Chicago Cubs Score and Recap (6/17/26): Cubs 8, Rockies 6 – Huge Inning Leads to Series Victory

The Cubs picked up a second consecutive series win on Wednesday night, this time against the Rockies at Wrigley Field. They jumped way in front with a seven-run 2nd inning and managed to hang on for the victory.

Matt Shaw got the big frame going against Colorado starter Sean Sullivan with a two-run triple to right-center. Carson Kelly knocked him in with a double, then Dansby Swanson added a much-needed home run to increase Chicago’s lead to 5-0.

The North Siders kept going with an RBI double by Seiya Suzuki and a sacrifice fly from Alex Bregman to increase the margin to 7-0 before the inning finally ended. Javier Assad did a very nice job yet again, giving up only a pair of home runs to Sterlin Thompson in 5.2 frames of work.

Pete Crow-Armstrong made it three consecutive games with a homer when he hit a solo shot that apparently stayed just fair down the right field line in the bottom of the 4th. It looked to have sailed foul, but may have just caught a piece of the pole and could not be overturned on replay.

The Rockies got back into the game when Hunter Goodman cracked a two-run dinger off of Ethan Roberts to cut the deficit to 8-5 in the top of the 8th. Jacob Webb gave up a solo shot to Kyle Karros in the top of the 9th, but he would close things out from there to save an 8-6 Cubs win. (Box score)

Key Moment

Chicago has needed a big inning like that for a long time, and Swanson especially needed to see a home run go over the fence.

Why the Cubs Won

They scored just enough to protect the bullpen from Colorado’s late comeback.

Stats That Matter

• Assad has been very good in every start since returning to the rotation: 5.2 IP, 2 R, 5 H, 1 K, and 0 BB.
• Suzuki got on base three times with two hits and a walk.
• Kelly also had two hits.

Bottom Line

The Cubs did what they needed to do and won a series against a bad team. Several important hitters in the lineup are starting to get hot, and that is definitely a good sign. The bullpen is going to be an issue in high-leverage situations without a proven closer at the moment.

On Deck

Chicago is off Thursday before welcoming the Blue Jays to Wrigley starting Friday at 1:20pm CT. Ben Brown takes the mound against Kevin Gausman in a game televised on Marquee with a radio broadcast on The Score.