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MESA, Arizona — Friday was Edward Cabrera’s first outing in a Cubs uniform and it was a great success. Cabrera retired all six Guardians batters he faced, striking out three. He threw 20 strikes in 31 pitches and had six swings-and misses.
The bullpen did a good job, too — well, with one exception, I’ll get to that — and Dansby Swanson homered and singled and drove in three runs as the Cubs defeated the Guardians 8-6.
Here are Cabrera’s three K’s, all swinging [VIDEO].
Here’s Swanson’s two-run homer in the first inning [VIDEO].
Ryan Rolison, Daniel Palencia, Collin Snider and Jacob Webb all threw scoreless innings in relief of Cabrera. Those four combined to allow just two hits and struck out four.
Swanson’s RBI single in the sixth made it 3-0 Cubs, and things looked good … until Porter Hodge entered the game in the seventh. Hodge again struggled with command, issuing two walks. He also got hit pretty hard, allowing three hits — and remember, these were basically all Guardians minor leaguers. Hodge got charged with five runs and Cleveland led the game 5-3 after seven.
I’m not sure what’s up with Hodge but he now sports a 31.50 ERA with four hits, seven walks and seven runs allowed in two innings of work this spring. That’s a 5.500 WHIP which, yikes. I suspect Hodge is going to wind up starting the year at Triple-A Iowa.
The Cubs scored four in the eighth to take the lead. The big blow was a bases-clearing double by Leonel Espinoza, an outfielder who split 2025 between Myrtle Beach and South Bend, where he stole 31 bases in 116 games.
Gavin Hollowell entered for the save opportunity. He did give up a pair of hits and a run, and it might have been more except for a really slick play by Pedro Ramirez at short. Ramirez, who was added to the 40-man roster this winter, might wind up at Iowa this year. He’s only 21 (turns 22 in April). Even if he doesn’t hit much, that glove plays in the major leagues.
Attendance watch: 11,217 attended Friday afternoon’s contest at Sloan Park. That makes the season total 56,039 for five dates, or 11,208 per date.
A note on Friday afternoon’s weather: It was 86 degrees at game time and as of 2 p.m., the temperature in Phoenix was 92 degrees, which tied the record high for both the date and the entire month of February. It’s not supposed to be this hot in the Valley in February — the average high right now is 73. It’s forecast to be in the mid-90s for at least the next three days.
Saturday, the Cubs head west to Glendale to face the Dodgers. Colin Rea gets the start for the Cubs and Justin Wrobleski will go for L.A. Game time is 2:05 p.m. CT and the game will be televised via the Dodgers channel SportsNet LA.