Game Recap: Cubs battle back to tie Rangers

Dustin Riese - Senior Writer - 4 hours ago

SURPRISE - As much as the Chicago Cubs like winning Spring Training games, they also like tying, as they have picked up a tie in three straight games. Pair that with their six consecutive wins to open the Spring, and the Cubs are still the lone unbeaten team in the Cactus League, sporting an impressive 6-0-3 record.

Friday was by far their most challenging showing of the Spring, and it came against a Texas Rangers team that was seeing them for the second time. Not only did the Rangers push across two runs against Justin Steele, but they used a four-run sixth inning to break things open, as the Cubs were down 8-2 through six.

What was looking to be their first loss of the Spring turned into some late-game excitement as the Cubs used a four-run seventh inning to pull within two before tacking on a pair of runs in the ninth to tie things up as the game ended in an 8-8 tie. As mentioned, Steele was making his second start of the Spring, and after going three innings and striking out two, he passed yet another test as preps for the season ahead.

After pitching a near effortless first inning, Steele got off to a great start in the second, only to have Jake Burger ruin that with a two-out single to extend the frame. A Kyle Higoshioka two-run blast followed that up, and just like that, the Cubs were facing a 2-0 deficit. Playing from behind hasn't been an issue for the Cubs this Spring, and after coming up empty through three innings despite having plenty of scoring chances, it was only a matter of time until the offense broke through.

Look no further than the fourth inning as Travis Jankowski picked up a two-out single against his former team and had the Cubs offense in business. One batter later, it was Gage Workman touching up Jack Leiter for a long two-run shot as the Cubs were back to even 2-2.

Gage Workman 💣 pic.twitter.com/J6np8GKSQL
— Marquee Sports Network (@WatchMarquee) February 28, 2025

Workman is going to continue to be the guy to watch most of Spring as he has to make this roster, or the Cubs need to send him back to Detroit. He is doing his part so far; that is all you can ask him.

Immediately after the Cubs tied things up, it was the Rangers striking back as Tyson Miller struggled to find his groove on the mound. Not only did a leadoff walk not help his cause, but Miller also allowed a pair of singles as the Rangers had the bases loaded and one out. What could have been a bad inning turned into minimal damage as Miller escaped by allowing just a sacrifice fly that had the Rangers back in front 3-2.

Texas continued to keep the pressure on, with Leody Tavares homering to begin the bottom half of the fifth and extending the lead to 4-2, but it was in the sixth when the Rangers tried to break things open for good. With the first two runners on base, Phil Bickford didn't do himself any favors as he allowed a second homer to Higoshioka to extend the Rangers lead to 7-2. Six of the team's seven RBIs up to this point came off the bat of Higoshioka as he was locked in at the plate.

The Rangers would add a fourth run in their half of the sixth on the Jonathan Orneals double as it was all Texas heading into the seventh 8-2. Down, but not out, the Cubs offense is never to be counted out as they started to mount their comeback in the seventh. That all started with a leadoff, Cristian Hernandez, to begin the frame, and he would come around to score on the Parker Chavers single to make this an 8-3 game.

Dixon Machado followed that up with a walk to put two runners on, setting the stage for Haydn McGeary, who unloaded for his first homer of the Spring to suddenly make this an 8-6 game. With Riley Martin and Connor Noland working a pair of scoreless innings, the Cubs came up to bat for the final time, needing two runs to tie.

Anytime you put the leadoff runner on base which the Cubs did off a Moises Ballesteros single, you're setting yourselves up for a big inning as Ballesteros advanced to second on the Chavers grounder. That is when the biggest play of the game unfolded as a routine grounder off the bat of Machado resulted in a costly error that not only allowed Machado to reach, but also let Ballesteros score to make this an 8-7 game.

Standing on second and down to their final out, it was Jordan Nwogu coming up clutch as his RBI single brought home the tying run and made this an 8-8 game. That was the final run for either side as Noland came back out for his second inning of work and tossed a scoreless ninth to secure the 8-8 tie.