MESA, Arizona — The Cubs who played in this game who will actually be on the Opening Day roster did very well. They got five runs out of (most) of the starting lineup and three relievers who will be in the Opening Day bullpen threw scoreless innings (and so did Luke Little, which is a good sign).

Then things went off the rails with guys who aren’t going to sniff Wrigley Field this year. The Cubs lost to the Giants 9-5, but the result is meaningless. Let’s talk about the good stuff, which includes some more ABS challenges won by Moisés Ballesteros.

The Cubs took a 1-0 lead in the first. Nico Hoerner doubled with one out, and one out later, after a Dansby Swanson walk, Michael Conforto singled Nico in [VIDEO].

The Cubs got another run in the fourth. Dansby Swanson led off with a triple and one out later, scored on a ground out by Ballesteros.

Three Cubs runs crossed the plate in the fifth. Michael Busch led off with a single and advanced to second on a walk by Hoerner.

Swanson’s double scored Busch [VIDEO].

Hoerner took third on the double and he and Swanson both scored on this single by Ballesteros [VIDEO].

Here’s Dansby on his two-hit afternoon [VIDEO].

As I noted in the game preview, this was a bullpen day. Caleb Thielbar, Phil Maton and Hoby Milner combined for three no-hit innings. The only baserunner was Luis Matos, who was hit by a Maton pitch leading off the second. So that’s all good. So was Luke Little’s scoreless inning. He allowed a leadoff walk to Jesus Rodriguez, but then picked him off and retired the next two hitters.

The Giants teed off for 13 hits and nine runs off Corbin Martin, Connor Schultz, Vince Reilly and Brooks Caple, and you will not likely hear those names as MLB Cubs after March 24.

The other thing I wanted to mention was more successful ABS challenges by Ballesteros. Here’s one [VIDEO].

There were also two by Busch — in the same at-bat! Here’s the first [VIDEO].

Here’s the second — 0n the very next pitch! [VIDEO]

Busch wound up with a single in that at-bat and later scored. I like that the guys are taking advantage of challenge situations to try them. It’s good practice, in my view, for using them during the season, what situations are best to use them, etc.

Attendance watch: A near-sellout of 15,033 saw this game on a very warm (86 at game time) afternoon. That makes the season total 120,808 for 10 games, or 12,081 per date.

The Cubs are off Monday, one of two scheduled off days this spring. They will resume the spring schedule Tuesday afternoon in Surprise against the Rangers. Cade Horton will go for the Cubs. At the posting time of this recap, the Rangers did not have a starter listed. No TV or radio Tuesday.

Monday, there will be six WBC games, three in the afternoon and three in the evening. The evening games include the USA vs. Mexico. I will post two game threads Monday, one for the afternoon games at 10:30 a.m. CT (first games are at 11 a.m. CT) and another for the night games at 5 p.m. CT (the first night games are at 6 p.m. CT). Stick around, there will be plenty to discuss here Monday!

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — As the buzzer sounded on the Big 12 Tournament championship game, Jordan Harrison ran and leaped into the waiting arms of her West Virginia teammates, who squeezed her so hard it looked as if it hurt.

It was just about the only time anyone corralled Harrison on Sunday.

The senior guard scored 20 points while wreaking havoc on defense, and Sydney Shaw added 17 points of her own, helping the No. 15 Mountaineers avenge a pair of regular-season losses to No. 10 TCU with a 62-53 victory in the title game.

“Just seeing the ball going through the hole is all I needed to get ready and get going,” said Harrison, the tournament MVP. “I mean, I just knew I needed to get started, get hot for our team to have a chance to win.”

The Big 12 tourney title is the second for No. 2 seed West Virginia and its first since the 2016-17 season.

“I don’t know if we put all four quarters together but we’re getting closer and closer,” Mountaineers coach Mark Kellogg said. “Our kids were dialed in to this game plan. They execute. But they competed. They get out and they get after you, and they’re just relentless, and Jordan sets the tone with her defensive ability.”

West Virginia had built a 56-43 lead with 90 seconds left before TCU ran off seven straight points to provide some hope. But Harrison, a senior from Oklahoma City, calmly made two free throws with 33.4 seconds remaining to help put the game away.

“We knew the things that were on the line,” Harrison said. “Most importantly, we wanted to stay in the present.”

Olivia Miles, the league player of the year, scored 17 points for No. 1 seed TCU (29-5), even though she played most of the way in foul trouble. Marta Suarez added 16 points but was just 6 of 19 from the field and fouled out in the final minute.

“They played an awesome game today,” Horned Frogs coach Mark Campbell said. “They did a heck of a job defensively, and they just outplayed us. Credit them. We’ve had great battles with them the last couple of years and today they were the better team.”

TCU handed the Mountaineers two of their six regular-season losses, both in defensive slugfests: 51-50 on Jan. 14 and 59-50 just over a month later. And their meeting for the conference championship had the same feel as the first two in the trilogy.

Whichever team broke 50 first would win.

The Mountaineers took a 26-23 lead into halftime, relying on their full-court pressure to take TCU out of its offensive rhythm. At one point, the pesky Harrison turned a turnover by Suarez into a coast-to-coast layup, and on the next possession, Shaw created another turnover that Taylor Bigby converted into another easy layup.

“When you beat a team twice, man, they were hungry,” Campbell said.

Miles provided the only consistent offense for TCU in the first half. But she picked up her third foul with 2:54 left and took a seat next to Campbell on the bench, and West Virginia scored seven unanswered leading into the break to take control.

Then, Miles picked up foul No. 4 just 39 seconds into the second half.

“You know, dumb stuff happens,” she said, “and I’m upset at myself that I put myself in that position.”

The transfer from Notre Dame played most of the way, but she wasn’t nearly as aggressive, and her supporting cast struggled to pick up the offensive slack. West Virginia relentlessly pressured the Horned Frogs on the defensive end, and Kellogg’s team turned enough of that defense into offense to begin pulling away.

“It felt great. It felt like a dream a little bit,” Harrison said. “I was just super happy. Super excited. Very excited about it. But I’m just proud of my team, and proud that we got this opportunity.”

Up next

The Mountaineers may have locked up a No. 4 seed for the NCAA Tournament and will hit the road for their first-round matchup.

The Horned Frogs are likely to host first- and second-round March Madness games on campus, just like they did last season. If they advance, they could play in one of the two regionals at Dickies Arena near their campus in Fort Worth, Texas.

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ANN ARBOR, Mich. (AP) — Yaxel Lendeborg scored 19 of his 27 points in the first half and Morez Johnson Jr. finished with 18 points, leading No. 3 Michigan in a 90-80 win over No. 8 Michigan State on Sunday to give the Big Ten champions a 15th straight conference win.

The Wolverines (29-2, 19-1 Big Ten) head to the conference tournament, hoping to earn a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament before shooting for the school’s second national championship and first since 1989

The Spartans (25-6, 15-5) were swept by their rivals in the regular season, but might get a third shot against them in a week at the Big Ten Tournament final.

Lendeborg, a preseason All-America selection, was the best player on the court for the second time in the series.

The UAB transfer was 8 of 12 from the field, matched a career high with five 3-pointers, had three assists and also made winning plays at the other end of the court.

After Jeremy Fears Jr. made a jumper to pull Michigan State within three points with 3:47 left, Lendeborg made a 3-pointer on the ensuing possession to start a 10-2 run that sealed the victory.

Fears had 22 points and nine assists, Jaxon Kohler matched a career high with 23 points and Carson Cooper added 19 points.

Fears drew attention for another kick toward an opponent’s groin. He was called for a technical after a video review showed he swung his right leg backward and into Elliot Cadeau.

When the Wolverines won the first matchup earlier this season, Fears appeared to intentionally trip Lendeborg and Michigan coach Dusty May said there were several dangerous plays in the game.

Up next

Michigan State: Big Ten Tournament quarterfinals on Friday.

Michigan: Big Ten Tournament quarterfinals on Friday.

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After briefly flirting with a win yesterday the Mariners went back to their comfort zone today, losing 3-6 in Maryvale to the Brewers. All three of their runs came off homers: a two-run shot by Leo Rivas and a mammoth tank job by spring breakout star Brennen Davis.

Lefty Kyle Harrison, Milwaukee’s big trade acquisition this off-season, looked sharp in his outing, blowing through the top of the Mariners’ lineup in the first on six pitches, including a three-pitch strikeout looking of Brennan Davis.

George Kirby worked around a hard-contact out in the first —111.6 off the bat of Garrett Mitchell, snagged by a surehanded Will Wilson at third – and then a double from Jake Bauers where Lazaro Montes made a strong throw in from right field but Leo Rivas wasn’t able to get the tag down in time.

The Mariners got on the board in the second against Harrison when Patrick Wisdom reached on a dropped third strike and then Leo Rivas leaned on a first-pitch fastball that landed directly in his turn-and-burn zone, pulling the ball 441 feet for a two-run homer. Little lion man ahoy!

Lazaro Montes kept the inning going with a “double” that he hit against the shift and then made the mistake of not going full steam into second, just squeaking underneath the tag. We can allow that since he got robbed of what should have been a solid putout at second earlier.

Kirby had to work around some more traffic in the second inning, some his fault and some not. He lost a nine-pitch battle with Blake Perkins, walking him on a splitter, and then Will Wilson mishandled a routine groundball to put two on with two outs. (Willllll I have said so many nice things about your defense this spring come onnnnn man). But Kirby was able to put out the fire, coaxing an easy inning-ending groundout off the bat of Ethan Murray. His third inning was even sharper, as he put down the Brewers in order, striking out Mitchell on the changeup then getting a pair of groundouts.

NB: Do not trust Statcast’s analysis on Kirby’s day. Statcast will tell you he threw an 88 mph four-seamer (he did not) and a 94 mph four-seamer. Those were actually the changeup and cutter, respectively, which Kirby was playing around with today. Pitching coach Pete Woodworth said postgame he told Kirby not to focus on throwing a bunch of changeups when he was on a limited pitch count, but George Kirby do what George Kirby want to do, especially when armed with his own PitchCom device that allowed him to call some of his pitches.

Kirby’s day ended on a sour note, unfortunately, as he hung a slider (a real one) in a 3-2 count to Andrew Vaughn, who torched the pitch into the outfield where it hopped over the fence for a ground-rule double. Postgame, Kirby said he wasn’t entirely satisfied with his sliders in this outing. “Just kind of felt like I was trying to make them too nasty. Should just trust the grip and let it fly.”

Troy Taylor couldn’t keep the inherited runner from scoring, and then gave up a three-run homer to put the Brewers ahead 4-2. (110 off the bat. 477 feet. Brutal.) Peyton Alford came up to clean up the mess, and did.

Josh Simpson was not so fortunate, and gave up another two runs on a home run to Jake Bauers and an RBI double to Christian Yelich. But he also struck out the side, one looking and two swinging. Command remains an issue for Simpson, but there’s definitely something there. It’s just not quite something fully formed yet, but he’s another depth piece that’s valuable to have in Tacoma.

Brennen Davis got one of those runs back in the sixth inning, because Brennen Davis will not be denied a tank shot of his own when everyone else is getting one. He took Jacob Misiorowski very deep, a 464 foot blast to deep left-center with a 115.8 EV.

Other notes:

• Cole Young worked a walk off the lefty Harrison in the third. Good job, Cole Young. He then stole second. Good-er job, Cole Young.
• Yosver Zulueta had a very good outing, allowing one hit on a bad-luck weak contact double but striking out the side. That is his fourth outing this spring and he’s yet to give up more than a pair of hits while striking out six. Another one to keep an eye on for the pile.
• Gabe Mosser recovered from a rough outing last time out to pitch two solid hitless innings to close this game out.
• The Brewers like to show each player’s hometowns on the board, which is how I found out Jonny Farmelo and Andrew Knizner were born just two hours along I-95 from each other in Centreville and Glen Allen, VA, respectively. Old Dominionheads rise up.

Last game: 9-5 loss to Giants

Next spring training game: Tuesday, March 10, vs. Rangers at Surprise, 3:05 p.m. CT. TV: None. Radio: None

Next regular season game: Thursday, March 26, vs. Nationals at Wrigley Field, 1:20 p.m. CT. TV: Marquee Sports Network.

Cubs regular season radio: WSCR The Score (all regular season games), Cubs broadcast radio affiliates, Cubs Sirius XM radio schedule

Current MLB standings

2026 Cubs regular season schedule

Cubs 2026 spring training record: 7-10 (7-9 Spring Training, 0-1 WBC exhibition)
Al’s 2026 spring training record: 4-6 (4-5 Spring Training, 0-1 WBC exhibition)

Cubs 2025 regular season record: 92-70 (50-31 home, 42-39 road)
Cubs 2025 postseason record: 4-4 (4-1 home, 0-3 road)
Al’s 2025 regular season record: 53-37 (50-31 home, 3-6 road)
Al’s 2025 postseason record: 4-2 (4-1 home, 0-1 road)

Cubs 2025 regular season record on various TV channels

Marquee Sports Network: 81-64
Fox: 4-2
ESPN: 4-2
Apple TV+: 3-1
Roku: 0-1

Cubs 2025 regular season record wearing various uniforms

White pinstripe: 41-25
Chicago Blues: 9-4
Blue alternate: 14-15
Road gray: 28-25
Ryne Sandberg tribute: 0-1

The White Sox and their spring winning continued on Sunday, as they picked up their 10th win of the preseason with a 5-4 showing against Kansas City.

Perhaps feeling the heat after I so boldly declared prior to the game that he was “rapidly …” Jarred Kelenic got the South Siders on the board with a lefty-on-lefty home run off Royals starter Noah Cameron, a 430-foot blast that would’ve been gone just about anywhere.

Unfortunately, Sox starter Jordan Hicks was not sharp, walking four over 1 2/3 innings and allowing two runs, one coming on a bases-loaded walk. Hicks’ fastball velocity was down a notch, sitting around 98 mph after being in the 99-100 mph range his first two appearances. He’ll be ticketed for the bullpen sooner rather than later.

The game became tied at two when Luisangel Acuña continued his spring heater, sending a 110 mph line drive screaming up the middle for an RBI single.

Pitching in the multi-inning, middle relief role he’ll see during regular season action, Sean Newcomb looked sharp for two innings before getting touched up in this third, grooving one to Royals first baseman Nick Loftin, who took it out to left field for a 4-2 K.C. lead.

Fortunately, the Sox have Colson Montgomery, who tied the game at four with a blast of his own in the bottom of the inning:

The homer’s 105.9 mph exit velocity just narrowly edged out the 105.7 mph fly out he delivered his first time up, completing a good day for the team’s former top prospect. Anywho, immediately afterward Kelenic gave the Sox a 5-4 lead with his second homer of the game — this one of the Little League variety.

Scoreless innings from Jordan Leasure, Chris Murphy and Tyler Gilbert kept that the score the rest of the way, leaving the final 5-4 as the Sox reached the double-digit win mark in Spring Training.

They’ll be back at it again tomorrow, when they host the Rockies at 3:05 p.m. CT at Camelback Ranch and Chrystal O’Keefe makes her 2026 recapping debut.

Justin Wrobleski continued his impressive spring with three scoreless innings on Sunday in the Dodgers’ 11-7 loss to the Athletics in Mesa

Wrobleski struck out three, with two finished off by his slider and another by his four-seam fastball. The left-hander is in the mix for an early-season spot in the starting rotation, but there’s likely room for him on the active roster even as a bulk reliever.

“I feel like the same guy, I just have a little more experience,” the left-hander told Kirsten Watson during an in-game interview on SportsNet LA. “You can’t get experience until you get experience.”

Andy Pages is also having a nice spring, and got the scoring started with a solo home run in the first inning.

Pages, who also singled on Sunday, has eight extra-base hits in 29 plate appearances this spring.

Notes

Like Pages, Alex Call had two hits in three at-bats, including a home run. Call’s second hit was a two-run single, giving him three RBI.

Dodgers built a 7-0 lead in their first four trips to the plate, but Leo De Vries personally cut that A’s deficit to just one. The 19-year-old consensus top-13 prospect in baseball, ranked as fourth at MLB Pipeline, hit a two-run home run off Kyle Hurt in the fourth inning and a grand slam off Carson Hobbs’ second pitch in the fifth, cashing in all three runs left by Cam Day.

Nick Senzel started Sunday at second base, his ninth start this spring, and reached base all three trips to the plate. His leadoff walk in the six was the taking of CD Pelham’s 1-2-3 inning.

Paul Gervase struck out three in his 1 1/3 scoreless innings, preserving a tie, the most noble task during exhibition season. The 6’10 right-hander has nine strikeouts among his 28 batters faced this spring (32.1 percent).

Jordan Weems, who took the loss in the ninth inning Thursday in Goodyear by allowing four runs without recording an out, allowed four consecutive hits then a two-run double in a four-run eighth inning to decide Sunday’s contest.

Up next

The Dodgers are in Maryvale to face the Milwaukee Brewers on Monday afternoon (1:05 p.m.; SportsNet LA, MLB Network), with Emmet Sheehan back on the mound in his second spring outing and first start.

On Sunday, the Chicago White Sox gave fans another reason to be excited about the 2026 season when they announced that Shane Smith will be the Opening Day starter against his former team in Milwaukee. This is the earliest that Chicago has named their starter ahead of Opening Day since 2018, when the Sox pegged James Shields as the starter on February 27. 

Smith has been one of the most exciting players and storylines to follow since Dec. 11, 2024 when the Sox selected him in the Rule 5 draft. Coming from an organization known for scouting and producing some of the best pitchers in the game, Smith showed plenty of upside as a starter and reliever. His talent immediately shone in his Sox debut and during his first month in the majors; Smith held a 2.23 ERA and racked up 26 strikeouts in his first six games.

As the spring and early summer progressed, Smith continued to dominate. He became the best pitcher in the rotation and was named the Sox’s only All-Star in July. Despite exhibiting natural bumps in his rookie year, Smith finished 2026 with the fewest earned runs (62) and home runs (17) allowed, lowest WHIP (1.196) and most innings pitched (146 ⅓) among Sox pitchers who started more than 20 games.

Fast forward six months, and Smith will be headlining a quirky starting rotation made up of returning youngsters, veteran pitchers and rookies fresh off of Tommy John surgery. 

Fans willing to make the trek up to Milwaukee are bound to be treated to a memorable Opening Day. And if the Brewers give fireballing Jacob Misiorowski the bump to start the game, that’ll be even better.

While the line from George Kirby’s start against Milwaukee won’t jump off the page, Kirby himself was delighted in it – and not just because of how he pitched, effortlessly mixing his pitches so much that Statcast couldn’t keep up (those splitters? Changeups, actually. And the fastball clocking in at 94? A cutter.).

But it’s not a new pitch that’s got Kirby smiling. Rather, it’s a small device clipped to his belt that allows him to call his own pitches.

“[Knizner] called a good game. I got this thing on my belt now, though, so I can kind of call pitches when I want to,” he grinned.

Once again, while Cal Raleigh is away at the WBC, his pitchers are taking some time to try something new out. For Kirby, though, it cuts deeper. Calling his own pitches is an idea that Kirby has toyed with before and dismissed, but came back to this off-season, talking it over with pitching coach Pete Woodworth. Kirby is obsessed with throwing his pitches with “conviction”, something he’s been honing in on since last year, and being able to have ownership at times over his pitch calling is something he feels will help him in that pursuit.

“It’s just a way for me to have more conviction in some of my pitches. Something that I really want to throw instead of shaking 20 times to get to the one, you press it and go from there.”

It’s not every pitch – Kirby said he only did it 8-10 times during his outing on Sunday and that he’s “still learning where the buttons are” – so it’s not like Kirby is putting his catchers out of a job.

“Cal is elite at what he does,” said pitching coach Pete Woodworth. “Our guys learn that very quickly.”

But, for as much as his pitching staff trusts Cal, Woodworth acknowledges that for Kirby, he’s been searching for ways to inject even more conviction into his game.

“My least favorite conversation is, I didn’t really want to throw that pitch. Well, why didn’t you shake? Maybe the clock was running, whatever it might be. But having that PitchCom on you…he’s not calling the whole game, but it empowers him to give his opinion.”

“It’s what he said he wants,” said Woodworth. “When he’s at his best, he’s fully convicted. He’s not in-between, where in-between on the pitch call or, you know, hard contact can do that to guys. They start getting a little fearful. But when he’s convicted, he’s really, really good. So this is a way for him to be convicted more often than not.”

For Kirby, he feels like it will encourage him to lock in even more and read hitters’ swings so he can be more attuned to which pitches are performing especially well on a certain day, as he did in Sunday’s outing when he went to his changeup, one of his lesser-thrown pitches, over and over again.

“I think it’s a way for me to settle in my game a little better. I feel like there’s always a pitch or two where like, oh, I wish I didn’t throw that. And that’s kind of the worst thing to do mentally. I feel like, when I’ve got this thing [said with a loving pat to the transmitter], if I have something in my head, I’m going to call it right there. I don’t want to play the mental game of, oh, I should have thrown the curveball there, or the slider there, or whatever it may be.”

“They’re all so talented,” said Woodworth. “What makes them great and what makes them elite is between their ears and inside their chest. It’s not more practice. They’re extremely good at what they do. When they are convicted, when they are committed, when they’re in a good mental spot, that’s when we see them as the best of the best. So again, if this can help get them there more often, then that’s what we want.”

For Kirby, who emphasizes the mental side of the game so much, it’s an exciting way to tap into the mind-body connection.

“I just think having it locks me in even more, and then I’m more in control and therefore more convicted and confident.”

That sounds very good for George Kirby – and very scary for the hitters who will face him this season.