Gage Workman connected for an opposite-field, two-run home run in the fifth inning and the Chicago Cubs beat the Los Angeles Dodgers 12-4 in the opening game of spring training on Thursday afternoon in Phoenix.
Cubs first baseman Michael Busch, right fielder Kevin Alcantara and Workman had two hits apiece to lead Chicago’s offensive barrage highlighted by a six-run third inning.
Busch was credited with a single when he roped a liner straight back up the middle, hitting Dodgers right-hander Bobby Miller on the crown of his cap.
Miller fell to the ground one step in front of the mound. Busch froze in the batter’s box briefly. Miller remained on one knee feeling the top of his head as third baseman Max Muncy and Dodgers’ trainers rushed to the mound. He exited the game under his own power.
The exit velocity of the batted ball was estimated at 106 mph.
Muncy said Miller was OK and offered a self-deprecating joke about hanging the curveball to Busch when trainers asked him questions. Manager Dave Roberts said Miller would be under concussion protocol.
Workman, a Rule 5 draft pick from the Tigers, is a competitor for the Cubs’ third base job. The lefty lifted a home run over the 380-foot sign in left field and made a sparkling play to start an inning-ending double play in the bottom of the first.
Dodgers left fielder Eddie Rosario provided a brief cushion with a two-run home run in the bottom of the second. Rosario connected on an 0-2 pitch and parked it in the picnic blankets to the first-base side of the batter’s eye in center field against Cubs right-hander Cody Poteet.
Poteet successfully won the first player-initiated challenge using the Automated Ball-Strike System, tapping the top of his cap to signal he wanted a review of home plate umpire Tony Randazzo’s call on a 1-0 pitch to Muncy. Randazzo ruled the pitch low and ball one, but the instant review shown on the Camelback Ranch video board using Statcast ball-tracking technology was actually a 95 mph fastball in the bottom of the zone. The count flipped to 0-2, and Poteet fanned Muncy on five pitches.
Poteet also allowed a double to catcher Hunter Feduccia, walked two and threw 40 pitches to nine batters.
Monstrous outfielder Ivan Brethowr tacked on a three-run shot to left field in the eighth inning to build on the Cubs’ 9-3 lead. Brethowr, listed at 6-foot-6 and 250 pounds, was a seventh-round pick in 2024.
–Field Level Media
