Rangers vs. Cubs Highlights (4/7/25) | MLB Highlights

As we get ready for Game 1 of this three-game set, Cubs and the Texas Rangers. One of the things we know about Justin Steele is that he's a great competitor and it's been a bit of a rocky start for him. You could tell he was frustrated a little bit, wasn't hitting his spots. Rangers start tonight's play 8-2 despite really struggling offensively. The pitching has been outstanding, you know, sooner or later the guys at the top will hit. A swing and a miss struck him out and Steele off to the good start. Now here's Corey Seager, he homered yesterday. The one-two. Swing and a miss struck him out. Appeared to take off a little bit from that slider. And back-to-back punch outs. Yeah, I think he threw a few pitches in that game against the A's where you were calling more of a curveball than a slider. You know, that's one of the things you wonder about on a cold night like tonight. Can the pitcher spin the baseball? Two quick strikeouts to start the inning, then a walk-in. Garcia just muscles it through the middle of the diamond. And with two outs, two are aboard for Kevin Pillar. Here's Yowan on the ground to first, sliding down to a knee is Bush. And he'll step on the base and Steele gets out of it. The best pitcher in baseball in 2025 is on the mound for the Rangers. Nathan Ivaldi, 1-0 in his two starts, 15 innings pitch, 1.2 ERA, no walks, 17 Ks. That's second most in the American League. Leading it off for the Cubs is Ian Happ, 3-2. And he gets underneath it. Short center field. Seager went out. Coming over from left, though, is Lankford. And he makes a catch. Kyle Tucker, a homer on three RBIs yesterday. Line drive, slicing out at a left center field. That'll fall for a hit. And Tucker is aboard. A little something-something there for Kyle Tucker. He stays hot. Here is Suzuki. Here's the 0-2 pitch. Ground ball shortstop. Could be two. Seager to second. 1-2. With the relay in time, double play. 6-4-3. You know, we call this a pitcher's best friend. When it's 34 degrees outside, that could be his lifelong mate. Nothing better than that. Inning number two, Jake Berger leads it off. A swing and a miss. Strike three. That's three strikeouts for Steele. On the payoff. And that's outside. Ball four. All right. So the second walk tonight for the Rangers. As Smith heads to first. There goes the runner. Pitches a strike. Throw to second. On the money. And Birdie puts the tag on Smith. That's the first time the Rangers have been caught stealing this year. They were 14 of 14 until that. Smith was three for three. But a perfect throw from Miguel Amaya. Birdie just has to hang in there. Wait and slap the tag. Well done, Miguel Amaya. Michael Bush first up. Hitting .235 as a home run. And four runs batted in. Here comes a 2-1. And that one flared the other way. Slicing. Fair ball. And that one rolling. And that one is picked up by a fan. And that'll be an automatic double. Let's see if Dansby Swanson can improve the situation. He bunts. And it's a good bunt. Evaldi will throw to first in time. On the play. Bush advances to third. That's the small ball that I referenced earlier, Ron. Move him up one at a time. Now let's see if the batter Miguel Amaya can drive him in. Here's a 1-0. The air center field. Backing up Pillar. He's got it. Bush will tag. He will score. And the Cubs have the first run of the game. 1-0 on a Miguel Amaya sacrifice fly. How about the Cubs catchers, by the way, J.D.? So far, been super productive. And he hit him. And Birdie will take his base. Speed on the bases for the Cubs. There goes Birdie. Pitch is cut on and missed. Throw to second. Too late. And Birdie has it stolen. So the Cubs have been excellent this year. Now 17 of 18 on the base paths. Congratulations to John Birdie. Bag number 100. The runner's still at second. And the batter is Ian Hamm. Runner takes off for third. Throw there. Too late. And it's a stolen base. Birdie got another good jump. Number 101. Well, you can see right there, Evaldi doesn't give a look to second base. And Birdie's running before he even throws. He timed him up there. He's just working on timing. Payoff pitch. On the ground. Coming home with it. And the tag. Safe! And Birdie gets in. Berger got rid of it quickly. But Birdie's speed too much. It's 2-0. Yeah, how about that trip around the bases for John Birdie? Hit by the pitch. Then he swipes a couple of bags. And his speed pays off as he streaks home. On the sharply hit ground ball, the first base. Cubs taking advantage. For Pete Carl Armstrong, he steals this base easily. Pete at second now with one away. Let's see if the Cubs can drive him in. Swing and a miss here on a splitter away. Birdie chased that pitch. And he strikes out for the second out of the inning. It's the second strikeout for Evaldi. And he swings and misses strike three. So, Evaldi with a couple of strikeouts in a scoreless fourth inning. So, one down. Top five Cubs two. And the Rangers nothing. And that'll bring up Jonah Heim. Swing and a miss. And Steele gets Heim. There's two away. That is eight in a row set down by Justin Steele. He's got a lot of swings at the high fastball, hasn't he? I mean, that's way up there. Here's Kyle Higashioka now. That one is hit sharply into center field by Higashioka. He has his second hit of the night. Popped up. Birdie and Swanson. Swanson and Birdie. Swanson. And five shutout innings from Justin Steele. The first two walks of the season issued by Evaldi here in PCA. Last inning. And now Suzuki with two outs. The Evaldi deal. Saia goes. The pitch outside. Throw to second. Nowhere near in time. Stolen base for Saia Suzuki. His first of the season. Cubs have found something with Evaldi being slow to the plate. Higashioka really not much of a shot to throw anybody out. Suzuki steals this bag easily. Let's see if Evaldi knows what he wants here. He's going to trust Higgy here. He didn't go to his beeper. That's a retired Bush yet today. The two-two. Ripped. Fair ball. Can't feel line. That's going to get into the corner. Suzuki's going to score. Michael Bush headed for third. And it's a triple for Bushy. Run batted in. It's three nothing. Cold night. Not bothering the kid from Minnesota. No sir. Double. Triple now for Michael Bush here tonight. The cutter. It's up. It's out over the plate just a little bit. And he smokes it into the right field corner. And it's a very deep corner. The deepest corner is a major league baseball here at Wrigley Field. Yeah. He's on in. Bruce Bochy. He will relieve Evaldi in the fifth inning. Cold, cold night. Cubs leading it. Three nothing. We go to the bottom of inning number six. Miguel Amaya first up. Line drive into left field. That's a base hit. On the ground. Right side. It'll get through. Base hit. Amaya not stopping. Garcia's throw to third. Off line. PCA into second. Cubs got something cooking here. There are two outs now in the bottom of the sixth. And this could be a big inning for Garabito to escape any kind of damage to keep the Rangers in the game. I know the Cubs need a big at-bat from Ian. This would be a big bonus if he could get a base hit. Scores two with Pete Carr Armstrong at second base. Line drive. Base hit. Left field. That'll score two. Amaya in. PCA on his heels. Ian Hack knocks in two. And all of a sudden the lead is five. Well located. Got enough of it. There he goes. And the pitch taken for a strike. Throw to second base. Not nearly in time. Cubs really running the bases beautifully in this game. And now Tucker with a chance to drive in a run. Line drive. Base hit. Right field. Down his way to the plate. Here's the throw. Off line. Down to second. Kyle an RBI single. And it's six nothing. You talk about getting contributions from everywhere in this lineup. The second hit of the night for Kyle Tucker. Last time he just missed a home run. And again. Out in front a little bit of that off speed pitch. But the hands through the zone. Just a tremendously gifted hitter. Seiya Suzuki. Into center field. Pillar charging. He'll play it on a bounce. RBI single. Seiya Suzuki. It's seven nothing. Suzuki gets his second hit of the game. Keep the line moving. Fifth hit of the inning. All singles. Justin Steele got to be pleased with the run support. I think even more so with how he's pitched. Justin Steele getting the run support as he deals with Kevin Pillar. Check swing. And he went. Struck him out. And Pillar is down on strikes. That's seven strikeouts for Justin Steele. On the ground. That's the third. Workman takes it in. And throws him out. Right there. Got him. Justin Steele with strikeout number eight. Seven shutout. And the Cubs leading it by that number. Seven nothing. Well the last Rangers baserunner was in the fifth inning. 12 straight retired. And so Leone Taveras. Two and two with two outs here in the night. Seven nothing Cubs. Popped up. And this should do it. Workman. In on the grass. Ball game. Cubs win. Justin Steele outstanding. And the Cubs do a little bit of everything offensively. Sing the song.