SAN DIEGO (AP) – Touted prospect Nico Hoerner had three hits and four RBIs in his big league debut and made some nice plays at shortstop for the Chicago Cubs, who beat the San Diego Padres 10-2 Monday night to snap a three-game losing streak.
The 22-year-old Hoerner, the Cubs’ first-round draft pick out of Stanford in 2018, was promoted from Double-A Tennessee earlier in the day because All-Star shortstop Javier Baez and Addison Russell are sidelined by injuries.
The Cubs hold the NL’s second wild-card spot.
Hoerner singled to right in his first big league at-bat, in the second inning. He reached on a fielder’s choice in the fourth and eventually scored his first run on a wild pitch. He collected his first two RBIs on a bouncer that landed just inside the line and rolled into the left-field corner for a triple in the fifth. With the pro-Cubs crowd cheering for him in the sixth, he hit a two-run single up the middle. He received another loud ovation in the eighth before grounding out.
His first three at-bats were against rookie Cal Quantrill, whose Stanford careers overlapped by one season.
Hoerner made a backhanded grab of Nick Martini’s shot in the first for his first assist and made another nice play on Wil Myers’ grounder in the second.
Fans chanted “Nico! Nico! Nico!” as the team headed for the dugout after the final out.
Nicholas Castellanos hit a two-run homer in the first inning, his 25th, and Kyle Schwarber had a solo shot leading off the five-run fifth, his 35th, to back Kyle Hendricks, who pitched 5 2/3 strong innings.
Hendricks (10-9) was hit on the lower right leg by a comebacker by Manny Machado in the fifth but stayed in the game. He allowed two runs, one earned, on seven hits while striking out five and walking one.
Quantrill (6-7) allowed eight runs and 10 hits in 4 1/3 innings, struck out five and walked two. He’s allowed eight runs in each of his last three starts. He’s lost four straight starts.
