The Cubs took an early lead, only to see it vanish when Colin Rea allowed a three-run homer. Then the offense basically vanished, and the game was put out of reach when the pen gave up an additional run in the late innings.
Oh, you think I’m talking about Wednesday’s 5-1 Cubs loss to the Tigers. That is, in fact, an accurate description of what happened Wednesday evening at Wrigley Field… but it is also an accurate description of last Friday’s 5-2 loss to the Twins — a three-run homer served up by
Rea was the difference in that game, too.
This is what happens when the guy who’s your sixth or seventh starting option winds up in the rotation for an extended period due to injuries. Cubs President of Baseball Operations Jed Hoyer now has 11 days to address that issue before MLB’s Trade Deadline. Let’s hope he finds the right answer, or answers.
Let’s have a look back at this one.
Rea had a 1-2-3 first and then the Cubs didn’t waste any time getting on the board. Seiya Suzuki hit a one-out homer in the bottom of the inning, his 17th [VIDEO].
The Tigers tied the game in the second on a solo homer by Spencer Torkelson. Later in that inning, Ian Happ made this nice grab of a sinking liner [VIDEO].
Then Detroit hit that aforementioned three-run shot in the fourth. Riley Greene led off with a double and Rea walked Torkelson. Rea did get the next two hitters to fly to left. Then came the three-run homer, by Hao-Yu Lee, giving the Tigers a 4-1 lead.
A three-run deficit in the fourth doesn’t sound insurmountable, but the Cubs offense was completely moribund the rest of the game. After Suzuki’s homer, the Cubs got just two runners past first base — a two-out double by Happ in the fourth, and then Happ taking second on defensive indifference after drawing a two-out walk in the ninth. They seemingly had a chance in the sixth when Pete Crow-Armstrong reached base when Tigers starter Keider Montero couldn’t handle his comebacker leading off the inning. One out later Montero was out of the game for reliever Drew Sommers, who got Michael Busch to hit into an inning-ending double play.
Credit to Ryan Rolison, Gavin Hollowell and Caleb Thielbar for keeping the Cubs in the game. Those three combined for three shutout innings, allowing one hit and striking out six. Tyler Ferguson, though, allowed a run in the ninth to make it 5-1, though it might as well have been 50-1 the way the Cubs offense was shut down by Tigers pitching.
Honestly, there isn’t much else to say about this game. Credit to Montero, who allowed just three other baserunners after Suzuki’s homer, and the Tigers pen. Here are Craig Counsell’s postgame remarks [VIDEO].
Final note on this game from BCB’s JohnW53:
This was the Cubs’ third game of the season in which their only run came on a homer. The first two were six days apart, May 25 and 31, when they lost at Pittsburgh, 2-1, and at St. Louis, 5-1.
They had four such games last year, two of them at home. They also had four in 2024, after having had seven in 2023 and six in 2022. Back in 2018, they had a team-record 14.
The Cubs have played 516 one-run, one-homer games since 1901, an average of four. They won 56 of them, lost 456 and tied four.
Incidentally, the weather was great Wednesday in Chicago, maybe the nicest day of the summer so far… temps in the 70s, clear skies, light winds, no humidity. That brought out the second-largest Wrigley crowd of 2026 to date, 40,512. Too bad they all couldn’t see a win (though many in the Wrigley crowd were Tigers fans).
It’s not the end of the world, but the Cubs really have to do better than 3-3 on a homestand against two mediocre teams. And they would have, if Alex Bregman had just taken ball four from Kenley Jansen on Monday instead of swinging and missing. This homestand makes the Cubs’ record against AL teams this year 12-18, which is… not good. They lost a game to the Brewers in the NL Central after Milwaukee won on Wednesday, so the Cubs trail by seven games. The Phillies lost to the Dodgers, so the Cubs continue to lead them by 1.5 games for the first wild card spot.
The Cubs have Thursday off — and then they will play 17 days in a row, having lost their next scheduled off day Aug. 7 for a makeup game against the Blue Jays for the June 21 rainout. The first of those 17 straight games, 10 of which will be on the road, will be Friday against the Pirates at Pittsburgh. Matthew Boyd will start the series opener for the Cubs and his opponent will be Pirates right-hander Jared Jones. Game time Friday is 5:40 p.m. CT and TV coverage will be via Marquee Sports Network.
