Chicago Cubs Score and Recap (9/11/26): Cubs 12, Pirates 2 – Bregman, Busch Bash Bucs
The Cubs were back home Friday afternoon for a matchup against the Pirates on a beautiful day at Wrigley Field. The home team got a much-needed offensive explosion to help snap a four-game losing streak in blowout fashion.
Pittsburgh scratched the scoresheet first against Shōta Imanaga in the top of the 1st on an RBI single by Oneil Cruz. Chicago went ahead for good with three runs off of opener Wilber Dotel in the bottom of the 2nd. A sacrifice fly by Michael Conforto and a two-run double from Carson Kelly did the damage to make it 3-1.
The North Siders kept adding on against Khristian Curtis, beginning with a Michael Busch RBI double and a run on a dropped pop-up in the 3rd. Then the game busted open the following frame with a run-scoring Seiya Suzuki single, a Busch sacrifice fly, and a two-run homer by Alex Bregman that built a 9-1 advantage.
Imanaga made only one mistake the rest of the way, allowing a solo home run to Bryan Reynolds in the top of the 6th, but he put up six strong frames. The Cubs added three more, including another RBI hit by Busch, and went on to win 12-2. (Box score)
Key Moment
The four-run bottom of the 4th ensured the bullpen would not be a factor for Chicago, which is very helpful at the moment with all of their recent issues.
Why the Cubs Won
They got a quality start and ample offense to win going away.
Stats That Matter
- That is two good starts in a row for Imanaga, which is a very promising sign: 6 IP, 2 R, 5 H, 4 K, and 2 BB.
- Busch had three RBI and is starting to pick it up lately.
- Suzuki collected three hits, including a triple.
- Bregman also had three knocks, two of which were for extra bases.
Bottom Line
The Cubs desperately needed a game like this after struggling the past week. They need to score runs if they want to string some victories together and lock down a playoff spot. Imanaga has been very streaky, so this could be the beginning of an upswing. That would be a major boost to Chicago’s chances down the stretch.
On Deck
Game two of the series is Saturday afternoon at 1:20pm CT. Clay Holmes faces off against Paul Skenes in a contest televised on Marquee with a radio broadcast on The Score.
