2026 Cubs Heroes and Goats: Game 36

TL;DR

The Cubs extended their winning streak to seven games and 13 at home, improving their record to 12 games over .500. Michael Busch's game-winning hit helped secure the victory despite a challenging offensive performance.

Key points

Cubs have won seven straight games
Cubs are now 12 games over .500
Michael Busch hit the game-tying homer
Jameson Taillon pitched 5.2 innings with two runs allowed
Cubs combined for 3.1 scoreless innings of relief

CubsJameson TaillonMichael BuschElly De La Cruz

It took one extra inning to get there, but ultimately, the result was the same. The Cubs have now won seven straight and 13 in a row at home. They’ve won 17 of 20. The team is scorching hot. For my point of reference, I’m going to say this. When a team digs itself an early hole, say this year’s Phillies. People will start talking at some point about the number of teams you have to pass, etc. But I always say this. Ignoring that skid, was your team the kind of team that you came into the season, or at this point have reason to believe that they can have a 15-5 type stretch somewhere in the season. In my head, 15-5 is kind of the upward bounds of reality. That’s a 10 over .500 stretch. It can change the trajectory of your season. A 17-3 stretch? Totally insane.

The Cubs have moved themselves 14 games relative to .500. From two under to 12 over. Holy cow, man. At 12 over, if the Cubs play .500 the rest of the way, they win 87 games. This team is very likely to play over .500 the rest of the way. Certainly not this far over .500. But whatever your expectations are and were, you may want to consider revising them upwards. There are no guarantees, but this team is very likely to reach at least 90 wins.

Credit to this team for staying focused and grinding and battling start to finish. This is the same story, just a different day. Jameson Taillon wasn’t amazing, but he battled and he got the job done. He allowed a long home run just one out before he would have notched another quality start. But two runs over 5.2 innings is quite good. That’s about what you hope for in the modern game. If this was a day when the offense was rolling, he probably gets a chance to finish that inning. Though he had already thrown 100 pitches. So maybe not. It is increasingly rare for a guy to go past 100 pitches. Four Cub relievers combined to throw 3.1 scoreless innings of relief. They allowed one hit and one walk amongst the four of them. They struck out four.

On the offensive side, the Cubs had trouble pushing runs across. Credit to the Reds pitchers for that. The Cubs had eight hits and drew seven walks. Again, this is the same old story. They just grinded and applied pressure. Michael Busch’s game-tying homer in the eighth was crushed. But the rest of the offense was singles and walks. The game winning hit by Michael Busch was just an in-between hop that gobbled up at short. Elly is usually a very good defensive player. I think that ball just needed to be any other vector and he makes that play. A little right, a little left, a little different bounce. It got on him just quick enough and just awkward enough for him not to get his glove on it. The really surprising part of it was that Elly didn’t even touch it. Never mind the out. He needed to keep that one in the infield, somehow, some way.