Chicago Cubs Score

Chicago Cubs Score and Recap (3/3/24): Cubs 5, Guardians 3 – Cubs Win on Bote Bomb

Photo of Sean Holland Sean HollandMarch 4, 2024

The Cubs welcomed the Guardians to Sloan Park Sunday afternoon and quickly fell behind by three. It was at that point that Chicago broke out the power bats to jump ahead late and emerge victorious.

Kyle Hendricks was uncharacteristically wild in his start on Sunday with two hit batters, a walk, and a wild pitch. Those free baserunners were converted into three runs by some soft Cleveland singles.

After scraping the back of his head on the left field fence trying to make a great catch the previous half-inning, Miles Mastrobuoni started the Cubs’ power surge in the bottom of the 3rd inning with a solo home run. Highly touted outfield prospect Kevin Alcántara repeated the feat with a shot to center to cut the Guardians’ advantage to 3-2 in the 6th.

David Bote put Chicago ahead with a two-run homer off of former Tigers outfielder Anthony Gose, who has been converted into a reliever, in the bottom of the 7th. The Cubs would score one more in the 8th and win 5-3. (Box score)

Why the Cubs Won

The bullpen didn’t allow Cleveland to add any more runs and they got some timely power to complete the comeback.

Stats That Matter

  • Hendricks is unlikely to have control issues like he did Sunday during the regular season. It is a good reminder, however, that if he didn’t have that sterling command and control things could get pretty ugly pretty fast for him.
  • Mastrobuoni had a single in addition to his homer and should be an important piece of the Cubs bench in 2024.
  • Adbert Alzolay and Héctor Neris each threw a scoreless inning as they prepare for key roles in the bullpen.

Bottom Line

Players like Mastrobuoni, Mike Tauchman, and maybe even Bote give Chicago much-needed depth for the long grind of the regular season. That’s not even considering potential breakout performances from prospects in the Cubs system that are distinct possibilities.

On Deck

Chicago heads to Peoria on Monday afternoon to play the Padres at 2:10pm CT. Jordan Wicks makes the start in a game that is not being televised.

Photo of Sean Holland Sean HollandMarch 4, 2024
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