March 30--The summary
With many decisions to be finalized this week, Edwin Jackson gave the front office more to think about with 42/3 innings of one-hit ball as the Cubs beat the Royals 7-0 in Surprise, Ariz. The Cubs relied on home runs by Miguel Montero, Matt Szczur and Junior Lake to pull away from the defending American League champions. Many of the Cubs' starting position players did not make the trip.
At the plate
Kris Bryant struck out twice and fouled out to first. Javier Baez went 0-for-4 with three strikeouts.
On the mound
Brian Schlitter, who appears to be the odd man out in the bullpen, he threw 11/3 scoreless innings.
In the field
Baez showed his defensive prowess at second. He made an accurate throw to nail speedy Jarrod Dyson for the second out of the third, and then he made a strong throw from shallow right field to easily throw out Alex Gordon to end the inning.
Key number
41 -- home runs by the Cubs this spring.
The quote
Jackson: "The last couple years haven't been great. I know what I'm capable of doing. I know my abilities, and it definitely would be fun to play here with the guys and contribute to winning a lot of games whatever my role is."
Up next
Vs. Giants, 3:05 p.m., Monday at Sloan Park. RH Kyle Hendricks vs. RH Tim Hudson.
