Day game two and you never know in April what the weather will be like but the forecast was clear enough to get this one on the books. The veteran John Lester vs 2013 first rounder, Aaron Blair.
Both pitchers duel it out for three full innings without any real damage to either’s pitching count or ERA. Lester would leadoff the fourth inning with three straight balls to Freddie Freeman, he would get the green light on 3-0 and send one deep into the right field bleachers, putting the Braves up 1-0. Blair would make it through the fourth but would give up a lead off double to Javier Baez. The Cubs would tie up with one out and a man on second, when David Ross would send a shot to left field scoring Baez. Lester would end the inning with a double play. Both men would make it through the sixth with no real issues but it’s the seventh, where things get exciting. Jeff Francoeur would lead off with a single he would throw a wild pitch, then walks Tyler Flowers. Erik Aybar would reach by simply bunting the ball back to Jon Lester, knowing he couldn’t make the throw to first. Madden would come out to the mound to calm down Lester, which it would work. He would strike out the next two batters and gets Nick Markakis to ground out ending his half of the inning.
The Braves would bring in Alexi Ogando. Rizzo would leadoff the bottom half with a walk, Soler would single. Baez would ground out moving up both batters. The Braves would put Russell on first but Ross would end the inning with a 4-6-3 double play if your scoring at home.
Pedro Strop would move quickly through his portion of the eighth. Jim Johnson would come into the game to try and stop the Cubs. Tommy La Stella would lead off with a double would be caught trying to reach third on a infield ground ball by Dexter Fowler. Heyward would walk. Zobrist would single to load the bases. Rizzo would send a line drive to center scoring Fowler. Cubs up 2-1, with Mr. Hitting Instructor, Matt Szczur would challenge new pitcher, Chris Withrow. With bases loaded, 1 out and an 0-1 count, Withrow would serve up a 92 mph fastball right over the plate, Szczur would send one into the bleachers for his first grand slam of his career!
Hector Rondon would come into the ninth to preserve Pedro Strop’s chance for a win. Francoeur would fly out to right, Flowers would strikeout. Erik Aybar would ground out to Rizzo.
Cubs Win! Cubs Win! First to 17. They shoot to close out April with the best record in the MLB!
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