Padres 7, Cubs 4: Friars Win Doubleheader Opener

In the first leg of today's doubleheader, the Padres faced Cubs starter John Lackey. Andy Green chose a lineup with a more left-handed flavor, giving Travis Jankowski and Alex Dickerson received rare starts in the outfield, and Wallace manning the hot corner. Jankowski and Wallace were key in a rousing win to break the Cubs' 8-game winning streak.

The Padres got off to an early lead, plating Jankowski thanks to a Javier Baez throwing error which put Wil Myers on first base. Matt Kemp followed with a single to bring Myers home.

The Cubs answered with a run each in the first and second to tie the game, but Derek Norris continued his domination of baserunners as he gunned down Ben Zobrist:

The Cubs scored two more runs in the fourth, and threatened to do more damage with runners on first and third. Travis Jankowski made a fantastic grab diving into the ivy like Joe Jackson into a cornfield to strand two runners and kill the Cubs charge.

The game busted open in the seventh inning. After Jankowski got on base with bunt single, he advanced to second on a wild pitch from Pedro Strop. Wil Myers knocked him in with a single. Matt Kemp drew a walk to bring up Brett Wallace. Although he made two fielding errors earlier in the game, he found some redemption with a clutch three-run homer in the top of the seventh to put the Padres up 6-4.

Colin Rea had a rough outing, giving up four earned runs on seven hits plus three walks, only making it through five innings. The bullpen picked him up though, as Carlos Villanueva, Ryan Buchter, and Brandon Maurer set up closer Fernando Rodney to reach in to his quiver and fire off another quality save. PADRES WIN! PADRES WIN!