Pretty much everyone in this game was playing like they had a plane to catch, because the whole thing was over in one hour, 57 minutes. And as for the Cubs, they played it like it was that last game of Spring Training when the team DOES have a plane to catch, because a bunch of miscellaneous minor leaguers finished things off.

One of those minor leaguers, Ezequiel Pagan, who played most of last year at South Bend, accounted for the Cubs’ only hit, a solo home run, in a 3-1 loss to the A’s. At least it went quickly, one hour, 57 minutes.

The Cubs played this as a bullpen game, with eight relievers throwing one inning each. Seven of them: Mark Leiter Jr., Adbert Alzolay, Julian Merryweather, Jose Cuas, Carl Edwards Jr., Richard Lovelady and Keegan Thompson, combined to throw seven shutout innings, allowing two hits and a walk with 10 strikeouts. That’s really good, and many of those relievers will be called on this season to throw innings in critical situations.

The other inning, the third, was thrown by Hector Neris, who will also be called on in important situations, as he has for many years by the Phillies and Astros. Neris served up two home-run balls, one to Nick Allen and the other a two-run shot to Brent Rooker. That was the only scoring for the A’s. Neris has, at times, been a bit homer-prone in his MLB career, though he allowed just seven in 68⅓ innings last year. I wouldn’t be too worried about a couple of them on a warm day in Mesa during a spring game, though it is something to watch.

Otherwise the Cubs had just one baserunner besides Pagan’s home run, a one-out walk drawn by Alexander Canario in the third. He was immediately erased on a double play, so A’s pitchers faced just 29 Cubs batters, two over the minimum.

That’s all I’ve got on this one.

The Cubs will play a road contest Thursday at Salt River Fields in Scottsdale against the Rockies. Drew Smyly will get the call for the Cubs and Ryan Feltner will start for Colorado. You’re going to have to imagine what the players do tomorrow, because Thursday’s game is old-school: No TV or radio broadcast from either team, you’ll have to follow along on Gameday.