OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) — Cody Bellinger hit an RBI single to break a scoreless tie and ignite a four-run outburst in the eighth inning, leading the Chicago Cubs to a 4-0 win over the Oakland Athletics on Tuesday night.
Seiya Suzuki led off the inning with a walk. Patrick Wisdom followed with a double, sending Suzuki to third. Bellinger then lined his first hit of the game past a diving Ryan Noda into right field, scoring Suzuki and putting the Cubs in front.
Yan Gomes followed with an RBI groundout and Nick Madrigal added an RBI single to give Chicago a three-run lead. Madrigal scored on a fielding error by right fielder Conner Capel and the Cubs clinched their fourth straight series win.
Marcus Stroman continued his strong start to the season, pitching six scoreless innings and striking out five. Mark Leiter Jr. (1-0) worked a scoreless seventh for his first win of the season.
Oakland starter Ken Waldichuk pitched five scoreless innings, striking out five. Reliever Trevor May (2-3) managed to get just one out and was charged with three runs and the loss.
The A’s finished with just two hits.
Oakland lost its sixth straight game and fell to 3-15, matching the 1951 Philadelphia A’s for the worst 18-game start in franchise history. The Athletics have also lost their first six series for the first time in club history.
MILLER TIME
The A’s will promote top pitching prospect Mason Miller from Triple-A Las Vegas to start the series finale Wednesday. The 24-year-old right-hander Miller was dominant in his lone Triple-A outing last Friday, pitching five scoreless innings with 11 strikeouts and averaging 100 mph with his fastball.
“I watched every pitch Mason threw in Las Vegas the other night and if that’s not forcing your way here, I don’t know what is,” general manager David Forst said. “He’s incredibly talented and a number of factors made it so that he is the right guy to be here tomorrow and start the game.”
Miller was a third-round draft pick in 2021 out of Gardner-Webb University. He will join the starting rotation in place of RHP James Kaprielian, who pitched out of the bullpen Tuesday night.
“The stuff is real,” manager Mark Kotsay praised. “The velocity is real. The breaking ball is good. The fact that in Triple-A, he went there and threw strikes, dominated the strike zone and really had that much success was impressive.”
UP NEXT
Cubs LHP Justin Steele (2-0, 1.42 ERA) starts Wednesday afternoon against Miller, who's will make his MLB debut.
Copyright 2023 The Associated Press.
Listen live to 670 The Score via:
Audacy App | Online Stream | Smart Speaker