Top Play (WPA): Yangervis Solarte pulled a 2-2 high fastball from Jason Motte deep into the right-field bleacher supports (.189). Solarte’s seventh-inning shot was his first home run of the season and extended the Padres lead to 5-2, a score that would eventually become final. Solarte’s home run came on the heels of an excellent eight-pitch battle with Motte.
It was the second two-run home run of the day delivered from a Padres bat, as Will Middlebrooks connected (.179) with Jon Lester’s only major mistake of the day in the second inning. Middlebrooks’ blast followed a bizarre sequence two pitches prior, when Padres manager Bud Black was ejected for arguing a borderline strike call from the dugout.
Bottom Play (WPA): Lester struck out with the bases loaded to end the third inning (-.081), awkwardly waving at an Andrew Cashner fastball. It was the second such failed bases-loaded opportunity for Lester in the game, once again challenging the wisdom of hitting the pitcher eighth in the order.
One of the under-discussed side effects of Maddon’s early preference to hit his starting pitcher eighth is the limited RBI chances the ninth hitter receives with the pitcher hitting in front of him. One of the popular arguments in support of the strategy is that there is a theoretical second lead-off hitter now hitting in front of the actual lead-off man. However, the adverse effect of this is the would-be eighth place hitter having fewer opportunities to knock in his teammates in critical junctures. It will be intriguing to see whether Maddon continues forward with the strategy as the season progresses.
Key Moment: Will Venable delivers a two-out RBI single off Brian Schlitter in the top of the sixth inning, plating Matt Kemp to give the Padres a 3-2 lead. Venable’s base hit would later prove to be the game winner. The run was charged to Lester (5.1 IP, 3 ER), who had shown visible frustration two batters earlier when pulled by Joe Maddon.
Trend to Watch: Edwin Jackson made his second appearance of the year, recording six outs in two uneventful innings. The sample size is too small to draw any conclusions, but Jackson seeing early success out of the bullpen has to be encouraging to Cubs management. Any value Jackson may be able to recover will be viewed as a positive, be it on the mound for the Cubs or in the trade market.
Coming Next: The Cubs (6-5) will look to shake off their first series loss of the season, as they head to Pittsburgh (6-6) for an important early-season four game divisional set. Jake Arrieta (1-1, 1.98) will take the mound for the Cubs in game one, squaring off against ageless wonder A.J. Burnett (0-1, 2.25).