Steele stays at normal speed in 12-2 win, Cubs sweep A's
Oakland A's rookie pitcher Mason Miller dazzled in his major league debut, but Justin Steele and the Cubs kept up the steady success, scoring a cluster of late runs to win 12-2.
The Cubs completed a three-game sweep of Oakland and came within one out of sweeping the entire West Coast trip over the Dodgers and A's. They're back at Wrigley Field on Thursday night to begin a four-game set against the Dodgers.
What's interesting is the Cubs gained no ground in the NL Central standings, since Milwaukee swept Seattle and Pittsburgh swept Colorado. The early results are starting to resemble 2015, when the Pirates, Cubs and Cardinals posted the three best records in the National League.
There's a long way to go, obviously, but the top of the Cubs rotation has been brilliant so far. Steele improved to 3-0 with a 1.44 ERA, while Marcus Stroman has been even better with a 0.75 ERA. Stroman and Steele are 8-for-8 in quality starts this season.
"It looks like (Steele) picked up right where he left off last year, being really consistent for us, a very valuable piece at the top of our rotation who we expect big things from," Cubs manager David Ross said.
Steele didn't pitch in September last season, but he now has a streak of 11 straight games allowing 2 earned runs or less. Against the A's, he gave up just 1 earned run over 6 innings, with 4 hits and 5 strikeouts.
Keegan Thompson tossed 2 hitless innings out of the bullpen to lower his season ERA to 0.87.
"As far as the whole rotation goes, I feel like we've all been doing our job," Steele said after the game. "Just as far as the whole team goes, we're kind of clicking on all cylinders right now. Everybody as soon as they get in the game, they're doing their job."
Miller brought plenty of heat to his major league debut. According to Statcast, he threw 15 pitches above 100 miles per hour and averaged 99.3 on his four-seam. Oddly enough, his three hardest throws of the day, including one at 102.5 mph, were against Patrick Wisdom in the second inning.
Miller left after 4⅓ innings pitched, with 5 strikeouts, allowing 2 runs and 4 hits. He took an unusual path to the majors, playing four years at Division 3 Waynesburg (Pa.) University. After being drafted in 2021, he pitched just 28 innings in the minors before the call-up.
The Cubs broke a 2-2 tie with 4 runs in the sixth inning. The rally began with a pair of walks. The first run scored on a grounder by Cody Bellinger where the A's tried to get the runner at the plate and failed. Wisdom followed with an opposite-field 2-run triple, then scored on a wild pitch.
Eric Hosmer hit his first Cubs home run in the eighth. Luis Torrens had a 2-run double and Nick Madrigal a 2-run single in the ninth.
"Nice road trip, guys take care of business here. Final day, which sometimes can be hard to do, 12:30 game, came out ready to play," Ross said. "I think it's up and down the lineup, guys are locked in. Just continue to root each other on, the dugout's loud, bringing energy, focus. It's a group that comes to win and play for one another."
The Cubs have a longer West Coast trip coming up in early June with stops in San Diego, Anaheim and San Francisco.
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