CHICAGO -- There was plenty for All-Star starter Chase Burns to overcome while pitching for the Reds against the Cubs on Sunday night at Wrigley Field. Among the obstacles: heavy rain showers, a tough opposing lineup topped by MVP candidate Pete Crow-Armstrong and his own team's suspect defense.
As Burns persevered, his lineup picked him up with four home runs and he came away with his 15th victory during a series-clinching 7-5 win over the Cubs. He pitched 5 2/3 innings with three runs (two earned) on six hits and one walk with seven strikeouts.
"It is what I expect out of him and he knows that, too," said first baseman Sal Stewart, who hit his 31st home run and collected his Major League-leading 105th RBI in the seventh inning. "I said the standard is high for him because I know what he’s capable of. He’s one of the best competitors I know and I’m happy to see him always doing well.”
Burns, 23, improved to 15-3 with a 2.79 ERA and 171 strikeouts across 26 starts and 145 innings. He became the first 15-win Reds pitcher in his age-23 season or younger since Don Gullett (1971, 1973, 1974).
While throwing first-pitch strikes to 18 of 25 batters, Burns had extra life on his fastball while his slider produced whiffs on 12 of 25 swings.
“You could kind of tell before the game in the bullpen. I was feeling good," Burns said. "It helps that this environment was electric -- Sunday Night Baseball -- so I had a lot of fun out there.
"You have to be locked in, every batter. There’s no freebies in that lineup.
On his fourth pitch of the game, Burns fell victim to the dynamo that's been Crow-Armstrong. A 3-2 fastball over the middle was launched into the right-field bleachers for his ninth leadoff homer of the season and sixth this month.
"You’re going to give up homers, especially if you miss a pitch to that guy. He’s seeing the ball really well," Burns said.
The deficit was 2-0 after two innings but Héctor Rodríguez's three-run home run to right field in the top of the fourth inning provided a one-run lead.
Burns opened the bottom of the fourth with a four-pitch walk followed by a single. Then mayhem followed after Pedro Ramírez's flyout to right field. As Ian Happ tagged, Rodríguez's throw got past cutoff man Matt McLain and then Elly De La Cruz for an error that let the tying run score.
“It’s baseball. Stuff’s going to happen. Get the next one," Burns said.
The offense picked up Burns again when Dane Myers opened the fifth inning against Imanaga with a homer to left-center field. With one out later in the inning, Tyler Stephenson crushed a two-run homer to extend the Reds’ lead to 6-3.
Burns retired six in a row before De La Cruz flubbed Alex Bregman's routine leadoff grounder for an error. Happ followed with a single but Burns struck out Hoerner with a slider.
In an 11-pitch duel with Ramírez, Burns won with a flyout to right field on his 100th and final pitch (70 strikes). Reliever Brock Burke took over and got pinch-hitter Tyrone Taylor to ground into a fielder's choice to keep Burns in position to win.
"We did a pretty good job against Burns. That’s a good pitcher," Cubs manager Craig Counsell said. "He’s having a heck of a year. We put some runs on the board and gave ourselves a chance and put us in the game. We just gave up too many tonight."
Burns was coming off his worst outing of the season when he gave up season-high-tying five runs and a career-high-tying nine hits over only 3 2/3 innings against the non-contending Giants.
During Spring Training, the Reds paused Burns' progression later in camp to get him to improve his between-starts routine and gain more arm flexibility.
“It’s not a knock on him. He’s just never been through it before," manager Terry Francona said. "He took to heart his arm care program. Because if not, he would have run out of gas."
Now Burns is one month away from completing his first full big league season after debuting in June 2025.
“He’s held his stuff all year. I think that’s a big credit to that kid and his work ethic," Francona said.
How does Burns feel this late in the season?
“I’m just doing a lot in the training room, communicating really well with them, so I feel great," Burns said.