Game Recap: PCA homers twice in Cubs win over Mariners

Allan Henry - USA Today Sports

Dustin Riese - Senior Writer - 8 hours ago

MESA—In less than a week, the Chicago Cubs will embark on their journey across the Pacific and land in Japan for nearly a week. At that time, baseball suddenly becomes real, as the Chicago Cubs and Los Angeles Dodgers will kick off the 2025 MLB season with the Japan series.

Until then, the Cubs still have work to do in Cactus League play, as several roster decisions for that series could be made in their next four games. Looking to get back on the winning side of things following a Thursday night loss to Kansas City and a Friday rainout, the Cubs offense led the way as they held off the Seattle Mariners late for the 9-8 win.

Pete Crow-Armstrong was the real story in this one. He not only created more chaos, but chaos in a different way, as he connected for two homers and five RBIs. One of those homers was the go-ahead Grand Slam, which put the Cubs in front for good and managed to bail out Matthew Boyd, who continues to struggle.

While wins and losses don't matter in Spring, overall performances sometimes do. After allowing four runs in 3 2/3 innings, Boyd's ERA has risen to 7.88. The Cubs hope that isn't a sign of things to come once the regular season starts, as this wasn't his best showing.

All four of his runs allowed came in a span of two innings, with Rowdy Tellez starting things off with a two-run homer in the second. Randy Arozarena added an RBI double in the third ahead of a Mitchell Garver sacrifice fly as the Mariners were on top of the Cubs early. Fortunately for Chicago, they managed to keep things close as they used the long ball to touch up Logan Gilbert, with Pete Crow-Armstrong and Miguel Amaya connecting for solo shots in the bottom of the second to things up 2-2.

Trailing 4-2 in the third after the Mariners tacked on two more runs in the top of the inning, it was time for the Cubs offense to explode as most of their damage occurred during this inning. What started with a leadoff walk to Seiya Suzuki was followed by a pair of one-out singles from Justin Turner and Dansby Swanson, and the bases were loaded with one down.

Looking for the big hit to tie things up, Matt Shaw kept the line moving as he also worked a walk to pull the Cubs within 4-3. That set the stage for Mr. Chaos, Crow-Armstrong, as he connected for his second homer in as many innings, with this coming as a Grand Slam to cap off the Cubs five-run third and put them in front 7-4.

Chicago had a chance to add even more runs after singles from Amaya and Jon Berti but was unable to find another clutch hit. Given how things were transpiring in the early innings, the Cubs never felt comfortable with their lead, especially after Jorge Polanco touched up Tyson Miller for a two-run shot in the fifth, making this a 7-6 game.

Miller is going to be one of the most challenging decisions Craig Counsell is going to have to make this season as he was one of their best relievers in 2024, but has had a horrendous Spring. His ERA is now sitting at 22.09 for the Spring, as he has looked terrible at best. While Miller hasn't looked great, Ryan Brasier and Julian Merryweather as the two of them teamed up to toss two scoreless frames to keep the Cubs in front 7-6 late.

Looking to deliver some late-game insurance, Berti started the bottom of the sixth with a single, as the Cubs had the leadoff man on base. Two batters later, Suzuki came through with the game-winning hit. His two-run shot pushed the Cubs' lead to 9-6 and would be the definitive winning run.

Not only were the Cubs playing long ball most of the day, but so were the Mariners as Henry Ford took Merryweather deep in the eighth to pull the Mariners within 9-7. The game's big story came in the ninth inning, where top pitching prospect Cade Horton made his Spring debut.

Horton was far from perfect, as he, too, allowed a solo shot to Colt Emerson. However, with one strikeout and that being the only hit he allowed, Horton managed to pick up the save and give the Cubs a 9-8 win. The Cubs have been very cautious with Horton all Spring, and it will be interesting to see how they use him the rest of the way.