Cubs' bullpen bands together to deliver clutch scoreless showing

CINCINNATI -- The Cubs’ bullpen has had issues since to the three-game series against the Mariners that started on Aug. 21. From that date entering Friday night, Chicago’s bullpen had a 4.50 ERA, tied for 20th in the Major Leagues and converted only four of 12 save opportunities.

But the relievers -- Daniel Palencia, Aaron Civale, Ryan Zeferjahn and Ryan Rolison -- showed signs of life in the Cubs’ 5-2 victory over the Reds at Great American Ball Park on Saturday night, throwing a combined four scoreless innings and striking out five batters.

With the win, the Cubs (86-69) remain in the top NL Wild Card spot, tied with the Padres (86-69) and one game ahead of the Phillies (85-70). Chicago holds the tiebreaker over both San Diego and Philadelphia.

After the game, Cubs manager Craig Counsell indicated that the final week of the regular season was key because the team needs to know who to trust out of the bullpen during the postseason.

“If we want to be a team that plays a long time in the postseason, we have to count on guys in the bullpen to get outs,” he said. “We have to get confidence for those guys and we have to figure out which guys we are going to use.”

What stood out to Counsell during Saturday’s game was Palencia's two scoreless frames after replacing starter Matthew Boyd in the sixth. Palencia retired all six hitters he faced and struck out three.

“That was his best outing of the year. He threw 20 pitches. He really executed. It was a good sign,” Counsell said about Palencia.

It’s obvious that Counsell loves Palencia’s talent. This is the same guy who saved 22 games and had a 2.91 ERA in 2025. But this year, injuries have played a role in his problems on the mound. Remember, he spent more than two months on the injured list because of right elbow inflammation. Counsell plans to keep using him when the game is on the line -- he expects Palencia to figure it out.

“It’s not that easy. You want to be locked in every single time out there,” the skipper said. “Danny has had an interrupted season. He was good to start the year. Then he had an oblique injury [earlier in the season]. He pitched for about a month and then went back on the injured list for an extended stay. That’s just tough to get any rhythm going."

Boyd picked the right time to win his ninth game of the season. He had serious problems at Great American Ball Park during his career, allowing 22 earned runs in 23 1/3 innings entering Saturday.

But Saturday was a different story. For the most part, Boyd was efficient, pitching five strong innings and allowing two runs (one earned) on two hits and two walks. He started the game by retiring 12 of the first 13 hitters he faced. However, Boyd ran into trouble in the fifth frame, when he allowed the two runs following a leadoff walk. Ke’Bryan Hayes highlighted the Reds’ outburst with an RBI single.

Boyd was taken out of the game after five innings because Counsell didn’t want his left-hander to face Elly De La Cruz and Sal Stewart the third time through the lineup. Enter Palencia, who fanned De La Cruz and Stewart to start the sixth.

“Those guys are just hard to get out multiple times as you go through this,” Counsell indicated. “Stewart hit two balls really hard against Matthew, and I just thought, ‘What’s our best chance to get these guys out?’ Last night, we couldn’t get De La Cruz out. They got something going. It’s more respect for those guys than anything else. Matthew pitched a good game.”

Besides the performance of Boyd and the bullpen, the Cubs received clutch hitting. In the sixth inning, Michael Busch swung at the first pitch from Nick Lodolo and hit the ball into the right-field seats to give him 20 homers for the season -- breaking a 2-2 tie.

Reds right-hander Pierce Johnson was on the mound in the eighth inning when the Cubs scored their fourth run of the game on an RBI single by Nico Hoerner. Dansby Swanson added to the lead in the top of the ninth with a solo homer off right-hander Zach McCambley.