Cubs double up Padres in fifth straight win

Dustin Riese - Senior Writer - 9 hours ago

PEORIA - CUBS WIN, CUBS WIN, CUBS WIN. That's all the Chicago Cubs have been doing this Spring as they entered Monday's game against the San Diego Padres sporting a perfect 4-0 mark. Looking to remain perfect with Matthew Boyd taking the ball for the first time this Spring, it was a five-run sixth inning that was the difference as the Cubs doubled up the Padres 10-5 to improve to 5-0.

Boyd was the Cubs big offseason acquisition among starting pitchers, and because of that, there are a lot of question marks surrounding the kind of value he brings to the team. Through two innings, Boyd had plenty of traffic to deal with as he scattered two hits and walked a pair of hitters. However, the only number that matters is the number of runs he allowed, as Boyd got through his two innings without allowing a run and struck out two.

It's the type of performance the Cubs wanted to see from him, as he is coming off an injury-shortened season that saw him pitch less than 50 innings in 2024. Opposing Boyd was right-hander Randy Vasquez, who matched Boyd with a scoreless first inning before the Cubs broke through first in the top half of the second.

Greg Allen started things off for the Cubs with a leadoff triple before coming home on the James Triantos sacrifice fly two batters later to put the Cubs in front 1-0.

A Greg Allen triple and James Triantos sac fly give us the lead! pic.twitter.com/k93nCRe6GU
— Chicago Cubs (@Cubs) February 24, 2025

Nicky Lopez added a single for one of his two hits later in the inning, but the Cubs were unable to add on. After Boyd managed to wiggle around a mini-jam in the bottom half of the second, the Cubs offense got back to work in the third, with Justin Turner getting things started with a leadoff walk.

Turner would advance to second on a Miguel Amaya single before racing home on the Travis Jankowski single two batters later to extend the Cubs lead to 2-0.

Travis Jankowski's first hit of #SpringTraining brings in a run! pic.twitter.com/CmQ09Tzjs3
— Chicago Cubs (@Cubs) February 24, 2025

The Cubs signed Jankowski over the weekend, and he came up clutch in his first game of the Spring. It took the Padres four innings to break through on the offensive end, and it came against Ben Brown, who is looking to make it back from a season-ending neck injury.

Brown worked around two singles in the top half of the third to keep the Padres off the board, but it was in the fourth inning when Brown let the lead get away as Elias Diaz started things off with a one-out single before coming home on the Eguy Rosario homer. Those were the only runs for the Padres for the next several innings as Brad Keller and the rest of the Cubs pen began to take over.

A big reason for the Cubs offensive success this Spring has been their ability to have a big inning. That was again the case in this one as the Cubs exploded for five runs in the sixth inning to break the game wide open. Newcomers Jankowski and Allen started things off with a pair of singles before Kevin Alcantara doubled home the go-ahead run with a double.

Stay hot, Kevin! pic.twitter.com/21pwYRyow9
— Chicago Cubs (@Cubs) February 24, 2025

Alcantara has been one of the biggest surprises of the Spring for the Cubs, as he has picked up an RBI in every game he has played this Spring.

Following a Triantos RBI ground out that extended the Cubs lead to 4-2, Michael Busch delivered the knock-out blow as his three-run shot would go down as the game-winning hit as the Cubs broke things open 7-2.

Michael Busch muscles this one outta here 💪 pic.twitter.com/0WLRlGs6zM
— Chicago Cubs (@Cubs) February 24, 2025

The Cubs added to their lead in the top half of the seventh as Parker Chavers delivered his first of what was two late-game RBI hits to put the Cubs in front 8-2.

Despite a comfortable six-run lead, this is Arizona, and as we have seen in plenty of Spring games in the past, no lead is safe in the Desert. Tyson Miller found that out firsthand as a pair of walks to open the bottom of the seventh didn't help his cause and had the Padres in a position to make things interesting. Forrest Wall brought home one of those runners with an RBI double, while Trenton Brooks pushed across the second run with a sacrifice fly as the Padres pulled within 8-4.

That was the final hitter Miller would face as he was replaced by Zac Leigh, who finished the inning without further damage. The Padres continued to battle back in their half of the eighth as the long ball brought home another run. This time, it was Tirso Orneals leaving the yard, and he touched up Jack Neely for the solo shot to make this an 8-5 game.

The Padres wouldn't get any closer as the Cubs put the pressure on in the ninth by loading the bases with a trio of walks, which set things up for another Chavers extra-base hit as his RBI triple capped off the scoring with the Cubs in front 10-5. Frank Scalzo Jr took care of the rest as he bounced back from a shaky first outing of the Spring to toss a scoreless ninth as the Cubs improved to 5-0 with the win.

Not only have double-digit runs been a theme for the Cubs this Spring, but so have double-digit hits, as the Cubs picked up 15 hits and have had at least 10 hits in all five games. Miguel Amaya led the Cubs with three hits in as many at-bats to continue his strong Spring. Chavers, Lopez, Turner, Jankowski, and Allen added multi-hit games in the win. Busch and Chavers also led the offense with three RBIs.