McGeary's Blast Hands Cubs Spring Finale Victory

File photo: Rick Scuteri / USA TODAY

Dustin Riese - Senior Writer - Wednesday, March 26 2025

MESA - At long last, baseball's 2025 Spring Training season is over, and the regular season can finally begin. That is, of course, unless you're the Chicago Cubs and Los Angeles Dodgers, who have already played two regular-season games and then were forced to return to Spring training for a week leading into this week's MLB opener.

For the Cubs, things haven't gone well since they left for Japan. The Cubs entered their Spring finale against the Atlanta Braves on Tuesday, riding a six-game losing streak, including their last four games at Sloan Park. With one more opportunity to give the home fans something to cheer about, the kids provided the excitement as Carter Trice and Haydn McGeary combined for three of the Cubs four runs.

That included a game-winning two-run shot from McGeary in the bottom of the eighth to break a 2-2 tie and ended the Cubs skid at six games with a 4-2 victory. One of the many question marks heading into camp was whether Ben Brown would be healthy enough to make the team, and if he did, what his role would be.

Those questions were answered following Tuesday's game as Craig Counsell announced that Brown would make the team and won the No. 5 starting spot over guys like Javier Assad, Jordan Wicks, and Colin Rea. If this game was his final audition to win the job, Brown went out and pitched well, giving the Cubs 4 1/3 innings of work, allowing two runs, and striking out four.

He gave way to Frank Scalzo Jr and Sam Armstrong, who earned the win after four scoreless innings of relief, walking one and striking out six. From an offensive standpoint, runs were once again tough to come by for the Cubs, although they did a much better job capitalizing on runners in scoring positions than they had in the past.

Look no further than the bottom of the first when Kyle Tucker picked up a one-out single before advancing to second on the Seiya Suzuki walk. Two batters later, Dansby Swanson came through with a clutch two-out hit as his RBI double gave the Cubs their first lead in three days, 1-0.

It was a lead the Cubs held until the fourth inning, as Brown was forced to work much harder than he would have liked, allowing four runners in the first two innings despite not allowing any runs. Eventually, you knew that an offense as good as the Braves would find a way to cash in, and with Ozzie Albies leading off the fourth with a double, Brown was once again facing a jam.

One batter later, Brown surrendered his only runs of the game as Bryan De La Cruz touched him up for a two-run blast, and just like that, the Braves were in front 2-1. Brown managed to get through the rest of his outing without allowing a run, but after the Cubs wasted a two-on, no-out situation in the bottom of the fourth, you had to wonder if those two runs would be too much for the Cubs to overcome.

Still trailing by a run in the fifth, the Cubs used a bit of two-out magic to tie the game as Jon Berti started the mini-rally with a two-out single. That was followed by a pair of singles from Felix Stevens and Trice, with Trice driving Berti home to tie the score at 2-2. At this point in the game, the Cubs began to gain momentum as Armstrong not only took over to start the sixth inning but also had a dominating outing, walking one Brave and striking out six.

With the game still tied and the Cubs down to what could be their final six outs of the Spring, it was up to their offense to come through as the Braves pen was able to match Armstrong pitch for pitch. All it took for the Cubs to gain momentum was a leadoff single from Trice off of Shay Schanaman, and the winning run was now on base.

His single was followed by a McGeary homer that not only put the Cubs ahead 4-2 but also proved to be the game-winning hit, as Armstrong locked things down in the ninth for the 4-2 win. With the win, the Cubs will now prepare for the Arizona Diamondbacks on Thursday, having closed out their Spring schedule with a 12-9-3 record.

Along with the Brown news, two other decisions were finally resolved, as Brad Keller was informed that he would make the team on opening day, as well as Rule 5 pick Gage Workman. The Workman decision was the one everyone was paying attention to, as the Cubs had to add him to their roster or send him back to Detroit. His addition meant that Vidal Brujan would not make the team, but after injuring his elbow crashing into the wall, Brujan will open the season on the injured list, which gives the Cubs a bit more time to sort out his future.