The Chicago Cubs keep finding new ways to turn a good week into a loud one.
They came out of the trade deadline with real momentum, loading up on pitching help by adding Kevin Gausman and Clay Holmes to the starting rotation. Then they backed it up immediately, beating the Los Angeles Dodgers 10-5 on deadline day, spoiling Tarik Skubal’s Dodgers debut, and finishing off a three-game sweep of the reigning champions on Wednesday.
So when the Toronto Blue Jays rolled into Wrigley for a makeup game, the Cubs were already riding high. They left with another walk-off, another jolt for the home crowd, and another reminder that October is starting to feel very real.
Pete Crow-Armstrong was right in the middle of it again.
About 24 hours after he blasted two homers and piled up 10 total bases against the Dodgers, the NL MVP candidate delivered the winning run against Toronto. He opened the top of the 11th with a single to center, then moved from there when Carson Kelly, the designated runner at second, tried to score from third on Myles Straw’s throw to the plate. Brandon Venezuela was able to apply the tag in time and keep the game going.
Toronto then intentionally walked Seiya Suzuki, bringing Michael Busch to the plate and moving Crow-Armstrong into scoring position. On the very first pitch to Busch, Crow-Armstrong broke for third.
Venezuela popped up and fired to the bag, but the throw got away from Josh Smith and skipped into left field. Crow-Armstrong was off and running, and he crossed home for the walk-off.
Crow-Armstrong finished with two hits and two runs scored. He also scored the tying run in the bottom of the ninth, making him a constant threat every time he reached base. The pressure he puts on a defense is the kind that forces mistakes, and Toronto made one at the worst possible moment.
Alex Bregman also delivered a moment the Cubs can point to when they look back on this stretch.
His first season in Chicago has had its rough spots, but he came through when the Cubs were down to their final strike in the bottom of the ninth. Bregman started the at-bat against Louis Varland with a foul ball and a swinging strike, then watched a knuckle curve dive into the dirt. Varland came back with another curve near the bottom of the zone, and Bregman got enough of it to drive a 368-foot shot down the left field line and tie the game.
That was vintage big-moment stuff from a veteran All-Star. Bregman also finished with two hits and now has a hit in 10 of his 11 games. It does not guarantee a full breakout, but it is exactly the kind of production the Cubs were chasing when they gave him that five-year deal - especially with his postseason experience and the role he’s expected to play late in the year.
Toronto had this game under control for a long stretch, mostly because of Dylan Cease.
He was dominant through 7.0 innings, holding the Cubs to two hits and striking out 10. He had thrown 104 pitches, so there was at least some reason for the Blue Jays to go to the bullpen, but he had thoroughly silenced Chicago’s offense while he was in there.
Toronto also got strong work defensively. Ernie Clement made an excellent leaping play to stop Carson Kelly in the bottom of the 10th, and Myles Straw made a strong throw from center field to cut Kelly down at the plate earlier in the extra innings.
Still, the Blue Jays let this one slip away. They had one out left and couldn’t finish it, then compounded the damage with a throwing error.
Their offense never did enough to protect them either, going 1-for-19 with runners in scoring position. The Cubs had their own struggles too, with David Peterson allowing seven hits in 5.0 innings and walking three, but Toronto repeatedly failed to cash in on chances to take control.
In the end, Chicago found another way to win, and another reason this week has felt like a statement.
In Other News...
Mets Just Got Pulled Into A Blue Jays Season Debate
The Blue Jays have spent much of this season living in the uncomfortable space between disappointment and possibility. A 54-61 record and a steady run of injuries have made the year feel like a slog, yet the front office still acted at the trade deadline and the club remains close enough to the playoff race that the conversation has not gone away. That has opened the door to a wider debate around what the rest of the season should look like, especially for a team with more than one path still in front of it.
Some analysts have floated the idea that Toronto could actually be better served by losing more games and improving its draft lottery position, but that line of thinking runs directly into the reality of a club that can still chase a postseason spot. It is the kind of argument that usually belongs in the abstract until a team is caught in the middle, and the Blue Jays have now become a central example of how hard it is to balance short-term pain against the chance to make something of a frustrating year. [Read more 🡒]
Blue Jays Fans Are Reopening The Daulton Varsho Trade Debate
Few Blue Jays trades have stayed in the conversation quite like the one that brought Daulton Varsho to Toronto in exchange for Gabriel Moreno and Lourdes Gurriel Jr. The deal looked significant at the time because it reshaped both clubs, and it still does now, with Varsho supplying elite defense in center field while his offense has been harder to pin down, Moreno turning in a career year in Arizona and Gurriel battling injuries on the other side.
For Toronto, that mix is what keeps the debate alive. Varshos glove has given the Blue Jays real value, but the offensive inconsistency makes it easy for fans to revisit what was given up, especially when Moreno keeps building his case with the Diamondbacks. Gurriels health issues add another layer to the conversation, leaving the trade with a complicated legacy that can still be read in more than one way. [Read more 🡒]
Blue Jays Suddenly Have A Kazuma Okamoto Problem At The Plate
Kazuma Okamotos bat was rolling well enough early that opposing pitchers had a clear reason to recalibrate, and they did. Starting in July, the plan shifted away from challenging him with the four-seam fastball that had fueled much of his success, and the results for Okamoto changed with it. His slugging dipped, his contact quality fell off and the steady offensive impact he had been providing started to disappear as more at-bats turned into uncomfortable ones.
The bigger issue for Toronto is how complete the downturn has been, because it is not just a matter of one pitch or one bad stretch. The strikeouts have climbed in unfavorable counts, the plate discipline that helped make him dangerous has loosened, and the contact against sliders and sweepers has been especially poor. For a player who looked like a real middle-of-the-order answer, that leaves the Blue Jays with a problem they cannot ignore for long. [Read more 🡒]