ST. PETERSBURG — The building had been dark for 561 days. Hurricane Milton tore the roof off Tropicana Field in October 2024, and the Rays spent all of 2025 playing across the bay at Steinbrenner Field. Monday was the homecoming — sellout crowd of 25,114, Eric Church on the field for the national anthem, and a playoff-ready atmosphere for a team that had been waiting a year and a half to play a home game.
The Cubs were the visiting party crashers. And they couldn't crash the party. Tampa Bay beat Chicago 6-4 in the series opener, dropping the Cubs to 4-6 on the season and extending a road trip that has gone sideways after Sunday's doubleheader split in Cleveland.
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CHC | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 4 | 1 |
| TB | 0 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | — | 6 | 9 | 0 |
The Second Inning Said Everything
The Cubs actually drew first blood. Shane McClanahan was all over the place — four walks in four innings — and Nico Hoerner made him pay in the second. Michael Busch worked a walk, reached second on a wild pitch, and Dansby Swanson walked. Two outs, Amaya walked to load the bases, and Hoerner lined a two-run single to left. Cubs 2, Rays 0.
It took exactly one half-inning for that lead to disappear. Chandler Simpson singled and stole second and third. Nick Fortes struck out. Then Cedric Mullins lined a 3-2 changeup from Jameson Taillon into the right-field seats for a two-run homer, 367 feet, and just like that it was tied. Taylor Walls doubled and Yandy Díaz hit an infield single that Swanson airmailed into the outfield — Walls scored from second on the error and the Rays were up 3-2 after just one half-inning of play.
The Cubs never led again.
Taillon Takes the Loss
Taillon's line looks worse than it was — six innings, seven hits, three earned runs, four strikeouts, no walks — but the two home runs were the story. Mullins' opposite-field shot in the second erased the lead the moment it was built. Junior Caminero crushed a solo shot 401 feet to left field in the third to push it to 4-2 and quiet any comeback talk before it started. Taillon is now 0-1 with a 4.50 ERA through two starts, and the loss came via the long ball — two of them.
McClanahan's Return to the Trop
For context on who the Cubs were facing: Shane McClanahan hadn't pitched at Tropicana Field since July 22, 2023. He had Tommy John surgery in August of that year, missed all of 2025 with an inflamed nerve in his throwing arm, and made his first MLB start in nearly three years last week against the Brewers. Monday was his Trop debut in more than two and a half years.
He went four innings, gave up one hit, walked four, and struck out five on 69 pitches. The Cubs scored their two runs off him despite the fact that Hoerner's single was their only hit against him. That's how strange the at-bats looked all afternoon.
Maton Iced It in the Seventh
Michael Busch's sacrifice fly in the sixth cut it to 4-3, bringing the Cubs within a run and giving the bullpen a chance to hold the door open. Phil Maton entered in the seventh instead and immediately surrendered a two-run homer to Jonathan Aranda, making it 6-3 and ending any real suspense. Matt Shaw hit a solo shot off closer Bryan Baker in the ninth to make it a final score of 6-4, but Chicago never threatened beyond that.
Four Hits
The offense has become the story of this road trip — and not in a good way. Four hits Monday after going 7-for-18 in the doubleheader nightcap. The Cubs entered Monday ranked 19th in wRC+ and 21st in OPS through the first nine games. The starting rotation's ERA ranked fourth in baseball entering the day. The pitching has been fine. The lineup has been the problem.
Pete Crow-Armstrong, Alex Bregman, and Michael Conforto combined to go 0-for-9 on the day. Hoerner had the two RBI. Matt Shaw had the solo homer. That was the Cubs' offense in its entirety.
Rotation Shake-Up: Boyd to IL, Assad Up
Before the game, the Cubs placed Matthew Boyd on the 15-day IL (retroactive to April 3) with a left biceps strain. The good news, such as it is: Boyd said he isn't in pain. The issue is recovery — he hasn't been bouncing back between starts the way he normally would. Craig Counsell called it a precautionary move and said he expects a minimum stint. Boyd's last outing was a 10-strikeout performance against the Angels, so the stuff is there. The Cubs just don't want to push their 35-year-old ace in April when they don't have to.
Javier Assad was recalled from Triple-A Iowa as the corresponding move and will start Tuesday against Drew Rasmussen. Assad made 29 starts for the Cubs in 2024 and posted a 3.65 ERA over eight appearances last season, though he's coming off a rough couple of Triple-A outings (9.00 ERA in seven innings). It's an early-season juggling act for a rotation already without Cade Horton, who is in Chicago on Monday for imaging and is consulting multiple doctors about his forearm strain. There's still no timeline on Horton's return.
Up Next
Game 2 of the Tampa Bay series is Tuesday at 5:40 PM CT on Marquee, with Javier Assad making his season debut against Rasmussen (0-0, 1.80 ERA). Game 3 follows Wednesday at 5:40 PM CT. After the road trip wraps up in Tampa Bay, the Cubs return to Wrigley to host the Pittsburgh Pirates starting Friday, April 10.