Game Recap: Suzuki's big game leads Cubs past Guardians |
Dustin Riese
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- 1 day ago
MESA—For the first time this Spring, the Chicago Cubs will play a pair of Split Squad games. However, unlike your traditional Split-squad makeup, where both games go on at the same time, this was more designed to feel like a day-and-night doubleheader, with one game going on in the Afternoon and the other one set to follow at night.
The afternoon portion of the day saw the Cubs back at Sloan Park as they played host to the Cleveland Guardians. After coming away with three straight ties after starting Cactus League play with a 6-0 start, the Cubs got back on track as they took down the Guardians 7-4. Four of those runs came in the first two innings for the Cubs as they jumped on the Guardians early and often. Seiya Suzuki was responsible for three of those runs in the early innings as he finally had the big game he was looking for. With the announcement that Javier Assad would miss the start of the regular season due to an Oblique injury, the No. 5 starting spot is down to Jordan Wicks and Colin Rea, as both of them will get plenty of work to close out the Spring. Rea was on the bump in this one and, despite allowing a one-out double to Tyler Freeman in the first, went out and delivered another good outing. Rea gave the Cubs three shutout innings of work with two walks and two punchouts to go with that one hit. Considering that was the only hit the Guardians would have until the seventh, you got a sense very early on how things would go as the Cubs were in control of things from start to finish. It didn't take the Cubs offense very long to get rolling as Ian Happ opened the bottom of the first with a leadoff double off Joey Cantillo. Happ would come around to score on the first of two RBI singles from Suzuki to put the Cubs in front 1-0 three batters in. Dansby Swanson kept the line moving with a walk, followed by a Carson Kelly RBI single to double the Cubs lead 2-0. Another one, thank you (Carson). pic.twitter.com/fV8fzh48MS Chicago had a chance to add on, but it was Vidal Brujan grounding into an inning-ending double play. Not to let that deter him, the Cubs offense continued to make things difficult for Cantillo in the second as this was all about patience at the plate. Not only did Jon Berti work a walk to start things off, but so did Jonathon Long and Happ, as the Cubs had the bases loaded and one out. Following a Kyle Tucker strikeout, it was Suzuki cashing in again as his seeing-eye single past the shortstop resulted in two more runs to push the Cubs lead to 4-0. Have yourself a day, Seiya! Chicago continued to keep the pressure on in the bottom half of the third when Brujan and Berti picked up a pair of one-out singles to put runners on the corners, only to have Cade Smith escape the inning without further damage. It was at this point in the game when Craig Counsell not only went to his pen, but went with some of his higher leverage arms as Julian Merryweather, Ryan Braiser and Caleb Thielbar all saw an inning of work. They combined for four strikeouts in those three innings without giving up a hit as the Cubs continued to lead 4-0. After adding a run on a fifth-inning Brujan sacrifice fly, it was time for the reserves to step up as they entered the game in the sixth. It didn't matter who was at the plate in this one as Greg Allen opened the bottom of the sixth with a walk before putting himself in scoring position with a stolen base. That steal proved costly as Allen scored on the Haydn McGeary single to push the Cubs lead to 6-0. Of all the pitchers who have had a great Spring, Brad Keller is one of the names that comes to mind. The right-hander signed a Minor League deal in January and was given an invite to Spring, where he is on the verge of making this team. Although this wasn't his best outing, as he was charged with four runs in 2 1/3, he did strike out three as the Cubs stretched him out much longer than expected. Keller's outing got off to a great start with a pair of seventh-inning strikeouts, but the eighth and ninth innings gave him trouble. That trouble didn't come without some luck as Kahlil Watson was gifted a one-out sun-aided triple before coming home on the Dayan Frias grounder to end the shutout. One batter later, Yordys Valdes took Keller deep for his first homer of the Spring as the Guardians were within 6-2. The long ball played a roll late in the game, with Carlos Perez leading off the bottom of the eighth with the solo shot for the Cubs final run while Juan Brito answered with a solo shot in the ninth to make this a 7-3 game. Cleveland continued to keep the pressure on as Jorge Burgos followed that homer up with a triple before coming home on the Cooper Ingle grounder as the Guardians were within 7-4. Given how the wind picked up late in the game, that three-run lead never felt safe, but the Cubs managed to make it hold as Cayne Ueckert came in to replace Keller and closed things out for the Cubs. The Cubs will look for a Split-Squad sweep Saturday night as they will face the Kansas City Royals on the road.
— Cubs (@Someone7682) March 1, 2025
👉Two more on the board pic.twitter.com/NAnb7f0qUw
