Padres 5, Cubs 1: Mostly pointless

Photo by John E. Moore III/Getty ImagesNow that the Cubs have returned from Japan, having lost two games that count, they now have to play five games that don’t count, because the schedule says so. But it’s hard to find much point to today’s game, which was a glorified minor league game as far as the Cubs were concerned. In the end, the Padres cruised to an easy 5-1 win over mostly Cubs minor leaguers. And because Al is still in Japan, you’re getting the full experience of today’s game as the minor league guy (me) is doing the recap.

The Cubs starting lineup only had two players who made the trip to Tokyo and those two—shortstop Vidal Bruján and third baseman Gage Workman—got a grand total…