Joey Lucchesi was supposed to be on the mound for the Padres in Saturday’s game against the Cubs at Wrigley Field but he came down with a stomach bug and couldn’t go so fellow rookie Walker Lockett got a surprise start.
Lockett threw 5.0 innings and four of them were really good. The 2nd inning, however, was a complete disaster and led to a 5-4 Chicago win.
The Cubs scored all five of their runs in that 2nd inning. Kyle Schwarber led off with a home run. Lockett retired two of the next three hitters he faced but could not find a way to get that final out.
Addison Russell drove in Ian Happ with a single then former Padre Anthony Rizzo clubbed a 444-foot home run to centerfield that put the Cubs on top 4-0. Ben Zobrist followed with a double and scored on a Jason Heyward single that turned out to be the game-winning hit.
The Padres mounted a rally in the 4th inning. Manuel Margot brought home Travis Jankowski with a ground-rule double and scored on a Hunter Renfroe sacrifice fly. San Diego got its third run of the inning on an Austin Hedges solo homer. Hedgy drove in the final Padres run with a 6th inning sac fly. Since coming off the disabled list at the end of June he’s hitting .303 with six home runs, easily the best offensive stretch of his career.
After that, however, Cubs pitchers retired 10 straight San Diego batters (five of them by strikeout) to preserve the 5-4 win.
The Padres can split the 4-game series on Sunday. Lucchesi is expected to be well enough to start against Cubs lefty Jon Lester.
