LDN - Sports

Padres hand Cubs sixth straight loss

[June 01, 2017] SAN DIEGO -- Until recently, Franchy Cordero was considered one of the fastest baserunners in the San Diego Padres minor league system.

Last season, he set an all-time Padres minor league record with 16 triples in a season. Through this season's first 42 games at Triple-A El Paso, the 6-foot-3, 175-pound burner had more triples (seven) than doubles (five).

And Wednesday afternoon, Cordero burned the Chicago Cubs with his first major league triple. That preceded a sprint home in the bottom of the eighth with the game-winning run in a 2-1 Padres victory that completed a three-game sweep of the reigning World Series champions.

"There's some special tools there," Padres manager Andy Green said after Cordero sprinted around the bases to give the Padres their fourth straight win, which is their longest winning streak since winning five straight in August of 2015.

"Most players don't triple on that hit, or score on a sharp grounder with the infield in like that."

But Cordero did.

Promoted from Triple-A El Paso last Saturday when center fielder Manuel Margot was placed on the 10-day disabled list with a calf injury, Cordero had struck out three time when he approached the plate against Cubs right-handed reliever Koji Uehara with one out in the eighth.

There was never a doubt that Cordero's drive to right-center would be a double, but Cordero said he never thought about stopping.

"When I turned first, I wasn't stopping at second," said Cordero, who easily beat the relay into third.

With Cordero at third and one out in the eighth in a tie game, the Cubs brought the infield in. Yangervis Solarte seemed to hit into the strategy with a sharp grounder to second, where Ian Happ had taken over for Ben Zobrist.

Happ made a good throw to the plate. But Cordero, who was running on contact, got a foot in under the tag of catcher Willson Contreras.

The loss completed an 0-6 trip to the West Coast for the Cubs, who have lost six straight for the first time since 2012 - which also came on a six-game trip to the West coast that ended with a three-game sweep in Petco Park.

"It was a tough road trip," said Cubs manager Joe Maddon. "I've been involved in difficult West Coast trips in the past and this was another one."

The Cubs scored five runs on 12 hits in the three losses at Petco Park.

"I liked our lineup a lot today," said Maddon. "We've just got to stick with it. There's no magic potion. We've just got to keep going out there and keep playing. I believe in our guys 100 percent. These are good young players, they've shown it in the past.

"They're going to show it to you again."

Each team got a solid game from its starting pitcher.

Cubs right-hander Jake Arrieta allowed one run on five hits and two walks with seven strikeouts in six innings. Padres right-hander Luis Perdomo allowed one run on three hits and two walks with four strikeouts while going seven innings for the first time this season.

The Cubs took a 1-0 lead in the second.

Anthony Rizzo was hit by a Perdomo pitch leading off the inning. He stole second and moved to third on Ian Happ's fly to deep center. Perdomo looked to be out of the inning when he retired Jason Heyward on a comebacker and got Javier Baez to hit a short grounder to third.

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Padres starting pitcher Luis Perdomo (61) pitches during the fourth inning against the Chicago Cubs at Petco Park. Mandatory Credit: Jake Roth-USA TODAY Sports

But Rizzo scored when Padres third baseman Ryan Schimpf failed to field Baez's ball for what was scored a single.

Schimpf made amends in the bottom half of the inning when he homered off Arrieta. Schimpf's 384-foot drive into the right field stands leading off the inning was his 14th homer of the season and the 11th allowed by Arrieta.

"I made a lot of good pitches," said Arrieta. "The one to Schimpf was a cutter that was in the patch of a lot of lefties' bats. The curveball was awesome today, it's really starting to come around as well as the changeup and the fastball command. There were a lot of good things today.

"You gotta give their guy credit. Perdomo threw the ball really well . . . good velocity, good sinking velocity. He forced a lot of weak contact. And they were able to make one more play than us."

The play Arrieta was referring to came in the bottom of the seventh with Contreras on second and one out.

Baez grounded a ball over second that appeared to be headed for center and a 2-1 Cubs lead. But Padres second baseman Solarte went far to his right, made a diving stop and threw a one-hopper to first that Wil Myers scooped for the out, forcing Contreras to hold at third. Pinch-hitter Addison Russell flew out to center to end the threat.

Each team stranded runners in scoring position.

After Schimpf homered in the second, Erick Aybar doubled with one out and reached third on a wild pitch. But after rookie catcher Luis Torrens walked, Arrieta got Perdomo to ground into an inning-ending double play. Torrens singled to open the fifth and was on second with one out when Arrieta struck out Cordero and Solarte.

Contreras doubled leading off the fifth and was on third with one out. But Perdomo struck out Arrieta and retired Zobrist on a grounder to second.

Left-handed reliever Brad Hand (1-3) was credited with the win and Brandon Maurer got his eighth save. Uehara (1-3) suffered the loss.

NOTES: Cubs 1B Anthony Rizzo was not happy after being hit by a Luis Perdomo pitch in the first. Rizzo got hit twice in the series and now leads the major leagues with 12 hit-by-pitches this season . . . Padres RHP Carter Capps, who had Tommy John surgery last year, faced hitters at the Padres' year-round training facility in Arizona this week, and manager Andy Green said the results "were mixed" . . . Entering the game, left-handed hitters were batting .370 against the right-handed Perdomo. Cubs left-handed hitters were 0-for-14 against Perdomo Wednesday.

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