Chicago Cubs left fielder Ian Happ carries a three-game home run streak into Tuesday’s home game against the slumping Los Angeles Angels.
While the Cubs appreciate the power surge, they also are encouraged by another attribute they hope to sustain: Patience at the plate.
A 7-2 victory against the Angels in the series opener Monday saw the Cubs take seven walks. Meanwhile, seven members of the starting lineup had hits.
“Overall, we got rallies started by getting on base and drawing walks, absolutely,” Chicago manager Craig Counsell said. “And that’s something that we’re going to do, we’re going to have to do, we should be good at doing.”
Losers of three straight, the Angels will try to slow the Cubs’ attack behind their most effective starter in the early season.
Right-hander Jose Soriano (1-0, 0.00 ERA) will aim to deliver his second dominant outing in as many tries as he gets the call for Los Angeles.
Making his first career Opening Day start last Thursday, Soriano steered visiting Los Angeles to a 3-0 shutout of the Houston Astros. He spaced two hits, four walks and seven strikeouts in six innings while helping the Angels to their first season-opening shutout since 2012.
“(Soriano) was being aggressive,” Los Angeles manager Kurt Suzuki said. “He was attacking the zone. He was executing his offspeed pitches, keeping them off balance.”
Suzuki, a former major league catcher, added that Angels backstop Logan O’Hoppe “did a phenomenal job with Sori and all the pitchers, keeping the hitters off balance.”
Soriano said he thought “all my pitches were working and my command was there” on Thursday. He will try to channel it again to pick up his first victory against the Cubs. Soriano is 0-1 with a 3.86 ERA in three career appearances versus Chicago, including one start, with six strikeouts in seven innings.
The Cubs out-hit the Angels 9-5 on Monday. Dansby Swanson had two hits and an RBI while Carson Kelly and Moises Ballesteros contributed two-run singles to go with Happ’s home run against Angels starter Ryan Johnson.
Johnson yielded six earned runs in 3 1/3 innings, continuing a troubling trend for the rotation. Los Angeles starting pitching has allowed 16 earned runs in 16 1/3 innings over four starts since Soriano’s gem on Opening Day.
Righty Jameson Taillon is set to start for Chicago. Taillon navigated calf and groin injuries last season and was limited to 23 starts, his fewest in his three seasons with the Cubs. Still, the veteran earned double-digit victories for the second straight campaign, going 11-7 with a 3.68 ERA.
Taillon endured a rough spring training, surrendering 10 home runs in 13 1/3 innings around representing Team Canada in the World Baseball Classic. He admitted late in the spring that, “I’ve tinkered a little bit and messed myself up” but vowed he would fix any issues by his first turn in the rotation.
“I feel like once the season gets going, I know what I can do,” Taillon said. “I know I can work my way through a lineup and execute pitches.”
Taillon is 3-2 with a 5.64 ERA in six career starts against the Angels.
–Field Level Media
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