Friday’s game at Wrigley Field was almost a carbon copy of Opening Day, as the Chicago Cubs once again shutout their opponent behind strong pitching and defense, defeating the Texas Rangers 2-0.

Marcus Stroman was outstanding in his second start of the season, throwing six more shutout innings, equaling his Opening Day start against the Milwaukee Brewers. The right-hander isn’t known as a strikeout pitcher, but he was getting several swings and misses early on, leading to four strikeouts in the first two innings.

Stroman allowed two hits in his six shutout innings, only getting into trouble because of three walks. Two of those free passes came in the sixth inning, when the Rangers loaded the bases with two outs. David Ross stuck with his starting pitcher and Stroman kept the Cubs in the lead, getting top-100 prospect Josh Jung to ground out to Nico Hoerner on a check swing.

Stroman struck out six and the Rangers simply could not generate much hard contact to the outfield, recording nine outs on the ground. That included a pretty double play in the third inning, turned by the Cubs middle infield of Dansby Swanson and Hoerner.

So, only two hits, three walks and a HBP, against Stroman. Only three balls made it out of the infield for the Rangers against Stroman, a single to left in the first, a line out to center by Adolis Garcia in the first and a leadoff single in the third.

No doubt about it, Stroman had his A-game going again at Wrigley.

Marcus Stroman Pitching Like an Ace

Through two starts, Marcus Stroman is showing why he should get more respect as an ace on the Cubs. He’s thrown 12 innings, allowed zero earned runs, while striking out 14 and giving up a total of five hits.

He’s the first Cubs pitcher to have back-to-back starts of 6+ innings and 0 earned runs since 1991, and he’s only the fourth pitcher to do it in franchise history. Also, Stroman has allowed 1 or 0 runs in seven of his last nine starts, dating back to 2022.

But wait, there’s more! If you go back to the start of May of last year, Stroman has posted a sub-3 ERA in 131.1 innings pitched. That covers his last 23 starts with the Cubs.

Michael Fulmer First Save With Cubs

After Mark Leiter Jr. pitched a 1-2-3 seventh inning, Michael Fulmer came in to face the middle of the Rangers lineup in the eighth inning and despite giving up a two-out double to Corey Seager, Fulmer was nasty. Fulmer struck out three and then retired the side in order in the ninth inning, notching a two-inning save, his first with the Cubs.

Cubs 2-Out Hitting

The Cubs did not do much damage of their own against right-handed starting pitcher Nathan Eovaldi, but they came through with two outs in two separate occasions against him to score the only runs of the game.

Cody Bellinger stung a ball that was caught in right-center field in the second inning, but he was rewarded with an RBI-single on another hard-hit ball in the fifth inning that gave the Cubs a 1-0 lead.

Then, the Cubs caught a break in the sixth inning, but good things happen when you hit a ball hard.

Ian Happ hit a line drive to straight away center, crushing it 106mph off his bat. Garcia got a good jump on it, but he flat out missed it, allowing the second run to cross home plate for the Cubs.

The Cubs were held to six hits, but two of those came with a runner in scoring position and two outs.

Seiya Suzuki and Brandon Hughes Heading to Triple-A

Hey, hey! More good news as both Seiya Suzuki and Brandon Hughes will begin their rehab assignments with the Iowa Cubs at Triple-A on Saturday.

The Iowa Cubs will be playing in Minnesota against the St. Paul Saints.