Before the All-Star break, I talked a couple of times about the number of walk-off wins, especially as compared to the number of Cubs who have saved a game in 2026. As I recall, both of those numbers sat at 10. Both of those numbers were unimaginably high in fewer than even 100 games. This was a kind of game that I don’t particularly remember the Cubs having this year. They came back from down 4-0 early and 5-3 late to ultimately get the game to extra innings. But this team has been magic completing
their comebacks. Not this time, though. Despite having the winning run on second with no outs in the ninth, they failed to score. Hat tip to Kenley Jansen who is an All-Time great and very possibly a Hall of Famer. He wasn’t the dominant presence he once was, but he did find just enough to wiggle out of that jam.
These types of losses happen. Your comeback bid comes up short or the other team comes back after your comeback. For the first time in a while, one of these games that felt like it got away after you had appeared likely to win doesn’t feel soul crushing. You certainly hate to lose any game, much less one that you did a bunch of things right to be in a position to win. Unfortunately, there were a series of unusual occurrences in the 10th inning that added up to a loss. Because the team has been so good over the last month, it only feels frustrating and not potentially devastating.
Perspective check: Four teams have more wins than the Cubs, two have as many wins as the Cubs. The Cubs presently occupy the first Wild Card spot in the NL thanks to winning the season series against the Phillies. The Cubs are on pace for 90.7 wins. The lost caused the Cubs to lose just about a full game off of their projected win total. Over the next three weeks, we should really learn where this team will end up. A tough schedule awaits, the dog days of summer and in the middle of that is the trade deadline. We can assume that reinforcements of some level will join this team. Will it be enough to hold on to this top Wild Card slot?
As part of the things we don’t see a lot, this team scored six runs and lost. That is an exceedingly rare occurrence, even for this pitching-challenged team. I know moral victories don’t really move the needle, but this one felt good as losses go. It felt like this team was basically down 4-0 by the time the National Anthem was over. Jameson Taillon bounced back, did provide a little bit of work load and the bats clawed their way back into the game. Taillon didn’t do anywhere near well enough to be one of my positives, but getting a pretty decent string of outs had some value. I mean I do feel like I’m telling you that the ship had really nice lifeboats. But it isn’t nothing really. Maybe he can build forward on the outs that he did get.
Maybe the most frustrating part of this loss was that Ian Happ hit a massive home run to tie the game late. That moved him into sole possession of 11th in Cub history in homers. He’s been struggling a bit and the homer had to feel terrific. Of course, the injury to Trent Thornton who had at least reached the interesting list if not the circle of trust for the team. That ball was smoked off of his ankle and heel area. Obviously not a great sign when he couldn’t put weight on it.
Three Positives and Pete:
- Ryan Rolison, six batters faced, five outs. It always feels like it always takes at least one pitcher holding the door open for the comeback. If nothing else, he controlled the bullpen usage in the game. As did Taillon bouncing back a little after the rough start.
- Dansby Swanson with a single, double and walk in the game.
- Seiya Suzuki stayed hot with the early two-run homer to ignite the comeback and another walk.
- Pete Crow-Armstrong into a little funk now. A couple of nice defensive plays and how often do you see a guy 0-4 get intentionally walked by a generational closer?
Game 100, July 20: Tigers 8, Cubs 6 (56-44)
Reminder: Heroes and Goats are determined by WPA scores and are in no way subjective.
THREE HEROES:
- Superhero: Ian Happ (.312). 1-4, HR, BB, 2 RBI, R
- Hero: Dansby Swanson (.166). 2-4, 2B, BB
- Sidekick: Ryan Rolison (.147). 1.2 IP, 6 BF
THREE GOATS:
- Billy Goat: Javier Assad ( -.272). IP, 7 BF, 2 H, BB, 1 R (0 ER), 2 K
- Goat: Jameson Taillon (-.252). 4.1 IP, 5 H, 2 BB, 4 R, 6 K
- Kid: Trent Thornton (-.133). BF, H
WPA Play of the Game: Ian Happ’s two-run. game-tying homer in the eighth inning. (.392)
Tigers Play of the Game: Kenley Jansen’s strikeout of Seiya Suzuki for the second out of the ninth inning. (.209)
Cubs Player of the Game:
Game 99 Winner: Shota Imanaga received 62 of 77 votes.
Rizzo Award Standings: (Top 5/Bottom 5)
The award is named for Anthony Rizzo, who finished first in this category three of the first four years it was in existence and four times overall. He also recorded the highest season total ever at +65.5. The point scale is three points for a Superhero down to negative three points for a Billy Goat.
- Pete Crow-Armstrong +18
- Michael Busch +16
- Carson Kelly +15.5
- Ben Brown/Alex Bregman +13.5
- Jameson Taillon/Phil Maton -10
- Nico Hoerner -11
- Caleb Thielbar/Dansby Swanson -14
Up Next: Game two of the three-game series. Hopefully, the Cubs can match the Twins series by dropping the first and winning the next two. David Peterson (4-7, 6.45) is the scheduled starter. The Cubs will be looking for some length out of him after using a lot of pen in game one.
Lefty Framber Valdez (5-6, 4.10) goes for the Tigers. He’s 3-2 with a 3.60 over his last seven starts (40 IP), so he has some good things going for him. The Cubs are 14-12 against a lefty starter. The Cubs have the highest on base percentage and second highest team OPS against lefties. This has been a thing for a couple of years. The team hits lefties well, but is rather middle of the road overall when a lefty starts. I think in general, the team hits lefty relievers better.
Let’s hope they can get to Valdez. The Tigers used a lot of pen too in game one.
