Cubs prospect Happ triple shy of cycle in loss to M's
PEORIA, Ariz. -- The Cubs didn't bring many of their starting position players to Peoria Stadium for Friday's Cactus League contest with the Mariners, but right-hander Kyle Hendricks brought his "A" game and top prospect Ian Happ swung a big bat before the Mariners rallied from eight down in an 11-10 walk-off victory.
Happ, the ninth overall pick in the 2015 Draft and Chicago's No. 2 prospect per MLBPipeline.com, went 4-for-5 with a double, home run and four RBIs from the designated hitter's spot.
Right fielder Ben Gamel went 2-for-3 with a triple and run scored for Seattle, first baseman Daniel Vogelbach collected a pair of singles against his former organization. Minor League third baseman Joe DeCarlo ripped a three-run homer in the seventh, Luis Liberato added a two-run inside-the-park homer in the eighth and Shawn O'Malley hit the game-winning two-run single.
"It was good to see the young kids -- DeCarlo with the big hits and Liberato is one of our better prospects," Mariners manager Scott Servais said. "That kid hit two triples in the exact same spot in a 'B' game the other day. I guess that must be what he does."
Hendricks, who posted the lowest ERA in the Majors last year at 2.13, was masterful in his second outing of the spring, pitching three innings, allowing only a single while striking out four and walking none.
"My timing felt good overall," Hendricks said. "The timing out of my glove was a little off, but I was able to make the adjustment on the next pitch. In the second inning, I think I fell behind too many guys. That was the only thing I could really pick out, just getting ahead of guys better. I turned it around in the third inning. All my pitches felt good, yeah, yeah."
Seattle starter Chris Heston also threw three scoreless frames on two hits with two strikeouts in a smooth 45-pitch outing.
But the Cubs jumped on Seattle's relievers as first baseman Chris Dominguez racked up three RBIs with a home run and a double, and second baseman Chesny Young added a two-run homer in the sixth.
The Cubs scored three runs off veteran reliever Nick Vincent in the fifth on Dominguez's two-run homer and an RBI triple by Albert Almora Jr., then broke things open with four more in the sixth off hard-throwing rookie Thyago Vieira.
Vieira clocked upper-90s fastballs, but he gave up five hits -- including doubles by Happ, Dominguez and Jonathan Jay -- as well as Young's two-run blast before being replaced after just two outs. Happ added a three-run blast in the seventh off Micah Owings.
Cubs Up Next: The Cubbies are back at Sloan Park on Saturday to face the Rockies in a 2:10 p.m. CT Cactus League contest. The game can be heard on Gameday Audio. It's slated to be veteran left-hander Jonathan Lester on the bump for Chicago against Colorado right-hander Tyler Chatwood.
Mariners Up Next: Chris De Jong, a 23-year-old right-hander acquired from the Dodgers on March 1, makes his first Cactus League start in Saturday's 12:10 p.m. PT game against the Reds at Peoria Stadium. Promising prospect Andrew Moore is also expected to pitch three innings in relief, and hard-throwing right-hander Shae Simmons will get an inning in the MLB.TV and ROOT televised contest.
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