Chicago Cubs Score and Recap (3/20/24): A’s 3, Cubs 1 – Bats Skip Bullpen Dress Rehearsal

The Cubs traveled to their former home, Hohokam Stadium, to play the A’s Wednesday afternoon. Chicago again did very little offensively and Oakland won pretty easily.

The Cubs trotted out most of the relievers that will likely make up their bullpen to start the season Wednesday and they all looked pretty good with the exception of Héctor Neris. The former Astro allowed home runs to Nick Allen and Brent Rooker in the bottom of the 3rd inning to put the A’s up 3-0.

Former Cub prospect Paul Blackburn dominated Chicago’s lineup, holding them without a hit in six innings of work. The only hit they would have in the entire game was a solo home run off the bat of Ezequíel Pagan in the 7th as they lost 3-1. (Box score)

Why the Cubs Lost

Only getting one hit is not going to win many baseball games and Wednesday was no different.

Stats That Matter

• Carl Edwards Jr. had another clean inning and has a decent chance to make the team.
• Mark Leiter Jr. threw a couple of very nasty splitters in his outing, which is a very good sign.

Bottom Line

The big takeaway from Wednesday’s game was the clarity it provided on the makeup of the bullpen in 2024. It appeared to be a dress rehearsal for the regular season relief corps. Otherwise, there wasn’t much of note that happened in this one.

On Deck

The Cubs enter the final week of spring training against the Rockies at Salt River Fields Thursday at 3:10pm CT. Drew Smyly gets the start and there is no television coverage of the game.