Game Recap: Busch stays hot as Cubs win third straight |
Dustin Riese
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- 5 hours ago
MESA - Too bad you can't carry over your wins from Spring Training and bank them for the regular season. If that were possible, the Chicago Cubs would be off to a great start as they have opened up Spring Training with a 3-0 record.
While that record is good, the impressive nature of those wins has stood out, as they have used both strong pitching and a relentless offense to get the job done. Saturday was another example of that against the Chicago White Sox at Sloan Park as Justin Steele was in midseason form while a five-run second inning was all the Cubs needed in another 7-3 win. As was the case last season, the Cubs pitching will shoulder the load this season, and Steele was as close to midseason form as you can get. The left-hander gave the Cubs two scoreless frames, scattering two hits and striking out five out of six batters. Hopefully, that is a sign of things for the Cubs this season, as they need him to return to his 2024 form. Sharp stuff, @J_Steele21. 👏 pic.twitter.com/IWayik2Tcd Opposing Steele was fellow left-hander Jared Schuster, as the Cubs jumped on him early and often. Sure, his first inning was about as solid as you can ask for, but once the second inning got rolling, the Cubs offense did most of its damage, putting the White Sox in a massive hole they couldn't climb out of. Moises Ballesteros started the inning with a single before advancing to third on the James Triantos one-out double. Gage Workman pushed the first run across with an RBI groundout, but that was only the beginning as the Cubs ripped off a massive two-out rally to push across four additional runs. Ben Cowles doubled home the second run of the inning before racing home on a Kevin Alcantara single, as he has driven in a run in each of the three games this Spring. That set the stage for Michael Busch, who closed out the massive second inning with a two-run single to put the Cubs in front 5-0. Busch has looked incredible thus far this Spring as he picked up two more hits with three RBIs. It took four innings for the White Sox to break through, and that came off of Caleb Thielbar, who happens to be the lone lefty in the Cubs pen. Given the season he had last year, there were some concerns about how he would do in 2025, and after allowing a leadoff double to Brandon Drury followed by the Colson Montgomery homer, it was the White Sox pulling within 5-2. That was as close as the White Sox would get as the Cubs responded for two runs in the bottom of the fourth, with Cowles connecting for his first homer of the Spring to make things 6-2 while Busch added an RBI double to push the Cubs lead to 7-2. Ben Cowles says goodbye 👋 pic.twitter.com/bojLoGrRrv 2 bases and a run from Busch! pic.twitter.com/gmBbZGMrXB From there, it was all about the Cubs pitching as several arms saw their first action of the Spring. That included Porter Hodge, who tossed a scoreless fifth, while Ethan Roberts worked a scoreless seventh despite running into mid-inning trouble. The game's final run came across in the sixth, with Eli Morgan on the mound for the first time. Acquired via a trade from the Cleveland Guardians earlier in the offseason, Morgan is expected to be one of the Cubs more trusted options out of the pen, especially when you look at the season he had in 2024. For the most part, the Cubs loved what they saw from Morgan in this one, but he was tagged with a solo home run off the bat of Tim Elko to make this a 7-3 game. Chicago would go on to win by that score as Trevor Richards and Chris Kachmar slammed the door shut over the final two innings to help the Cubs improve to 3-0 this Spring. Leading the way for the Cubs was the offensive duo of Busch and Cowles, as they combined for four hits and five RBIs. Busch is also tied with Workman for the team lead in RBIs with four as he is answering many of the questions this Spring. Chicago will look to keep rolling on Sunday when they face off against the Texas Rangers. weekend's going well, hbu? pic.twitter.com/rcUOSAbZ09
