Tsuyoshi Wada pitched all right in this one, though he did show off the one issue he’ll always have. Because he’s not a groundball guy, and because he likes to elevate to get swings and misses and change eye level, he’s going to give up lots of fly balls. And when you get hit like that, whether it’s because you made a mistake or not, you’re more likely to give up extra base hits than a guy who’s always working down in the zone with sinkers. And, so it was, where four of Wada’s six hits allowed were for extra bases. You’re less likely to be able to get away with that than giving up a bunch of singles.
Even still, Wada gave up just two runs, and struck out six through 5.2. The Cubs were in the game enough to take it well into extra innings before Hanley Ramirez ended it with a three-run bomb.