Cubs seven-run – Back at Wrigley Field, the Cubs chased Kevin Gausman early with a seven-run first inning, powered by Carson Kelly’s second career grand slam and a 428-foot drive, then added more offense for a 16-2 win over the defending AL champs.
When the Cubs sent Kevin Gausman to the mound in Friday’s matchup at Wrigley Field, it didn’t look like the Blue Jays’ veteran right-hander was in for trouble.
By the time the first inning was over, it was already clear the night belonged to Chicago.
The Cubs scored seven runs in the opening frame, built around Carson Kelly’s second career grand slam. It came on Gausman’s first pitch to Kelly—a down-the-middle slider—and immediately shifted the energy in the ballpark. Seiya Suzuki’s double to the right-field corner had already put the North Siders up 2-0. and Kelly’s next hit went even farther: his drive sailed 428 feet and landed just under the left-field video board. making it 6-0. After three more singles, the Cubs tied their season-high by piling up seven runs in the inning.
They kept going after that. Chicago finished with 18 hits and won 16-2, winning a second consecutive game and doing it for the sixth time in eight.
Starter Ben Brown made it look easy. He threw 51 of 72 pitches for strikes through six innings, walked none, and allowed just two runs on four hits. The right-hander earned his third consecutive decision.
The early outburst started with the Cubs sending 12 men to the plate in the first inning. Gausman issued four walks and gave up five hits in the opening frame, and he later admitted he was “wilder than usual,” entering the game with just 16 walks in 87 innings.
Kelly finished with career-high six RBIs, and he described the approach simply: pressure early, one hitter after another. “Right from the get-go, guys put pressure on them,” he said. “It was get it to the next guy, continued to get it to the next guy. It was awesome.”
Manager Craig Counsell pointed to the way the Cubs attacked. “We did a good job against him to get that rally moving,” Counsell said. “Obviously we got a huge hit from Carson. but we made [Gausman] come in the zone and laid off the splitter down and off the slider away to the righties and that’s important.”.
The offense didn’t stop with one inning, either. The Cubs added four more runs in the sixth and five in the seventh. Suzuki and Nico Hoerner each had a double among their three-hit performances.
Leadoff hitter Pete Crow-Armstrong also stayed hot. He went 3-for-3 with three singles, an RBI, and two walks, extending his career-high on-base streak to 22 games. During that stretch, he is batting .409. Crow-Armstrong also emphasized something the Cubs have tried to replicate more often lately: turning patience into scoring chances.
“Today was the definition of who we are,” he said. “Drawing walks against a guys who doesn’t walk many, mixed with hits and homers . . . or a homer. That’s exactly who we are. We put ourselves in really good opportunities today to hit with guys on. Contrary to recently, we made the most of those opportunities really well. Today was just a really good example of who this team is.”.
Chicago accepted 11 walks in the game from seven different Blue Jays pitchers. Miles Straw—one of those pitchers—mopped up for the final four outs.
One moment. though. carried extra weight: the Cubs’ biggest. most emotional hit came from Justin Dean. a 29-year-old called up from Triple-A Iowa before the game who replaced Crow-Armstrong in center in the seventh. Dean had been used in pinch-hitting and defensive replacement roles after a mix of 10 seasons in the minors. Mexico. and college ball. and his first major-league hit in the spotlight was a triple that drove in three runs.
Dean sliced a drive off right-handed submariner Tyler Rogers beyond Jesus Sanchez to the right-field corner, then raced to third. Dean appeared in 18 games with the Dodgers last season, but had only two at-bats.
For the Cubs, the win fit a broader rhythm they’ve been chasing. It was the third time in this season they scored three runs in an inning. and it came after a seven-run second inning in an 8-6 victory at Colorado on Wednesday. The club has also owned two separate 10-game winning streaks earlier this season that bookended a 20-3 run.
On Friday night, the message was loud and immediate: when Chicago’s offense gets rolling early, it doesn’t let go.
Cubs Blue Jays Wrigley Field Kevin Gausman Ben Brown Carson Kelly Seiya Suzuki Pete Crow-Armstrong Justin Dean MLB