Bryant celebrates first Majors hit, looks forward to other milestones

CHICAGO -- Cubs third baseman Kris Bryant celebrated his first Major League hit and RBI by eating dinner with his family on Saturday night.

He was able to enjoy both personal milestones and a Cubs' 7-6 victory over the Padres.

Bryant, the Cubs' No. 1 prospect, rebounded from committing his first career error in the first inning and falling behind 0-2 in his first at-bat Saturday to draw three walks and hit two singles, including an RBI broken-bat single that tied the game in the fifth.

"I was pretty proud of myself," said Bryant, who was promoted from Triple-A Iowa on Friday. "I made an error on the first play of the game. To come back, the tone wasn't really set early with me making that error, but we came back with it. I kind of let that go. It's part of the game. I ended up having a good game, and we got the win, so that was pretty fun."

Bryant adjusted after striking out three times in his 0-for-4 debut on Friday against the Padres.

"I realize what my strengths are," Bryant said. "The pitcher can't throw a strike every time. I think I got out of my zone a little bit that first day, a little anxious, and told myself to calm down a little bit in the second game and get some pitches to hit. I think it was a pretty good game all around for myself."

With an 0-2 count, Bryant took four consecutive balls from Tyson Ross in the first inning on Saturday. In the fourth, Bryant was down 1-2 before he took two balls, fouled off a fastball and took another ball for his second walk.

Video: SD@CHC: Bryant draws a walk in the 4th

"The first game, they were throwing me a lot of offspeed stuff and out of the zone, so I kind of took a step back and realized if I keep swinging at that, they're going to keep throwing it," Bryant said. "I made an in-game adjustment, pitch to pitch. It was a good first at-bat for me to go 0-2 and get a walk out of that. It gave me a lot of confidence."

After Saturday's victory, Bryant entered a disco-theme clubhouse for a postgame celebration.

"I sure hope to be partying in the disco clubhouse a lot this year," he said.

Bryant kept the game ball from his first hit -- a single into shallow center field off Ross to tie the game at 2.

Other milestones await Bryant, including his first home run. He hit three in seven Triple-A games this season.

"Hopefully that's next," he said. "But when you start trying to hit home runs and worrying about that, then they don't come. I've never been the type to go up there and swing for a home run or try to get one. If it happens, it happens. If it doesn't happen for the next 20 games, I'll try to get on base and do what I can to help the team win."

ROSTER MOVE

The Cubs selected the contract of right-handed pitcher Gonzalez Germen from Triple-A Iowa and optioned outfielder Matt Szczur to Iowa. To make room on the 40-man roster, the Cubs moved right-handed pitcher Jacob Turner to the 60-day disabled list.