Spring Training Game Thirty-Eight: Cubs (16-18-2) vs. Astros (14-16-4)
- Game Time – 1:05pm CDT
- Coverage – TV: None – Radio: Cubs.com
- Location – Minute Maid Park, Houston
Travis Wood (3-1, 4.50/1.38) vs. Brad Peacock (0-1, 3.20/1.12)
Countdown to Opening Day in Pittsburgh: 2 Days
This is it, the final practice game of the spring. The Cubs began the spring slate of games back on February 23 in Tempe against the Angels. 36 days and 38 games later, the Cubs will wrap up Spring Training with the last of two in Houston.
The Cubs and Astros played to a 6-6 tie in 10 innings on Friday night. Dale Sveum played a majority of his regulars the entire game. The Cubs have 11 minor leaguers with them on the trip and it is very likely that after one at bat Sveum will empty his bench and let the backups and kids finish out the exhibition game.
Bo Porter has already announced that his Opening Day lineup will get the day off with the Astros kicking off the 2013 MLB season on Sunday night against the Rangers.
Outside of the injuries and setbacks it has been a good spring for the Chicago Cubs. Improvement has been shown on the field while the organization was able to get several of the top prospects in the system playing time in big league games.
Counting the exhibition against Team Japan, the Cubs are 17-18-2 this spring. While they have not posted a win in their last five games (0-3-2), a victory this afternoon would give the Cubs a .500 record in the pre-season.
Len Kasper and Mick Gillispie will the action, one more time, on Cubs.com.
The last game of Spring Training all starts with Travis Wood …
Travis Wood is coming off a rough outing against the Giants that resulted in his first loss of the spring. The Cubs as a team played a bad game. There were entirely too many mistakes while the offense did very little against Ryan Vogelsong and company. Wood struggled through his short, four-inning start. Wood escaped jams in the first two frames before it caught up to him in the third inning. Wood allowed four runs on seven hits with four walks, one strikeout and two wild pitches.
In five appearances, two starts, in Cactus League play, Wood allowed eight runs on 14 hits with eight walks and 12 strikeouts in 16 innings. Wood also pitched against Team Japan and in a minor league game.
Brad Peacock put together a good spring in the Grapefruit League. Peacock is slotted in as the fourth starter in Bo Porter’s rotation to start the season. Peacock appeared in seven games, made three starts, and allowed eight runs, seven earned, on 16 hits with six walks and 15 strikeouts in 19 2/3 innings.
Let’s Talk Cubs Baseball …