Ten pitches.
That’s all it took for Cubs prospect Porter Hodge to strike out the side in the ninth inning of the Cubs’ 9-2 loss Wednesday to the Braves in his major-league debut.
“I knew we were down, but I was trying to give us another chance in the bottom of the ninth,” he said after the game. “My heart was pounding, just trying to stay relaxed out there, and I did a good job with that.”
Hodge threw 10 straight fastballs to Ozzie Albies, Marcell Ozuna, and Matt Olson, the No. 2-4 hitters in the Braves’ batting order. He was the first Cubs reliever in 11 years to strike out all three batters he faced in his debut.
Both Albies and Ozuna whiffed at the first two they saw and watched the third for strikeouts. Olson was the only one who didn’t go down in three pitches. But a four-seamer at the top of the zone felled him, as he swung under its cut-ride movement.
“Just knowing how good my stuff is and where ping plays,” Hodge said of what he could carry forward, “staying up in the zone, staying true to my stuff.”
Hodge, who the Cubs recalled last Friday, hadn’t pitched the last five days. But he didn’t show any signs of rust.
“Porter was unbelievable,” left fielder Ian Happ said. “He was just in the zone, filling it up, fastball is pretty unique. And to make it through that part of the lineup with that dominance is pretty cool to see.”
Even with the gap between Hodge’s arrival in Chicago and his debut, he said he had family in the stands Wednesday. His family flew out the day after his call-up and stayed.
“I was definitely anxious the first few days,” he said. “But then settling in, getting around all the guys, getting comfortable, it was really good to have these days just sitting in the bullpen with all the boys.”