Game Recap: Cubs bullpen implodes in loss to D-backs

Allan Henry - USA Today Sports

Dustin Riese - Senior Writer - Sunday, March 30 2025

Phoenix—Although the Chicago Cubs (2-4) are only six games into their regular season, numerous concerns remain for this team. One of those concerns is an inconsistent offense that either struggles to get hits or puts up a large number of runs in one game.

You also saw the starting pitching take a beating early in the series before stepping up in the final two games, and that is going to be a question mark all season. However, the Cubs' biggest concern is one that has plagued them for several years and single-handedly kept them out of the playoffs a year ago.

In case you didn't guess the correct answer, the Cubs bullpen continues to be a significant issue, and if they don't correct this problem sooner rather than later, the Cubs could be looking at another lost season. One night after nearly blowing a late-game lead, the Cubs bullpen was the topic of conversation as they entered the eighth inning with a 6-2 lead over the Arizona Diamondbacks (2-2).

That is when the bottom completely fell out as the Diamondbacks not only rallied to take the lead but also put up an eight-spot in the eighth inning to break the game open before picking up a 10-6 victory. The Cubs still walked away with a 2-2 series tie, which is all you can ask for on the road, but having a chance to go 3-1 against a very good team is something they are going to look back on should they miss the postseason again.

Not only was this a crushing loss considering all the flack their bullpen took last season, but it wasted a great outing for Matthew Boyd, who gave the Cubs plenty to cheer about at his first start. Boyd lasted five innings on the mound, walking three and striking out five while allowing just no runs. Should he continue to pitch like that all season, the Cubs are going to be in a great spot, as he will be a massive upgrade over Kyle Hendricks.

While the bullpen was the main issue in this one, the offense also deserves some blame as they struggled to do much of anything despite scoring six runs. All six of those runs came on three homers which can be a good thing, but if you can't generate any offense without the long ball consistent wins will be tough to come by. Two of those three homers came off the Diamondbacks starter Eduardo Rodriguez, who was charged with three earned runs in 5 1/3.

The first of those homers came from Dansby Swanson in the second inning as the Cubs opened up a 1-0 lead. No one expected one run to be enough, but for the most part, that run was looking like it would be enough as that was the only run of the game through five innings. That was also the Cubs only hit of the game through five innings as the Diamondbacks continued to keep the pressure on Boyd, but couldn't push anything across in the early going.

It wasn't until the sixth inning that the Cubs' offense broke through again, with the top of the order getting the job done. Ian Happ got things started with a leadoff walk and then came home on the Seiya Suzuki homer to push the Cubs lead to 3-0. Talk about efficiency; the Cubs had just two hits through six innings, both coming off the long ball, which led to three runs.

This was when the game started to change, and not in a good way, as Craig Counsell lifted Boyd after five shutout innings and replaced him with Nate Pearson. Already with one rough outing under his belt, Pearson continued to struggle to begin the season as a leadoff walk followed by a Pavin Smith double put a pair of runners in scoring position with one out. As expected, Arizona managed to capitalize on that scoring chance, with Alek Thomas picking up a sacrifice fly, but Pearson escaped without further damage.

Arizona continued to battle back in the seventh inning off a Gabriel Moreno single, and just like that, this was a 3-2 game. Needing a massive shot in the arm to regain momentum, the Cubs benefited from a pair of singles from Miguel Amaya and Happ to start the eighth, as the Cubs had two on and no outs. Two batters later, Kyle Tucker came through with another massive hit, connecting for his second homer in as many days to push the Cubs' lead to 6-2 with only six outs to go.

You had to like their chances of winning this game after that homer, but considering what this team went through on the relief side of things in 2024, no lead is safe with this team. Take the bottom of the eighth as a prime example of that, as Caleb Thielbar walked the first two hitters he faced before Eli Morgan allowed a two-run double to Geraldo Perdermo, making it 6-4.

One hitter later, the Cubs lead was gone as Lourdes Guirrel Jr touched up Morgan for a devastating two-run blast, and suddenly, this was a 6-6 game. That was only the beginning for the Diamondbacks' offense as they went on to score four more runs in their half of the eighth and pushed across eight runs to take a 10-6 lead. Morgan was responsible for six of those eight earned runs, including the final six, as a pair of doubles from Josh Naylor and Corbin Carroll, combined with singles from Ryne Nelson and Thomas, led to those final four runs.

Chicago had a chance to keep things interesting in the ninth, with Matt Shaw leading off with a double ahead of a two-out walk, but that was it, as the Cubs couldn't recover from their rough eighth. Suzuki and Swanson were responsible for four of the Cubs' nine hits as both of them seem to be waking up. Chicago will continue their West Coast swing on Monday as they head to Sacramento to face the Athletics for the only time in 2025.