SAN DIEGO (AP) — This time, the Chicago Cubs would not let a lead get away.
Scoring four runs with one swing of the bat sure helped.
Christopher Morel hit his first career grand slam and Yan Gomes also homered for the Cubs, who beat Joe Musgrove and the San Diego Padres, 5-1, on Tuesday night for a bounceback win in the second game of their nine-game, three-city trip out West.
Unlike Monday, the Cubs held on. They blew an 8-0 lead in a 9-8 loss in the opener of their three-game set at San Diego.
“Look, it counts as one,” manager Craig Counsell said Tuesday. “But, obviously, (Monday) night's a tough game, so it's good to bounce back and get the 'W.'”
The Cubs wrap up their three-game series in San Diego on Wednesday night before a three-game series in Seattle over the weekend and a three-game series in Arizona next week.
Cubs right-hander Ben Brown pitched well in his first big-league start Tuesday, but not long enough to get the win. He was pulled after 4.2 scoreless innings and 77 pitches, with the bases empty. He allowed three hits while striking out five and walking one.
“I thought his fastball was excellent tonight,” Counsell said. “Certainly for the first couple of innings it was better, and you saw that the hitters had to cheat to get to it. That made a big, big difference.”
Morel's slam
Of course, so did Morel's big fly.
After Gomes hit his first homer of the season to lead off the top of the fifth against Musgrove, the Cubs loaded the bases right away when Ian Happ walked, Seiya Suzuki singled and Cody Bellinger was hit by a pitch.
With Morel coming up, Musgrove was lifted from the game for rookie right-hander Stephen Kolek. On a 2-0 pitch, Morel blasted an 84-mph sweeper 431 feet out to left-center, celebrating with a sweet little bat flip as he busted the game open.
“He laid off a couple sinkers to start the at-bat," Counsell said. "Looks like (Kolek) tried to throw a strike (on a) slider, and he put a great swing on it.
"It was well-timed and a huge hit. One of those off the bat that you know it's a homer.”
Musgrove (1-2) was pitching on the third anniversary of throwing the first no-hitter in Padres history in just his second start with his hometown team.
Tuesday night was much different than that historic performance. Musgrove allowed four runs and five hits in four innings. He struck out five and walked three.
Bellinger's gem
Bellinger, playing in center field, helped Brown settle into the game in the bottom of the first by catching Fernando Tatis Jr.'s fly ball and then throwing out Xander Bogaerts trying to advance from second after his double to lead off the game.
“It's sick,” Brown said. “That's super cool. He's awesome. He's a Gold Glover, MVP, he does it all. That was really awesome, and that picks me up big-time, especially when the game can speed up on you a lot in that situation."
San Diego's Eguy Rosario connected for a pinch-hit homer leading off the sixth against Drew Smyly, his second of the season.
But unlike Monday, Chicago's bullpen locked things up after that. Smyly, who was credited with the win to improve to 2-1, gave up just that lone run in 1.1 innings, then Yency Almonte, Mark Leiter Jr. and Adbert Alzolay each worked a scoreless inning, combining to allow no hits with just one walk over the final three frames.
Up next
Cubs RHP Kyle Hendricks (0-1, 11.74 ERA) is scheduled to start Wednesday's series finale against Padres RHP Dylan Cease (0-1, 3.38 ERA).
Cease was acquired from the White Sox in a trade just before the season started.