Seiya Suzuki popped up at second base with his arms outstretched. The second base umpire agreed, also signaling safe. Suzuki slapped his hands together and shouted at the ground.
For those paying close attention to Cubs baseball the first couple weeks of the season, it was deja vu. Three times already, Cubs baserunners have beaten out force plays at second, resulting in runs. In the Cubs 3-1 win against the Padres on Friday, Suzuki’s hustle in the fifth inning was the difference.
“It’s a play that makes you accountable to each other, and you do it for each other, and that’s what’s so fun about it,” manager Craig Counsell said. “It makes you feel connected to the guys because it’s a play you do for your team. And so he felt that, and our guys have felt that.”
There were two outs with the bases loaded when Justin Turner hit a ground ball to the left side of the infield. Padres shortstop Xander Bogaerts dove to his right to make the play, but his quick throw to second was a hair late.
“Having that big lead, he’s not slow, he did a good job of getting a good break on that pitch,” said Ian Happ, who scored on the play. “And beating that ball out, that changes the game, right?”
That run gave the Cubs the lead and extended the inning. Then Dansby Swanson hit a sharp ground ball to third baseman Manny Machado, who muffed it. Another run scored.
“Ten games in, we got six runs from beating force outs at second base,” Counsell said. “That’s a real credit to the guys, and it’s a real credit to a detail that – we might go 30 games and that doesn’t matter, … but when you can make that big of an impact with some baserunning plays, I think the guys in there feel like it’s important.”
Pete Crow-Armstrong was responsible for the other two plays, extending the inning before Miguel Amaya’s three-run double in a 10-6 win against the Diamondbacks, and again before Carson Kelly’s bases-loaded walk in an 18-3 win against the A’s.
On Friday, the Cubs only tallied three hits – the aforementioned one from Turner and two from Happ. But on a cold and windy day at Wrigley Field, they made the most of their seven walks.
“I always say, when it’s a low-scoring environment, baserunning, stolen bases, errors, those often swing games,” president of baseball operations Jed Hoyer said before the game. “When the winning team is going to have two or three runs, those little things that you do make a huge difference.”
Imanaga impresses
Left-hander Shota Imanaga threw a career-high 7 ⅓ innings in the Wrigley Field opener Friday, limiting the Padres to one run.
The last time Imanaga faced the Padres, last May at Wrigley Field, he joked that he should switch his alarm to the sound of the Wrigley Field crowd because it would help him get up quickly.
“That was a big mistake,” he said Friday through interpreter Edwin Stanberry after getting a standing ovation upon exiting. “I feel like if I did that, I would show up to the field late because I’d want to continue to listen to the roar of the crowd.”
Imanaga retired the first eight batters he faced before Martín Maldonado’s solo homer dropped into the left-field basket. That was one of just four hits against Imanaga, who didn’t issue any free passes for the first time this season.
Injury updates
Right-hander Javier Assad (strained left oblique) was set to pitch two innings Friday in extended spring training, Counsell said. Assad will likely have a couple outings in Arizona before heading out on a minor-league rehab assignment.
Utility player Vidal Bruján (bruised right elbow) was stalled by lingering symptoms, especially while throwing. He underwent an MRI, which showed “nothing substantial,” Counsell said.