Fly the T: Busch homers, Wesneski impressive as Cubs tie Reds

Joe Camporeale - USA Today Sports

by Dustin Riese - Senior Writer - Fri Mar 08 07:31:06 GMT-05:00 2024

GOODYEAR - It's rare that Spring Training games are played during the primetime hours, but that was the case on Thursday when the Chicago Cubs took on the Cincinnati Reds. This was the Cubs third night game of the Spring thus far, and they have more on the way which can be a good opportunity for fans to see them play.

What looked to be a rough matchup on paper, with Reds ace Hunter Greene going up against Hayden Wesneski, the pitchers showed up as the Cubs and Reds played to a 2-2 tie. For Wesneski, this was a much-needed outing, as his previous two outings were terrible.

Although far from pretty, Wesneski gave the Cubs three innings of work, striking out four and allowing one run for his best outing so far.

Hayden Wesneski's 4Ks in 3IP. pic.twitter.com/WZsVORaFMm
— Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) March 8, 2024

Greene also went three innings, but he was very erratic. He allowed two runs on two hits with five strikeouts. He also walked three, as his high pitch count is a concern heading into the season.

Both of the Cubs' runs came in the first inning, and they couldn't have asked for a better start to the game. Garrett Cooper started the party with a one-out walk, but it was the big blast from Michael Busch that brought runners home. He took an off-speed offering from Greene to straightaway center for his first homer of the season. Those are the types of swings Cubs fans will fall in love with this season, as the Cubs opened up a 2-0 lead.

Michael Busch BLAST 🚀 pic.twitter.com/76MG3nWrpg
— Marquee Sports Network (@WatchMarquee) March 8, 2024

Alexander Canario added a two-out double later in the inning, with Pete Crow-Armstrong reaching on an error, but the Cubs failed to push across any more runs, which would prove costly. Not only did the Cubs play long ball in the first inning, but so did the Reds. As the two-out homer by Spencer Steer hadn't landed yet, the Reds pulled within 2-1. Cincinnati had a chance to tie things up with a pair of singles from Mike Ford and Josh Harrison in the second, but the right-hander found a way to wiggle out of trouble.

Looking to add to their lead in the top half of the third, Cooper started things off again with a leadoff walk before moving to second on another walk by Canario. Like in so many other cases, when this team needed the big hit, it was nowhere to be found, as Greene managed to escape trouble again to end his night on a positive note. With both teams going to the pen in the fourth inning, Edwin Escobar was the first for Craig Counsell, and he immediately found himself in a tight spot.

After walking the first two batters to begin the fourth, Escobar did his best to limit the damage, but Harrison managed to tie things up with an RBI groundout before Escobar finished things off. One inning later, Michael Arias came out of the pen, and like Escobar, he found himself in a tight spot.

After allowing a leadoff single to Austin Wynns, Elly De La Cruz added a single of his own two batters later to put two on with one out. On the verge of escaping trouble, Arias continued to make things difficult as his walk to Will Benson loaded the bases and forced Counsell to call for Cam Sanders. Despite the tight spot, Sanders did what he needed to get out of the inning and then went back out to work around a pair of two-out singles in the sixth to keep the game tied.

At this point in the game, it was going to come down to which pitching staff would make the first mistake, and up to this point, neither of them did. The Cubs were hoping the two-out double from Luis Vazquez off of Tyler Gilbert in the seventh would be the break they needed, but that was their final hit of the ball game, as the offense was quiet most of the night.

The same can't be said about the Reds as they continued to keep the pressure on the Cubs which started against Riley Thompson in the eighth. Like in previous innings, Thompson was able to retire the first batter he faced only to have singles by Connor Capel and Hernan Perez set the Reds offense up. Thompson responded to that jam with a pair of punchouts, including one to former Cub PJ Higgins to end the inning.

With the game still tied and the Reds down to their final three outs, Jose Romero was called upon to lock things down for Counsell. What started as a dominating inning quickly turned sour as Romero walked a pair of batters to put the winning run on second and two outs. Needing to figure out a way to pitch out of trouble, Romero made the pitch he needed to make as Alex McGarry flew out to end the game, with the two sides settling for the 2-2 tie.

Both teams struck out 13 batters in the game, but the Reds walked two compared to five from the Cubs. Chicago also had just three hits in the game, as Busch, Canario, and Vazquez were credited with those hits. Thursday marks the first of several split-squad games for the Cubs this Spring as they will battle with the Seattle Mariners at home and the Diamondbacks on the road.