Hohokam Stadium was the venue for today’s Spring Training matchup between the Chicago Cubs and the Oakland Athletics. While the Dodgers and San Diego Padres have already opened their season in Korea, the Cubs brought their 15-9 spring record to Mesa to face the 10-12 A’s.
Righty Paul Blackburn (2-0) faced Mark Leiter Jr (0-0) in a matchup of former Cubs farmhands. After two scoreless innings by Blackburn, Lawrence Butler was the first to reach base for either team with a two-out double to right field. He was stranded, however, after a weak grounder to second by Esteury Ruiz ended the inning.