Walk-off victories are becoming almost routine for the Chicago Cubs, whose flair for the dramatic has been a common theme during their eight-game winning streak.
After opening their four-game series against the visiting Cincinnati Reds with three straight walk-off victories, Chicago aims for a sweep on Thursday.
Cincinnati moved ahead with four runs in the top of the ninth on Wednesday before the Cubs forced extra innings on Pete Crow-Armstrong’s two-run homer in the bottom half of the inning.
Chicago emerged with the 7-6 victory after Michael Busch drew a bases-loaded walk from Brock Burke in the 10th inning.
The Cubs have won 14 straight games at Wrigley Field, matching the team’s longest home winning streak since winning 14 in a row in 2008.
“I couldn’t ask for anything more from this group of guys,” Crow-Armstrong said. “I appreciate being at the field every day and I’m so grateful to play for this crowd, as is everybody else in here. This is about as fun as it gets.”
The game marked another close loss for Cincinnati, which has dropped a season-high six consecutive games and eight of its past 10.
“It’s been a tough road trip,” said Burke, whose team was swept in three games at Pittsburgh last weekend. “We haven’t been playing as well as we want. The bullpen hasn’t been doing exactly what we want to finish games. It’s a six-day stretch in a 162-game season. You try to brush it off and move on to the next.”
Reds manager Terry Francona is looking for answers in the bullpen after Emilio Pagan sustained a left hamstring injury in the Tuesday loss. The closer went on the injured list and is expected to miss four to eight weeks.
“(We have) to learn from everything that just happened and move on,” Francona said. “It’s not fun. I know a month from now we’ll look back and go, ‘That was a (bad) week and we’re OK,’ but when you’re going through it, it’s hard.”
Right-hander Rhett Lowder (3-2, 5.09 ERA) will take the mound for Cincinnati in the series finale.
Lowder, 24, is looking to bounce back after allowing eight runs over 1 1/3 innings in a 17-7 loss to the Pirates on Saturday.
Lowder is set to make his second career start versus Chicago. He tossed five scoreless innings in a no-decision against the Cubs on Sept. 28, 2024.
Chicago will counter with left-hander Shota Imanaga (3-2, 2.40 ERA), who tossed seven shutout innings with five strikeouts in a 2-0 home win over the Arizona Diamondbacks on Saturday.
Imanaga, 32, owns a 43-to-10 strikeout-to-walk ratio across 41 1/3 innings this season. Spencer Steer is 3-for-6 with a homer against Imanaga, who is 1-0 with a 3.00 ERA in three career starts vs. Cincinnati.
The Cubs’ rotation will be without left-hander Matthew Boyd for an extended period after the veteran sustained a left meniscus injury in a mishap while playing with his children on Wednesday. Manager Craig Counsell declined to say who would replace Boyd in the rotation.
“I’m not even there yet,” Counsell said. “We’ll just kind of figure out after Thursday what we will do. There will be plans, but very loose plans.”
Counsell added that a timetable for Boyd’s return would be set after his surgery takes place.
–Field Level Media
