Chicago Cubs center fielder Pete Crow-Armstrong doesn’t really know how he was able to drive a 90 mph slider well below the zone to the opposite field for a two-run, game-tying home run in the bottom of the ninth inning at Wrigley Field.
His manager, Craig Counsell, can’t describe how he did it, either.
“I told (bench coach Ryan Flaherty) before the at-bat, ‘You just don’t know what’s going to happen when Pete comes up,’” Counsell said after the Cubs’ 7-6, 10-inning win over the Cincinnati Reds. “It’s not supposed to happen, but then it happens. That’s kind of Pete. I can’t explain a lot of his at-bats, personally.”
But that kind of sums up these Cubs lately. They’re pulling off feats that seemingly defy odds.
They rallied for their eighth-straight win on Wednesday night, just hours after their opening-day starter, left-hander Matthew Boyd, landed on the 15-day injured list with a meniscus injury that Counsell said happened “just sitting down on the ground with his kids.”
The improbable win was their third straight walk-off triumph, and it’s their 14th consecutive victory at Wrigley Field.
Cubs pitcher Trent Thornton yells in celebration after throwing the tenth inning against the Reds at Wrigley Field on May 6, 2026, in Chicago. (John J. Kim/Chicago Tribune)
Teams don’t always force extra innings after seeing a two-run ninth-inning lead turn into a two-run deficit. They shouldn’t expect the reliever who took Boyd’s place, Trent Thornton, to pitch a scoreless 10th, allowing Michael Busch to deliver his second walk-off in as many days.
Yet everything Counsell and the Cubs are doing lately is turning into gold.
“You feel like you’ve seen a lot of baseball games in your life, and then you see stuff that you just don’t expect to see, but that’s why we love it, right?” Counsell said. “It wasn’t your normal game, but both sides are battling, trying to come out with the ‘W’, and we came out on top.”
Offense sparked the Cubs on Wednesday, as it has for the last 21 games, where they’ve gone 18-3. Ian Happ started things with a two-run home run in the first, extending his on-base streak to 27 games. The Cubs added two more runs in the fourth that gave right-hander Colin Rea a bit of a cushion.
“We’ve had a lot of news so far this year that we’ve worked through,” Happ said. “But I think the position player group is experienced and has been together and deep. I think that that was always going to carry us through 162 games.”
Cubs left fielder Ian Happ swings for a two-run home run against the Reds in the first inning at Wrigley Field on May 6, 2026, in Chicago. (John J. Kim/Chicago Tribune)
Rea, who was thrust into the rotation after Cade Horton suffered a season-ending elbow injury that required surgery, allowed two runs, one earned, in 5 1/3 innings on Wednesday. Jacob Webb (1 2/3 innings) and Phil Maton (one inning) preserved a 4-2 lead into the ninth.
Counsell, though, turned to Corbin Martin, not his regular closer Daniel Palencia, to try to close the door. Palencia pitched a scoreless ninth inning in Tuesday’s win and had warmed up twice in Monday night’s victory, so Counsell was avoiding the flamethrower on Wednesday.
“We told him off the IL, we’re just going to be safe with this and not a back-to-back in your first kind of set here,” Counsell said.
The Reds jumped on Martin. Spencer Steer started the inning with a solo home run, and Will Benson and Tyler Stephenson followed with a pair of singles. Counsell brought veteran left-hander Hoby Milner to try and wiggle out of the jam, but he double-clutched a sacrifice bunt, which loaded the bases. The Reds tied the game two batters later and then scored a pair of runs on a sacrifice fly to right field that brought Seiya Suzuki to the ground against the wall while catching it.
But the Cubs didn’t waver. Carson Kelly hit a one-out single against right-hander Graham Ashcraft, setting the stage for Crow-Armstrong’s blast.
“With a guy that’s throwing 98 mph cutters, you just got to be ready for that, hoping that it starts in the right place and hopefully shutting down on everything else,” Crow-Armstrong said. “He’s good, so I’m glad I made something work there.”
With his bullpen thin, Counsell turned to Thornton to pitch the 10th, his Cubs debut and first major-league appearance since tearing his left Achilles tendon last July while with the Seattle Mariners. None of that mattered as he kept the Reds off the scoreboard.
“When a guy comes to your team for his first appearance, it’s not generally recommended you put him in extra innings,” Counsell said with a laugh. “You try to let him get a little softer landing. But Trent’s a kid that he’s got that in him. He came in, and that was great. That’s not easy to do, and hat’s off to him for doing a heck of a job.”
The Cubs loaded the bases in the bottom of the inning, and Busch coaxed a two-out walk to end the game. It was an unexpected way to win, but that’s become normal for this Cubs team. Injuries, late rallies — none of that seems to matter because they’ve bought into just controlling what’s in front of them.
“I think this is a team where we do prepare in the right way and we do the right things before pitch one,” Crow-Armstrong said. “That’s all we need. I think I can speak for everybody else when I say that’s what they need as well is just knowing that they’re prepared to go play ball. This is an incredibly talented group. We do the right things. We play the right way. If we prepare and trust each other, then nothing much else to do.”
Andy Martinez is a freelance reporter for the Chicago Tribune.