Cubs 12, Pirates 2: Bregman's 25th Ends a Slide

Sixteen hits, then the slide was over

September 11, 2026 - Chicago - Alex Bregman hit his 25th homer in the fourth, a two-run fly to left that made it 9-1, and the Chicago Cubs did not need another swing that loud. They beat the Pittsburgh Pirates 12-2 at Wrigley Field, snapped a four-game losing streak, and finished with 16 hits. The Associated Press recap said every Chicago starter had at least one.

Wrigley was sunny and 74 degrees, wind right to left at 9 mph. Attendance was 39,190. First pitch was 1:21 p.m. The game lasted 2 hours, 39 minutes. Shota Imanaga worked six innings and got the win. Pittsburgh's four-game winning streak ended on a Friday afternoon that never got close after the second.

Chicago is 82-66. The AP recap said the Cubs remain well behind NL Central-leading Milwaukee and are still in the wild-card conversation. Pittsburgh fell to 74-74 after winning 9 of 11 to climb back above .500.

Cruz scored first. Chicago answered for an hour.

Konnor Griffin tripled among two hits. Oneil Cruz singled him home in the first. 1-0. That was the last time the Pirates led.

Wilber Dotel (1-5) opened and lasted two innings, four hits, three runs. Chicago loaded the bases in the second. Michael Conforto lifted a sacrifice fly to left, Bregman scoring. 1-1. Carson Kelly then doubled to left, Ian Happ and Pedro Ramírez scoring. 3-1. The inning that tied it also put Chicago in front for good.

Khristian Curtis took over in the third and could not stop it. Seiya Suzuki reached. Michael Busch doubled to right, Suzuki scoring, Busch taking third on a throwing error by Esmerlyn Valdez. 4-1. Nico Hoerner flied into a force, Busch scoring. 5-1. The AP recap called Suzuki's later triple wind-blown. The third-inning double off Valdez's arm was just a baseball the Pirates did not catch clean.

Bregman's 25th, then Reynolds's only answer

The fourth made it a rout. Kelly scored on Suzuki's single. Pete Crow-Armstrong scored on Busch's sacrifice fly. 7-1. Bregman then homered to left, Suzuki aboard. 9-1. Two-run shot, 25th of the year, three hits on the afternoon if you count the double he had already stacked. Curtis lasted three innings, six hits, six runs, one homer, 62 pitches.

Bryan Reynolds hit his 17th in the sixth, a solo fly to left. 2-9. That was Pittsburgh's second run and its last. Imanaga (10-10) allowed two runs on five hits in six innings, four strikeouts, two walks, 100 pitches. The AP recap called it a second straight solid start and win. He did not need to be perfect. He needed to throw strikes while Chicago kept hitting.

Busch singled Suzuki home in the sixth. Tyrone Taylor added a sacrifice fly, Busch scoring. 11-2. Crow-Armstrong singled Ramírez home in the seventh. 12-2. Antwone Kelly worked three innings of relief and still gave up six hits and three runs. Javier Assad, Trent Thornton, and Daniel Palencia finished the last three for Chicago.

Sixteen hits, one hamstring, a Saturday with Skenes

Suzuki went 3-for-5 with a triple, three runs, and one RBI. Bregman went 3-for-4 with a homer, a double, two runs, and two RBI. Busch finished with two hits, a double, a sacrifice fly, two runs, and three RBI. Kelly doubled in two. Hoerner had two hits and an RBI. Happ, Ramírez, and Crow-Armstrong each reached and scored. The AP recap said five Cubs finished with two or more hits. The box score is a lineup that did not take a pitch off.

Valdez left in the sixth with left hamstring discomfort after running to first on a groundout, per the AP recap. Griffin had the triple. Cruz had the RBI single. Reynolds had the homer. The rest of the Pittsburgh order left seven on. Seven hits, one error, a 12-2 that looked like the opposite of the 9-of-11 stretch they carried into Wrigley.

Paul Skenes (10-11, 3.83) faces Clay Holmes (6-7, 2.83) on Saturday, per the AP recap. Chicago ended a slide with 16 hits. Pittsburgh ended a streak the same way most streaks end in September: one afternoon that will not wait for the better starting pitcher.

AthX Engine after the baseball

AthX Engine (our projection and scoring system) put Bregman at 11 hitting fantasy points. Busch had 8. Kelly had 7. Suzuki had 7. Imanaga checked in at 13 pitching FP. Chicago finished with 25 team FP, second on the Friday slate behind Milwaukee's 20-0. Pittsburgh finished at minus-9.

Fantasy points measure the night under platform scoring rules. Share prices also move with traders through dynamic pricing. They are related. They are not the same number.

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*Sources: ESPN recap and box score, MLB.com Gameday wrap, MLB.com schedule, and AthX Engine scoring. Information only; not financial advice.*