Fergie Tosses, Cubs Lose

Today’s Cactus League opener for the Cubs was less than thrilling, as the Giants handed the Cubs a 9-2 loss on a sunny but cool day here in Mesa (57 degrees at game time). Jason Marquis started for the Cubs in front of 8079 fans at Hohokam Stadium and pitched decent giving up 1 run and 3 hits in his 2 innings. Barry Zito starting for the Giants and was better in his 2 innings allowing only a two-out single to Derrek Lee, Zito faced only 7 batters. The game was zipping right along until the 6th inning with the Giants holding a 1-0 lead, until a group of Cubs non-roster pitchers gave up 8 runs in the final 4 frames. Cubs pitcher Jason Anderson allowed 4 runs in the 9th, only 2 earned, as Scott Moore and Ronny Cedeno each committed an error.

Probably the most exciting part of the day was seeing Cubs Hall of Famer, Ferguson Jenkins throw the ceremonial first pitch. This made for a nice day for Cubs non-roster invitee catcher Jake Fox, who caught Fergie’s pitch, and had a pinch hit single, then scored 1 of the 2 Cubs runs on Geovany Soto’s ensuing triple.

Jake Fox and Fergie