Chicago Cubs Score and Recap (5/5/26): Cubs 3, Reds 2 F/10 – Busch Heroics Lead to W

The Cubs pulled off a second consecutive dramatic victory over the Reds at Wrigley Field Tuesday night. They required extra innings this time, with first baseman Michael Busch coming through twice in clutch situations.

Cincinnati got to starter Jameson Taillon in the opening inning with a solo home run by JJ Bleday. The big righty made his only other mistake at the end of his outing, surrendering a dinger to Nathaniel Lowe that gave the road team a 2-0 advantage in the 6th.

The North Siders had numerous scoring chances against Reds starter Andrew Abbott, but failed to produce. They finally broke through on reliever Connor Phillips when Alex Bregman hit an RBI single in the bottom of the 7th to cut the deficit to 2-1.

Busch had the first of his huge hits for the Cubs off of Tony Santillan in the 8th inning, when he crushed a long game-tying solo home run to right field. Neither team plated a run in the 9th and the game went to extras.

After Cincinnati stranded their automatic runner in the top of the 10th, it was time for Chicago’s first baseman to end it in the bottom half. Busch rolled a ground ball up the middle that somehow got through shortstop Elly De La Cruz for a run-scoring single that gave the home squad a 3-2 victory. (Box score) 

Key Moment

Ryan Rolison kept the Reds off the scoreboard in the top of the 10th inning, retiring De La Cruz on a groundout with two on and two out.

Why the Cubs Won

Another very good all-around effort by the pitching staff allowed the offense to scratch out just enough against the Cincinnati bullpen to win.

Stats That Matter

• Taillon was solid and made sure no one was on base when he gave up the homers: 5.2 IP, 2 R, 5 H, 5 K, and 1 BB.
• Busch reached base three times and has been red hot.

Bottom Line

The Cubs are really on an historic heater right now with 13 consecutive Wrigley Field victories. It’s absolutely huge for the rest of the season to be booking so many wins in the early going, as they will have some margin for error when they do eventually cool off later in the season. Right now, this is just a tremendous amount of fun to watch.

On Deck

Game three of the series is Wednesday night at 6:40pm CT. Colin Rea takes on Brady Singer in a matchup airing on Marquee with a radio feed on The Score.