I told you this team could still hit. I told you this team still had good hitters.
And I’m telling you right now — and you can come back to this recap if I’m right, or if I’m wrong — that the 2026 Cubs are going to start winning again and still make a run at a postseason berth.
Seiya Suzuki smacked a grand slam and Alex Bregman and Carson Kelly also homered. The Cubs pounded out 10 hits and defeated the Rockies 9-3. The nine runs were as many as they’d scored in their previous four games combined,
three of which were defeats.
This one started out like Wednesday evening’s game. The first nine Cubs went down in order. Meanwhile, Rockies catcher Brett Sullivan homered in the third to give the Rockies a 1-0 lead. Thoughts of “Didn’t we see this game yesterday?” filled my head.
While all that was going on, Pete Crow-Armstrong made yet another catch that probably will be in the five-star category [VIDEO].
After that, the Cubs offense got going. PCA began the fourth inning with a single and stole second [VIDEO].
Everyone held their breath for a bit after that, because it looked like PCA got banged up a bit on the play. Fortunately, he was fine.
One out later, Michael Busch singled, with PCA stopping at third. Ian Happ walked to load the bases.
Then Seiya Suzuki said “see ya” to a baseball [VIDEO].
For Suzuki, that was his third home run already this month. More from BCB’s JohnW53:
Suzuki’s grand slam, the third of his career, was the Cubs’ second this season. Moises Ballesteros did it on April 27 at San Diego. That one also put the Cubs in front, 5-3, but they lost, 9-7.
The Cubs hit five last year, the last by Suzuki on Sept. 26 at home vs. the Cardinals. They hit six in 2024 and have hit 339 in the regular season during the Modern Era (began 1901) and 363 since 1876, first year of the National League.
Suzuki’s today was the 154th of the 363 on the road. Two of the previous ones were at Coors Field, by Henry Rodriguez in 1998 and Sammy Sosa in 2002. This was the Cubs’ 71st game at Coors since Sosa did it on Aug. 11, 2002.
That seemed to awaken a Cubs dugout that had looked morose for most of this series. The Rockies scored a run in the bottom of the fourth off Edward Cabrera to cut the lead to 4-2, but the Cubs extended the lead in the fifth.
Dansby Swanson led off with a walk and stole second. PCA grounded out, but Alex Bregman followed with a walk. This single by Busch made it 5-2 [VIDEO].
Bregman took third on that hit, and this sac fly by Happ made it 6-2 Cubs [VIDEO].
A weird play happened in the top of the sixth. Nico Hoerner led off with a single. Then Moisés Ballesteros hit a ball that clearly hit behind him in the batter’s box and then hit him in the leg. That’s a foul ball.
But that’s not what the umpires called [VIDEO].
The Rockies threw the ball to second and first while Hoerner and Ballesteros didn’t move — because the ball was clearly foul. The umpires let the double play stand, as I do not think those plays are reviewable, even though Jim Deshaies said on the broadcast that they should have asked for a crew chief review. Craig Counsell got himself tossed on that play, his second ejection of the year. When the video is reviewed, the umpires will learn that they got it wrong. Fortunately, this had no impact on the final score.
Cabrera was removed with one out in the bottom of the sixth, having allowed five hits and two runs, with five strikeouts, a much better outing than the one last Friday against the Giants. The Cubs got two pretty good starting pitcher outings at Coors Field from Cabrera and Shōta Imanaga, and that is, I think, a good sign going forward. Hoby Milner entered and got the second out, then gave up a couple of hits and Phil Maton was summoned to get out of the jam.
This move did not fill me with confidence. But Maton struck out Ezequiel Tovar to end the inning [VIDEO].
The Cubs extended the lead to 8-2 in the seventh. With one out, PCA hit a ball that for most people would be a single, but he hustled it into a double. That wound up not mattering when Bregman launched one [VIDEO].
The homer, Bregman’s sixth, was his first since May 31 and only his second since May 12. And it went a long way [VIDEO].
The ninth and final Cubs run scored on another homer, a solo shot by Carson Kelly in the eighth [VIDEO].
The long ball was Kelly’s first since April 18, a span of 34 games and 121 plate appearances. Overall Kelly’s still hitting pretty well, but perhaps this will turn the power switch back on for him.
Tyler Ferguson, recalled because Trent Thornton hit the paternity list this week, finished up. Sullivan homered off Ferguson, his second of the game, but Ferguson finished up with this strikeout [VIDEO].
Since a player can spend a maximum of three days on the paternity list, Thornton, who went on the list before Tuesday’s game, will likely return Friday, with Ferguson heading back to Triple-A Iowa.
One more thing of amusement in this game: Moisés Ballesteros stole a base. No, I am not making that up. He walked with two out in the fourth and then took off:
Ballesteros had a few steals in the minors — including five last year at Iowa — but that was his first steal attempt in the big leagues. Might be his last, who knows? Hope they got the base for him.
As I said, I believe this team still has good hitters. They showed signs of life in this game. Let’s hope that continues. There are still 93 games remaining. More on the Cubs’ big bat day from John:
Carson Kelly’s homer, the Cubs’ third of the day, ended a streak of 41 games in which the Cubs had not hit more than two home runs, since smacking three in a 12-4 loss to the Dodgers at Los Angeles on April 25.
The 41-game drought was their third longest of its kind since 2000. The longest was 54 games, in 2010, followed by 44 in 2022.
The Cubs have hit three homers this year in six games, two homers in 16, one homer in 23 and none in 19.
The Cubs will open a three-game series in San Francisco Friday. I’ll be attending these games if anyone from here is around. The Cubs do not have a starter officially listed yet for Friday’s game but it should be Ben Brown’s turn. Landen Roupp will start for the Giants. Game time Friday is 9:15 p.m. CT and TV coverage will be via Marquee Sports Network.
