Chicago Cubs Score and Recap (3/11/25): Brewers 9, Cubs 7 – Steele Dull on Getaway Day
The Cubs welcomed the rival Brewers to Sloan Park Tuesday before heading to Japan for the season opener. The game got off to an explosive start with the two sides combining for nine runs in the opening inning as Milwaukee eventually took home the victory.
Justin Steele had a rough afternoon in his final tuneup start before making his regular season debut against the Dodgers. The Cubs lefty gave up a pair of home runs to Rhys Hoskins (two-run) and Vinny Capra (three-run) to give the Brew Crew a 5-0 lead in the top of the 1st inning.
The North Siders responded immediately with a four-spot against Jacob Misiorowski in the bottom of the frame. Run-scoring singles by Michael Busch and Pete Crow-Armstrong were sandwiched around an RBI double by Matt Shaw during the rally.
Steele got pulled during the big inning but came back into the contest and allowed his third home run, a two-run shot to Jake Bauers, to give Milwaukee a 7-4 advantage in the 3rd. Chicago came right back again in the bottom of the 3rd with a Carson Kelly single and a Jon Berti sacrifice fly to cut the margin to 7-6.
The Brewers withstood a couple of late Cubs rallies to win by a score of 9-7. (Box score)
Key Moment
Berti and Dansby Swanson lost a Bauers pop-up in the high Arizona sky in the 1st inning and it dropped for a double. It would have been the final out of the frame had either infielder found the ball. Instead, Capra came to the plate and hit his three-run dinger.
Why the Cubs Lost
They could never quite dig out of the hole they fell into at the beginning of the game.
Stats That Matter
- Certainly not a great day for Steele on Tuesday, but it’s just an exhibition: 3.2 IP, 7 R, 10 H, 3 K, and 0 BB.
- Shaw celebrated officially making the roster by reaching base twice and scoring two runs.
- Busch finished this early portion of the spring batting .429 and made a very nice backhanded catch on a pop-up behind first base.
Bottom Line
The Cubs are currently in transit to Japan with a relatively healthy roster. That’s all you can reasonably hope for this time of year. This is a team that looks to be in a stronger position than they were the past couple of seasons, but you can never be sure until the games start to play out. It’s about time to get the party going so let’s see what happens.
On Deck
The Cubs take on the Hanshin Tigers at the Tokyo Dome Friday night in an exhibition starting at 10:05pm CT. Marquee is broadcasting the game if you want to stay up for it.
