as he was in his first outing, but that one was horrific. In this one, he allowed only one run, a solo homer by Matt Chapman. But of the three outs he recorded, two were hit hard, including a screaming line drive by Elvis Andrus that David Bote made a nice snag on at third base.</p>
<p id="O9Bfe7">Clearly, Kimbrel is still a work in progress.</p>
<p id="Dkfzvb">The Cubs took a 3-2 lead in the bottom of the fourth, the first of the two runs on another home run by Joc Pederson [VIDEO]. </p>
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<p id="7glOO7">Pederson’s a hot hitter, now batting .429 this spring with a 1.672 OPS.</p>
<p id="8yTDtP">Jonathan Holder, who’s trying to hold on to a bullpen slot, didn’t do himself any favors, allowing two runs and not finishing the inning he was assigned, the fifth. The A’s had a 5-3 lead going into the bottom of the fifth.</p>
<p id="1OdfAG">The Cubs then tied the game up. Ian Happ doubled and Willson Contreras singled him to third. Pederson’s double made it 5-4, and after pinch-runner Chase Strumpf was thrown out at the plate on a ground ball by Jason Heyward, Bote doubled in Pederson with the tying run, but pinch-runner Ortega was thrown out trying to score.</p>
<p id="1OpWQL">The A’s put together a run off Dillon Maples in the sixth. It wasn’t all Maples’ fault. He tried to field a ground ball that bounced off his hand and Strumpf couldn’t finish the play. Tyler Soderstrom doubled to make it 6-5 A’s and Oakland added two more off Jake Jewell in the top of the seventh.</p>
<p id="dMT40k">But that just set up Ortega’s heroics. It was all subs by the time the bottom of the seventh happened. With one out, Jose Lobaton singled and Strumpf walked. Abiatal Avelino put together a nice at-bat and blooped a single to left to load the bases, and then Ortega followed with the home run.</p>
<p id="8zZOJX">You usually don’t get that much entertainment value out of a spring training game. Most of the crowd hung around for the end and gave Ortega a nice ovation. It wasn’t quite an “ultimate grand slam” like the one Bote hit in 2018 because there was only one out, but it was exciting nevertheless.</p>
<p id="cK1QvG">Wednesday, the Cubs head to Scottsdale Stadium to face the Giants. Alec Mills will start for the Cubs and Nick Tropeano will start for San Francisco. Game time is again 2:05 p.m. CT. There’s no TV for Wednesday’s game. There will be an audio webcast on <a href="http://MLB.com">MLB.com</a> with the Giants announcers. If you didn’t see today’s walkoff win, it will be rebroadcast on MLB Network Tuesday evening at 10 p.m. CT.</p>
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https://www.bleedcubbieblue.com/2021/3/9/22322224/cubs-athletics-recap-rafael-ortega-joc-pederson-mlb-scoresAl Yellon2021-03-09T15:30:00-06:002021-03-09T15:30:00-06:00Overflow thread: Cubs vs. Athletics, Tuesday 3/9, 2:05 CT
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<figcaption>Joe Camporeale-USA TODAY Sports</figcaption>
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<p id="PFPydh">——</p>
https://www.bleedcubbieblue.com/2021/3/9/22320524/overflow-thread-cubs-vs-athletics-tuesday-3-9-2-05-ctAl Yellon2021-03-09T14:00:00-06:002021-03-09T14:00:00-06:00First pitch thread: Cubs vs. Athletics, Tuesday 3/9, 2:05 CT
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<figcaption>Photo by Jennifer Stewart/MLB Photos via Getty Images</figcaption>
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<p id="PFPydh">Go get ‘em, Trevor.</p>
https://www.bleedcubbieblue.com/2021/3/9/22320519/first-pitch-thread-cubs-vs-athletics-tuesday-3-9-2-05-ctAl Yellon2021-03-09T12:00:00-06:002021-03-09T12:00:00-06:00Cubs vs. Athletics at Mesa preview, Tuesday 3/9, 2:05 CT
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<figcaption>Joe Camporeale-USA TODAY Sports</figcaption>
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<p>The Cubs go for their second straight spring win and sixth overall.</p> <p id="FlBAo8">Here are today’s particulars.</p>
<p id="NJYOeJ"><a href="https://www.sbnation.com/mlb/teams/chicago-cubs">Cubs</a> lineup:</p>
<blockquote><p id="n2wfSD">Happ CF, Contreras C, Pederson LF, Heyward RF, Bote 3B, Sogard 2B, Vargas SS, Martini DH, Duffy 1B</p></blockquote>
<p id="1uO95r">It’s the first Cubs spring appearance for Eric Sogard and Matt Duffy.</p>
<p id="eDE2yE">Athletics lineup:</p>
<blockquote><p id="0X2mKQ">Canha CF, Lowrie 2B, Olson 1B, Chapman 3B, Moreland DH, Pinder LF, Andrus SS, Bolt RF, Perez C</p></blockquote>
<p id="pBsd3p">“Bolt” in the A’s lineup is Skye Bolt and that’s an 80-grade baseball name.</p>
<p id="Ie0Qo0">Trevor Williams will start for the Cubs this afternoon. Other Cubs pitchers today: Craig Kimbrel, Jonathan Holder, Dillon Maples, Jake Jewell and Michael Rucker.</p>
<p id="mLO6IH">Cole Irvin will start for the A’s. Other Oakland pitchers today: Sergio Romo, Burch Smith, Adam Kolarek and Brian Schlitter.</p>
<p id="NVIx2h">Wow, Brian Schlitter is still around? In his rookie year with the Cubs he was teammates witH Carlos Zambrano and Kosuke Fukudome.</p>
<p id="6fHf6E">Today’s game is on Marquee Sports Network. <a href="https://www.marqueesportsnetwork.com/providers/">Here’s a list of providers currently carrying Marquee.</a></p>
<p id="g93npv"><a href="http://mlb.mlb.com/mlb/gameday/index.jsp?gid=2021_03_09_oakmlb_chnmlb_1">MLB.com Gameday</a></p>
<p id="OISCKL"><em>Please note that during spring training, Gameday doesn’t usually go pitch-by-pitch as it does during the regular season — usually, it will update after each at-bat.</em></p>
<p id="MUK4nn"><a href="https://www.mlb.com/live-stream-games/2021/03/09">Here is the complete MLB.com Mediacenter for today.</a></p>
<p id="nvoKBS">Please visit our SB Nation Athletics site <a href="https://www.athleticsnation.com/">Athletics Nation</a>. If you do go there to interact with A’s fans, please be respectful, abide by their individual site rules and serve as a good representation of Cub fans in general and BCB in particular.</p>
<p id="S6oxx0">For spring-training games, we’ll have a first-pitch thread at five minutes to game time and one overflow thread, 90 minutes after game time (because I know how you all like overflow threads!). For today, that will be 2 p.m. CT and 3:30 p.m. CT.</p>
<p id="1zlN3d">These threads will not post individually onto the front page; instead, you can find links to them in the box marked ”Chicago Cubs Game Threads” at the bottom of the front page. There will also be a StoryStream on the front page with all the game thread links, as well as the recap after the game is over. The pitcher photos and regular-season stats will return on Opening Day.</p>
<p id="9g9Jqo">Discuss amongst yourselves.</p>
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https://www.bleedcubbieblue.com/2021/3/9/22318122/cubs-athletics-mesa-preview-tuesdayAl Yellon