Game Recap: Cubs finally lose against Reds for first spring game loss

Rick Scuteri - USA Today Sports

Dustin Riese - Senior Writer - 20 hours ago

MESA - It took 12 games into Spring Training, but the Chicago Cubs finally dropped a Cactus League game. All it took to defeat the Cubs was putting an NL central team against them as the Reds knocked off the Cubs 7-3 at Sloan Park.

Beating the NL Central was an issue for the Cubs last season, and that is something they must improve upon if they have a shot at the division this season. Fortunately, this is still Spring Training, so any loss to a division opponent isn't all that concerning just yet. It is, however, all the proof you need that this team wouldn't go undefeated throughout the Spring.

For the most part, the Cubs starting pitching has been lights out this Spring, and that was a massive part of the team's success in 2024. You knew at some point someone was going to have a rough outing, which happened today as Matthew Boyd and Keegan Thompson weren't at their best. Boyd got the start, and despite striking out four across 2 1/3 innings, he allowed three runs as the Reds jumped on him early.

The same can be said about Thompson, who allowed a pair of homers in just 1 2/3 innings of work. Those two alone put the Cubs in a massive hole they couldn't climb out of, and it will be interesting to see how this team responds tomorrow. Although the Cubs have taken care of business this Spring, they have been playing from behind a lot, which was again the case in this one.

It was a two-out first-inning rally that put the Reds in front as Jeimer Candelario worked a base on balls from Boyd before coming home to come on a Tyler Stephenson double. Chicago had a chance to even things up in the bottom of the first as Ian Happ led things off with a double, but was stranded on the bases.

Putting the leadoff man on base was an early theme for the Cubs as Jon Berti opened the bottom of the second with a leadoff walk before advancing to third on the Vidal Brujan single. Two batters later, it was a 1-1 game as Berti came in to score on the Travis Jankowski grounder. The Reds didn't waste any time retaking the lead in the top of the third as they not only scored three batters but pushed across a pair of runs in the blink of an eye to put the Cubs in a 3-1 hole.

TJ Friedl got things started with a leadoff single before the Santiago Espinal double put the Reds in front for good 2-1. Espinal came home to score a few pitchers later on the Candelario single as the Reds chased Boyd with a 3-1 lead. Things only got worse from there for the Cubs as Jake Fraley and Blake Dunn touched up Thompson for back-to-back homers in the top of the fourth, and just like that, it was a 5-1 Reds lead.

As has been the case most of the Spring, you can never count these Cubs out as they began to battle back in the bottom of the fourth with Berti getting things started with a single. Brujan followed that up with a walk to put a pair of runners on while the Greg Allen double brought home Berti to make this a 5-2 game. Following a walk to Jankowski to load the bases, the Reds were one pitch away from escaping trouble, only to have Happ work another walk to pull the Cubs within 5-3.

The Cubs were unable to tack on any more runs in that inning, and those two runs would be the final runs of the day for what has been an impressive offense most of the Spring. Looking to add some late-game insurance, Ethan Roberts took over for Ryan Pressly in the middle of the sixth and was immediately greeted by a Stephenson double to set the Reds offense up. Two batters later, it was Fraley cashing in again as his single made this a 6-3 game.

Cincinnati added their final run on a ninth-inning Will Benson homer before shutting down the Cubs in the ninth to secure the win. With seven hits, the Cubs were held to their second-lowest total of the Spring as Allen led the way with two. The Cubs will return to the diamond on Monday as they face off against the Arizona Diamondbacks for the second time.