Chicago Cubs Score and Recap (7/25/26): Cubs 11, Pirates 0 – Blowout in Skenes Start

The Cubs faced a difficult challenge on Saturday with reigning Cy Young winner Paul Skenes on the mound for the Pirates. The road team had a tough time early on, but then they broke through in the middle innings and went on to win going away.

Shōta Imanaga was on his game, matching Skenes scoreless inning for scoreless inning into the 5th. It was at that point that Chicago broke through, beginning with an RBI double by Pete Crow-Armstrong and then a two-run single off the bat of Seiya Suzuki that gave them a 3-0 lead.

Skenes came out of the game with two on and one out in the top of the 6th, and reliever Isaac Mattson had major issues. Dansby Swanson brought in one with a double, then Miguel Amaya and Michael Busch each singled home a pair to balloon the North Siders’ advantage to 8-0.

Crow-Armstrong put some icing on the cake with a two-run homer off of Ron Marinaccio that increased the Cubs’ margin to 10-0 in the top of the 7th. Javier Assad covered the final three innings to pick up an old-fashioned save in what became a 11-0 victory. (Box score)

Key Moment

The Cubs did not rest on their early runs, and they continued to add on in the following frames to erase any remaining doubts about the outcome.

Why the Cubs Won

A very high-quality starting pitching effort and double digits on the scoreboard made this an easy one.

Stats That Matter

• Imanaga has recovered from his rough patch in early June and has been dealing lately: 6 IP, 0 R, 4 H, 4 K, and 1 BB.
• Swanson got on base three times with a single and a double.
• Amaya also reached three times with two RBI and two runs scored.
• Rookie James Triantos had his first career hit in the top of the 8th.

Bottom Line

The Cubs have already won this series that had some very tough pitching matchups on paper. They outlasted one of the best arms in baseball and did major damage to him at the end of his outing. As an added bonus, they knocked one of their potential playoff rivals back on their heels.

On Deck

Chicago attempts to complete this sweep Sunday afternoon at 12:35pm CT. Jameson Taillon takes the hill against Braxton Ashcraft in a game airing on Marquee with a radio feed on The Score.