Chicago Cubs Score and Recap (8/2/26): Yankees 2, Cubs 1 – Big Hit Proves Elusive

The Cubs and Yankees met in the deciding game of their series on a cloudy Sunday afternoon at Wrigley. It was a very tightly contested affair for the third consecutive day, but the home team could not break through for the tying run despite numerous opportunities.

Colin Rea got off to a tremendous start, striking out the first five batters he saw and retiring the first seven overall. New York did their only damage against him in the top of the 3rd when José Caballero blasted a two-run homer through the wind to put Chicago behind 2-0.

The North Siders did not get much going against Gerrit Cole, but an RBI single off the bat of Michael Busch cut the deficit to 2-1 in the bottom of the 4th. The Yankees bullpen withstood several excellent scoring chances for the home squad the rest of the afternoon and held on to win by the same margin. (Box score)

Key Moment

Nico Hoerner was at the plate with the bases loaded and two outs in the bottom of the 6th with a 3-0 count. The next pitch was well off the edge but called a strike, so Hoerner would have walked to force in the tying run had he challenged it. He decided not to and flew out on the next offering to end the threat.

Why the Cubs Lost

They had the tying run in scoring position in three of the final four innings and failed to get it home each time.

Stats That Matter

• Rea deserved to get the win on Sunday: 6 IP, 2 R, 3 H, 7 K, and 1 BB.
• Pete Crow-Armstrong collected three more walks with his greatly improved discipline.
• Seiya Suzuki had a double and a single, representing half of his team’s hits.

Bottom Line

The Yankees demonstrated why they have the best pitching staff in baseball this season. The Cubs had a chance to win all three games, but they came up short during big moments in two of them. This is very good preparation for playoff baseball where every contest seems to come down to one or two plate appearances. The trade deadline is going to come before Monday’s game, so there should be some helpful additions by then.

On Deck

The freshly upgraded defending champion Dodgers come to Wrigley Field for a three-game series against the Cubs starting Monday at 7:05pm CT. Matthew Boyd gets the nod in a matchup broadcast on Marquee with a radio feed on The Score.