Cubs maul Mariners, but everyone stays cool in 7-1 loss

PEORIA, ARIZONA - MARCH 11: Luke Raley #20 of the Seattle Mariners walks into the dugout during a Spring Training game against the Colorado Rockies at Peoria Stadium on March 11, 2026 in Peoria, Arizona. (Photo by Brandon Sloter/Getty Images) | Getty Images If there was much to be seen in tonight’s game, it came early. Ironically, in a match up that was moved to the night time so as to mitigate the record heat wave scorching nearly the entire American West, the only things of major consequence came while the sun was still up.

A sloppy first inning for Seattle starter George Kirby set a troubling scene in the righty’s final tune-up before the regular season begins in under a week. Thankfully, while Kirby does continue to be an enigmatic arm as he continues tweaking and refining his repertoire, by the time he departed the game in the sixth inning, he’s yielded just a single run. Kirby’s velocity sat between 96 and 98 mph all evening on his fast ball and wow, his slider was intermittent in its efficacy, he threw a number of impressive change ups and/or splitters.

This was not the most potent version of the Chicago Cubs, with no Ian Happ, Alex Bregman, or Nico Hoerner. But these were largely big league hitters, and ones Chicago expects to play every day or significant roles this year. That estimation holds true for Colin Rea as well, who’s start went disappointingly smoothly against a mostly opening day Mariners lineup.

Josh Naylor scattered some singles as he is wont to do, but on the whole it was a quiet night offensively. Of the rest… Gabe Speier got roughed up once again. Nothing particularly seemed awry for the southpaw, so I’m not inclined to fret.