MESA, Arizona — On an day when the Phoenix area tied its all-time March temperature record of 105 degrees — set the day before! — and the Cubs game at SloanPark was moved from afternoon to evening, the team got shaky pitching outings from Matthew Boyd and Jameson Taillon and lost both of their split-squad affairs, 8-6 to the Reds and 6-2 to the Athletics.
Bad news from the A’s game: Javier Assad left with an apparent injury.
First, the game I attended in Mesa. Boyd had a four-pitch first inning and
then fell apart in the second. Sal Stewart led off with a double, and after Eugenio Suárez struck out, Spencer Steer hit a ball to center field. Stewart wasn’t going anywhere, but Pete Crow-Armstrong sent a throw soaring into the Cubs dugout, so Stewart was allowed to score. It was an unearned run until Tyler Stephenson homered.
Boyd got cuffed around in the third, serving up another homer to Matt McLain. He was relieved with two out, having reached an inning pitch limit, and then returned to the game, where he served up yet another homer, that one to Steer.
This will be Boyd’s final outing before Opening Day next Thursday. Let’s hope that one goes better than giving up eight runs in fewer than five innings.
Here’s more on Boyd’s outing [VIDEO].
The Cubs were held scoreless until Jefferson Rojas homered in the fifth [VIDEO].
The Cubs also got another homer, from James Triantos in the eighth [VIDEO].
The good news from this game was good scoreless outings from four relievers who will be key parts of the 2026 bullpen. Hoby Milner, Phil Maton, Hunter Harvey and Caleb Thielbar combined to throw four innings, allowing five hits with no walks and four strikeouts.
At Hohokam Stadium, Taillon threw four very good scoreless innings, then ran out of gas in the fifth, when he allowed a couple of homers and three runs overall. Taillon did strike out six [VIDEO].
The plan for this game was apparently to piggyback Taillon and Assad, as the team had done with Cade Horton and Colin Rea on Monday. That didn’t work out when Assad left the game in the eighth [VIDEO].
From the looks of things, that might be a blister. Hopefully it’s nothing serious.
Both of the Cubs’ runs in that game scored on solo homers by Miguel Amaya. Here’s the second of those long balls [VIDEO].
Sloan Park attendance watch: 11,878 attended the game at Sloan Park. That makes the season total for 15 dates 188,552, or 12,570 per date.
The Cubs have two games again tonight, though only one of them is with MLB players — they’ll play the Mariners at Peoria. Colin Rea will start for the Cubs. At posting time the Mariners didn’t have a starter listed. The other game is the Spring Breakout game, with Cubs prospects facing Padres prospects at Sloan Park.
Here’s the broadcast schedule for tonight. Both games will have TV and radio broadcasts.
Cubs vs. Mariners: Mariners TV/Marquee (streaming via app or website only), WSCR The Score
Cubs vs. Padres Spring Breakout game: Marquee Sports Network/Padres TV, KWFN 97.3
This was my final game in Arizona for 2026 Spring Training. As you read this, I’m on the road headed back to Chicago to get ready for Opening Day this coming Thursday. I enjoyed my time at spring games as usual — and I think this might have been the first time I ever got to write “100 degrees” on a scorecard.
