Enhanced Box Score: Cubs 12, A’s 2 – April 19, 2023
WOO HOO! THE CUBS PULL OFF THE SWEEP!!! They’ll head home from a west coast swing having gone 5-1 against the Dodgers and A’s. Heck yes.
For the fifth time in their first 17 games, the Cubs scored 10+ runs. Powerhouse offense. Just like we all predicted.
Justin Steele was quality once again, going six innings and allowing just a couple runs (one earned). I love watching him pitch:
As you could see there, one of Steele’s strikeouts came via a pitch clock violation on Aledmys Diaz. He’d swung through a pitch and was feeling something in his thumb, but he didn’t officially ask for a timeout, so he got rung up. His manager was NOT happy:
A’s prospect Mason Miller was everything he was billed as, sitting 100 mph with his fastball (great life, too), and touching 102 mph. The breaking pitches were nasty. Cubs hitters could do nothing with him the first time through the order (though Nico Hoerner and Ian Happ did hit rockets), but started to chip away a bit in the 4th and 5th innings. That’s when Miller yielded to the bullpen, and the Cubs started putting up crooked numbers.
Thus, it was another very fun day at the plate for the Cubs, taking advantage of a string of pitchers whose MLB bona fides are dubious at best. But that’s what you’re supposed to do when you get the chance!
