Spring Training Miscellany: Padres 7, Cubs 5 - Montgomery Starts, Contreras Mashes, No Walks

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Spring Training Miscellany: Padres 7, Cubs 5 – Montgomery Starts, Contreras Mashes, No Walks

Chicago Cubs

The Cubs’ stranglehold on the Cactus League is perilous, to say the least. After YET ANOTHER LOSS OMG today to the Padres, the Cubs are just a half-game ahead of the Brewers atop the Cactus League standings. I joke, of course, about the gravity, but here’s hoping the Cubs have a little more breathing room when the second half of the regular season rolls around.

  • The Cubs got an early four-run inning in this one, capped by Willson Contreras’s mooooonster home run, but there wasn’t much doing after the regulars departed. Contreras had been out for nearly a week with a fever, so it was particularly nice to see him looking well.
  • Albert Almora ripped a double in that four-run inning as part of a two-hit day:

  • Using a minimal volume of pitchers in this one, the Cubs got 3.2 innings out of starter Mike Montgomery, 1.1 out of Dario Alvarez, and another 3.0 out of Rob Zastryzny. Each pitcher gave up two or three runs, but, hey, they didn’t issue a single walk, while striking out eight.
  • Jen-Ho Tseng was also supposed to be there in Peoria to pitch, but either just didn’t get in for whatever reason, or wound up not able to go.
  • Montgomery might not get starts in the regular season right out of the gate, but he’s clearly still being at least slightly stretched out here in the middle of Spring Training. A little look at Montgomery catching Wil Myers just hanging out:

  • The Cubs play again tonight, by the way:

  • A totally unrelated plug, if you’ll indulge me:

Filed to: Chicago Cubs
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Author: Brett Taylor

Brett Taylor is the Editor and Lead Cubs Writer at Bleacher Nation, and you can find him on Twitter at @BleacherNation and @Brett_A_Taylor.