CHICAGO – The Cubs have insisted for weeks that the turnaround is coming. They can hope now that what took place in the ninth inning on Thursday night is the start of a new hot streak for the North Siders.
In the final frame, Pete Crow-Armstrong sent a pitch from Luis Medina into right-center and tossed his helmet skyward as he rounded first base. The hit delivered the game’s decisive blow, completing a four-run rally that sealed a 7-6 walk-off victory over the A’s at Wrigley Field.
Trailing 6-3 in the ninth, Michael Busch got things rolling with a leadoff double to left against A’s reliever Joel Kuhnel. Ian Happ later delivered an RBI double to right-center and scored on an infield single from Moisés Ballesteros that A’s shortstop Alika Williams could not corral cleanly. Seiya Suzuki then came through with a pinch-hit single to set up a game-tying, RBI single by Dansby Swanson.
That set the stage for Crow-Armstrong, who helped the Cubs snap an eight-game home losing streak.
That late push also overcame a tough night from Cubs lefty Shota Imanaga, who was charged with six runs in six-plus innings. That included allowing four home runs – one being an improbable inside-the-park feat by Shea Langeliers.
In the sixth, Langeliers sent a pitch from Imanaga high over center field, where Crow-Armstrong lost track of the ball in the dusk. The ball landed behind the Cubs’ center fielder, resulting in a two-run, inside-the-parker that put Chicago in a 4-0 hole. Langeliers also homered in the fourth, while Tyler Soderstrom and Jonah Heim ended Imanaga’s night with back-to-back blasts in the seventh.
Crow-Armstrong belted a solo shot off A’s starter J.T. Ginn in the sixth to initially spark the Cubs’ offense. Happ then followed with a two-run homer in the seventh that soared a Statcast-projected 446 feet.