Chicago Cubs Score and Recap (7/21/26): Cubs 11, Tigers 2 – Big 1st Inning Dooms Detroit
The Cubs recovered nicely from a frustrating loss to the Tigers on Monday night with a dominating win in the second game of the series. The home squad jumped all over opposing starter Framber Valdez, knocking him out of the game with six runs in the opening frame.
Pete Crow-Armstrong got the big rally going with a leadoff triple and came home on a two-run bases-loaded single off the bat of Carson Kelly. Back-to-back RBI singles by Michael Busch and Ian Happ doubled the lead. PCA drew a walk with the bases loaded to push Valdez out of the game. Reliever Ty Madden issued a free pass to Seiya Suzuki that gave Chicago a 6-0 advantage before the inning finally ended.
David Peterson did a great job in his outing after getting the big cushion, pitching shutout baseball into the 7th. The North Siders added additional insurance with an RBI single from Crow-Armstrong in the 3rd and a pinch-hit two-run homer by Michael Conforto in the 5th to increase the margin to 9-0.
Detroit used a pair of position players to pitch the final couple of innings, and the Cubs picked up a couple more tallies against former teammate Zach McKinstry in the bottom of the 7th. Aaron Civale covered the final eight outs, allowing a two-run shot to Dillon Dingler in the 9th as the home team completed an 11-2 rout. (Box score)
Key Moment
After struggling with runners in scoring position Monday, Chicago had no such issues in this game. They came through three separate times with RISP in the 1st inning to put the game out of reach early.
Why the Cubs Won
They got into the opponents’ bullpen very early and got a quality outing from their starter.
Stats That Matter
- Definitely Peterson’s best performance in a Cubs uniform: 6.1 IP, 0 R, 3 H, 4 K, and 1 BB.
- PCA was perfect at the plate with three walks, two hits, and a terrific catch against the ivy in center field.
- Kelly got on base three times as well.
- Chicago hitters ended up with 11 walks.
Bottom Line
This was an excellent response after dropping a very winnable game Monday night. The Cubs are doing a tremendous job of getting on base in 2026, especially using the walk. It can lead to some frustrating stretches when they strand some of those runners, but it’s going to lead to a lot of runs over the course of the season.
On Deck
The rubber match of the series is Wednesday night at 7:10pm CT. Colin Rea takes the mound against Keider Montero in a game televised on ESPN with a radio feed on The Score.
