Grand Recovery: Cubs' Bats, Pitching Lead to Bounce-Back Win in San Diego

After Gomes sent a shock through the dugout, the offense started rolling. An Ian Happ walk and Seiya Suzuki single (his third hit of the evening) gave the Cubs two on with no outs for Cody Bellinger. After two balls in the at-bat, the Padres elected to intentionally walk the Cubs' three-hitter to face Christopher Morel. That intentional walk also ended Musgrove's night. 

Fortunately for the Cubs, the Padres made a huge mistake. Morel turned on a hung slider by reliever Stephen Kolek and sent his first career grand slam into the night sky, giving the Cubs a 5-0 lead. 

Morel's moonshot was the final bit of offense that Chicago needed. 

On the pitching end, Brown ended his day with an impressive 4.2 innings of work. He allowed three hits, one free pass, and struck out five batters. Brown has really picked up his game after a rough debut against the Texas Rangers. Since that rough 1.2 innings of work, Brown has thrown 8.2 innings allowing just six hits, one earned run, and two walks. In addition, he has 10 strikeouts in that span. 

The Cubs bullpen filled in admirably for Brown. Drew Smyly gave up a solo home run to Eguy Rosario in the bottom of the sixth, but the Padres failed to threaten again. The Cubs held on with work from Smyly, Yency Almonte, Mark Leiter Jr., and Adbert Alzolay for the 5-1 win. 

Pitching and Defense

Ben Brown, Drew Smyly, Yency Almonte, Mark Leiter Jr., and Adbert Alzolay got the job done on Tuesday night. After the disastrous outing on Monday, the whole pitching staff responded nicely for the win. 

In addition, Brown deserves his flowers. The youngster was promoted much sooner than most people expected this season due to Justin Steele's unfortunate hamstring injury. However, after that rather forgettable debut in Texas, Brown has dialed in against some fairly respectable NL West opponents to allow just one earned run over 8.2 innings of work. Tuesday's 4.2 shutout innings were also a splendid surprise as he continues to work on a 75-pitch pitch count. 

On the other hand, the defense was splendid. Cody Bellinger threw out Xander Boegarts early in the game to remove a runner from scoring position. An early run for the Padres could've damaged the Cubs' confidence as a group, so nailing Boegarts on the Fernando Tatis Jr. fly out was imperative. 

The defense continued to show out for Brown on the mound. In the bottom of the fourth, Nico Hoerner made a spectacular jumping catch on a liner from Tatis Jr. The play certainly saved a single and potentially a double had the ball rolled to the wall. 

In the end, the Cubs did exactly what they needed to do on Tuesday. They wiped away a horrific loss with a big bounce-back win. 

What's On Tap Next?

The Cubs and Padres finish up their three-game set on Wednesday from Petco Park. The rubber match is scheduled for 5:40 p.m. CDT. Following the game, the Cubs will enjoy an off day on Thursday before beginning a three-game set with the Seattle Mariners in Seattle on Friday.