Chicago Cubs Score and Recap (5/24/25): Reds 6, Cubs 4 – Rally Falls Short
The Cubs took on the Reds Saturday afternoon after an impressive comeback victory on Friday night. Cincinnati went up again, but Chicago’s rally came up short this time and the home team won.
The Reds immediately jumped in front for a second consecutive game when Elly De La Cruz hit a two-run homer off of Colin Rea in the bottom of the 1st. Justin Turner got one of those runs back when he blasted a solo homer against Andrew Abbott in the 3rd.
Will Benson hit a sacrifice fly in the 4th inning to increase the advantage to 3-1. The Cubs tried to get Rea through the 5th but they ran into major problems. De La Cruz hit a two-run single and Spencer Steer knocked him in to put Cincinnati on top 6-1.
Ian Happ had an RBI groundout in the 7th and Pete Crow-Armstrong hit a sacrifice fly in the 8th to bring Chicago within 6-3. Carson Kelly opened up the final frame with a homer but that was all the Cubs could muster as the Reds prevailed 6-4. (Box score)
Key Moment
The Cubs had to leave Rea in to pitch the 5th inning in an effort to save the bullpen and it did not work out. The three runs Cincinnati scored turned out to be the difference in the game.
Why the Cubs Lost
Another shaky starting pitching effort and the offense was not able to mount a comeback.
Stats That Matter
- This was the first outing of the year that Rea was a bit off: 5 IP, 6 R, 7 H, 8 K, 3 BB.
- Miguel Amaya injured his left oblique throwing to second and had to come out of the game.
- Matt Shaw had three hits and two more doubles Saturday.
- Kelly had a couple of hits after coming in for Amaya.
Bottom Line
The Cubs make it look easy to come back from big deficits, but they can’t do it every time. They should probably avoid falling into 1st inning holes so consistently. That said, Shaw is rapidly becoming an important part of the lineup and his defense has been surprisingly good.
On Deck
The rubber match of the series is Sunday afternoon at 12:40pm CT. Ben Brown gets the start against Nick Lodolo in a game airing on Marquee with radio coverage on 670 The Score.
