Spring Training Game Four - Cubs 5 Brewers 12
WP - Yovani Gallardo (1-0) LP - Carlos Silva (0-1) Save - None
Wednesday was a beautiful day for baseball that soon turned ugly for the Chicago Cubs ... both on the field and in the dugout.
The game started on a positive note. Kosuke Fukudome (1-for-2 with a walk and two runs scored) led off with a walk and scored on the Cubs' first home run of the spring ... a two-run shot to left center off the bat of Starlin Castro (2-for-3 with a home run and three RBI). Castro worked the count and drove the ball with authority against one of the best young pitchers in the NL in Yovani Gallardo. But the feel-good start did not last long.
Carlos Silva took the hill in the bottom of the first and it all went downhill from there. Silva was horrible and the defense behind him was worse. Silva walked Craig Counsell to start the game then served up a two-run homer to Luis Cruz on the first pitch of the at bat.
Silva retired Ryan Braun before the Cubs defense fell apart. Prince Fielder reached second on a pop up into shallow left that clanked off Aramis Ramirez's glove. Prince hustled into second and scored on the first of two home runs on the day by Casey McGehee.
Casey McGehee (3-for-3 with two home runs and four RBI) continues sticking to the team that never gave him a shot.
The Cubs defense committed two more errors in the first to run their spring total to 12, at the time. Silva ended up allowing six runs, three earned, on three hits with a walk in his inning of work. Silva labored through the 34-pitch inning (19 strikes) as the Brewers batted around.
After the inning, Silva reportedly exploded in the dugout and exchanged words with Aramis Ramirez. Silva's day was over ... and so were the Cubs. Silva took the long walk across the field to the Cubs' bus as Jay Jackson jogged in from the bullpen.
The Cubs played another sloppy game and had trouble throwing strikes. The "defense" and that word should be used loosely, committed five more errors to run their spring total to 14. 14 errors in four games and there could have been more.
Q's crew appears lackadaisical on the field. And while it is "only" Spring Training, the three teams the Cubs have faced seem a lot more focused on using the exhibition games as a tune-up for the regular season.



















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