Ginn goes 8 innings and Gelof hits one of four A's homers in 12-1 rout of Phillies
Athletics dominate Phillies 12-1 with strong performances from Ginn and Gelof.
The Chicago Cubs defeated the Cincinnati Reds 8-3, marking their ninth consecutive win and a four-game sweep. ShĆta Imanaga and Michael Conforto played key roles in the victory at Wrigley Field.
Iâm running out of superlatives to describe what the 2026 Chicago Cubs are doing, but Iâm certainly going to try, because the Cubs keep topping themselves every single day.
On a coolish Thursday afternoon at Wrigley Field, the Cubs decided theyâd had enough of late-inning comebacks and walk-off wins and instead dominated the Reds in nearly every aspect of the game, winning 8-3. That gave the Cubs a four-game sweep, nine wins in a row and 15 consecutive victories at Wrigley Field. The latter streak is the second-longest home winning streak for the Cubs in the Modern Era.
Letâs begin at the beginning. ShĆta Imanaga had s solid first two innings, allowing a single in each but also striking out a pair in each.
The first five Cubs went down in order. The sixth, Michael Conforto, gave the Cubs a 1-0 lead with his second homer of this series [VIDEO].
The wind was shifting all over the place during the game. At the time of Confortoâs homer, it was blowing in pretty good â he nailed that blast at 105 miles per hour.
Imanaga allowed one more hit in the third and issued a walk in the fourth. None of the Reds runners through four got past first base.
The Cubs blew the game open in the bottom of the fourth, in part due to a brain fart from Reds catcher Tyler Stephenson.
Reds starter Rhett Lowder walked the first two hitters in the inning, Alex Bregman and Ian Happ. Then he threw ball one to and left the game with the trainer. This is why:
The final score was Cubs 8, Reds 3.
ShĆta Imanaga and Michael Conforto were the standout players in the Cubs' victory.
The Cubs have nine consecutive wins as of this game.
The Cubs' current home winning streak is 15 games, which is the second-longest in the Modern Era.
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Pitching injuries, man. Theyâre affecting every team in the league, not just the Cubs.
Connor Phillips relieved Lowder and Busch singled, loading the bases. Conforto walked, forcing in a run [VIDEO].
Dansby Swanson was the next hitter, with the bases still loaded and nobody out. Hereâs what happened [VIDEO].
KeâBryan Hayes stepped on third, retiring Busch. But that took the force play off at the plate, and Stephenson needed to tag Happ for an out, and as you can see⊠he did not do that. What Hayes probably should have done is throw home; that might have resulted in a 1-2-3 double play. But he didnât, and Happ was safe, making the score 3-0.
That might have rattled the Reds, because the Cubs then had three straight run-scoring hits. Pete Crow-Armstrong singled, scoring Conforto [VIDEO].
Itâs 4-0 now. PCA stole second without a throw, and Miguel Amaya singled, scoring two runs [VIDEO].
As you can see, the throw beat Amaya to the plate, but Stephenson couldnât hold on to the ball. While that throw came in, Nico took third, where he scored on this sac fly by MoisĂ©s Ballesteros [VIDEO].
Here are some facts about the Cubsâ seven-run fourth from BCBâs JohnW53:
The Cubsâ seven-run fourth inning was their biggest outburst of the season. They had scored five runs three times: April 1 at home the vs. Angels, April 8 at Tampa and April 13 at Philadelphia.
This was the Cubsâ 22nd game since the last of those.
They last had seven runs in a 12-1 win at home over the Cardinals on Sept. 26 of last year. That was 42 games ago.
The Cubs had two other seven-run innings last year and an eight-run eruption on May 20 in a 14-1 romp at Miami.
Imanaga continued to dominate. He finally allowed a Reds runner past first base in the fifth on a single and walk, and a solo home run by Sal Stewart made it 8-1. As we know, home runs have been a problem for Imanaga, but I think we can forgive a solo homer with an eight-run lead. Heâs still allowed just four home runs this year in 47.1 innings.
Hereâs even more on Imanagaâs outing from John:
This was the 16th quality start by a Cubs pitcher and the team-high fifth by Imanaga. He has allowed one run in three of his five and none in the two others.
Edward Cabrera has four; Jameson Taillon, three; Colin Rea, two; and Matthew Boyd and Cade Horton, one.
With the win today, the Cubs are 14-2 when they get a QS.
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Imanagaâs 10 strikeouts were one shy of his career high, achieved twice: Sept. 16, 2024 at home vs. the Athletics and April 15 this year at Philadelphia. He pitched 6.0 innings in both games.He had 10 twice before, both at home, in 7.0: July 21, 2024 vs. the Diamondbacks and Aug. 6, 2024 vs. the Twins. The Cubs won all four games.
Trent Thornton, just up from Triple-A Iowa and off his solid 10th inning Wednesday night, threw a scoreless seventh, allowing a hit and a walk. Gavin Hollowell, also up from Iowa replacing Corbin Martin on Thursday, served up a solo homer to Blake Dunn in the eighth. Then he was left in to throw the ninth, likely Craig Counsell wanting to save all his leverage relievers in a blowout.
This did not work. Hollowell struck out the first batter he faced in the ninth, then issued a walk. A fly to center was the second out, but another walk followed that. Hollowell did get JJ Bleday to pop a ball into short center, but too shallow for PCA to catch. It dropped for a double, scoring the Redsâ third run. After another walk loaded the bases, Daniel Palencia had to be summoned, something Iâm sure Counsell did not want to do on this day, especially since it began raining in the middle of all that.
In fairness to Hollowell, he threw 49 pitches in this game. He hadnât thrown that many in any of his outings at Iowa this year, and hadnât thrown as many as 40 since April 2. He likely just ran out of gas.
Palencia ran the count full on pinch-hitter Nathaniel Lowe, and then this happened [VIDEO].
Palencia painted the inside corner with a 100 mile per hour fastball. Lowe challenged â I mean, what did he have to lose? But it was a strike, and the game ended. And since the tying run was on deck when Palencia entered the game, he qualified for a save. Fortunately, it was a quick seven-pitch outing.
The Cubs did nearly everything right in this series, coming from behind, taking advantage of situations, and in this game using that advantage to make it a blowout. Nine wins in a row. Fifteen straight at home, the franchise record in the Modern Era is 18, set in 1935, the year the team won 21 in a row on the way to the NL pennant (the last three of that streak were on the road). John tells me that âit appearsâ the Cubs have never won two entire homestands of at least seven games in a single season â until this year. Good stuff, Cubs. Keep it going. The Cubs now lead the NL Central by four games over the second-place Cardinals. The Pirates are third, five games back; the Brewers, fourth at 5.5 behind; and the Reds, who have lost seven in a row, are last, six games behind the Cubs.
Lastly, let me say a mea culpa about Conforto. I wasnât in favor of this signing, didnât see the point, thought Dylan Carlson might be a better bench bat. Conforto has been outstanding in his limited role and after going 3-for-3 in this game with a walk, two runs scored and two RBI, he is batting .361/.467/.667 (13-for-36) with five doubles and two home runs. Granted, small sample size, but heâs proven to be a really useful player and seems to have accepted this role well.
The Cubs head on the road, where the first stop is Arlington, Texas, to face the Rangers in a three-game series beginning Friday evening. The Cubs starter for the series opener is listed as TBD for now. That would have been Matthew Boydâs turn. Itâs possible Javier Assad, who threw 17 pitches on Tuesday, could take the start. Kumar Rocker will start for Texas. Game time Friday is 7:05 p.m. CT and TV coverage will be via Marquee Sports Network.