I told you this Cubs offense would come alive at some point!
I certainly didn’t expect all of it to explode in one game, though that was sure fun to watch.
The Cubs matched their season high in hits (18) and set season highs for walks (11) and runs in a 16-2 demolition of the visiting Blue Jays. Thousands of Jays fans attended this afternoon’s game on a gorgeous Chicago Friday and had really nothing to cheer for.
There’s lots to unpack here so let’s begin at the beginning, which is where the Cubs began walking and hitting. Kevin Gausman walked the first two Cubs hitters, Pete Crow-Armstrong and Alex Bregman. PCA stole second while Bregman was batting, and a ground ball by Michael Busch moved both runners up.
That was followed by two more walks from Gausman, who had no command or control. That loaded the bases with one out. Nico Hoerner struck out, but Carson Kelly unloaded the bases in a hurry [VIDEO].
Fun facts about Kelly’s slam from BCB’s JohnW53:
Only one previous Cub named Kelly had hit a grand slam: King Kelly, nearly 142 years ago. He did it Aug. 14, 1884, at home against the Buffalo Bisons. It came in the fifth inning and made the score 14-1. The Cubs won, 17-10.
Today’s game was the Cubs’ 21,793rd game since then.
Kelly’s slam was the Cubs’ third of the season, after Moises Ballesteros on April 27 at San Diego and Seiya Suzuki on June 11 at Colorado.
It was their 364th in the regular season since 1876 and 340th since 1901. It was No. 210 at home, 184 of them at Wrigley Field. Kelly is the 213th different Cub with a slam.
The slam made it 6-0, but the Cubs were not done! Dansby Swanson singled and stole second, and PCA batted for the second time in the inning and reached on a dribbler, with Swanson taking third.
About the four walks in the first, from John:
This was the first game of the season in which the Cubs received four walks in the first inning. They had had three only once, on March 30, in their fourth game of the year, a 7-2 win at home over the Angels.
Ben Brown, treated to that early lead, was mowing down Jays hitters. A two-out double and single in the third made it 7-1, but Brown then cruised through the fourth, fifth and sixth, allowing a solo homer leading off the sixth. That broke Brown’s homerless streak. He had allowed a home run to the first batter he faced this season on Opening Day, Jacob Young of the Nationals. Since then he had faced 263 batters until George Springer’s long ball made it 7-2. Still a very good outing for Brown, who didn’t walk anyone and struck out four [VIDEO].
There is one other thing I wanted to note about Brown’s start. As you can see here, he threw far fewer four-seamers than usual [VIDEO].
I am not sure if that was by game plan or there was some other adjustment made during the start. Brown was very efficient through six, throwing only 72 pitches (51 strikes). He probably could have gone longer, but by the time the sixth inning was over, the Cubs had blown the game open.
More on Brown’s game from John:
This was Brown’s third quality start and the Cubs’ 24th. Shota Imanga has six; Edward Cabrera and Jameson Taillon, four; Brown and Colin Rrea, three; Javier Assad, two; and Matthew Boyd and Cade Horton, one.
The Cubs began the day tied with the Marlins, Rangers and Reds for 23rd in QS. The Dodgers led by far, with 42, followed by the Royals, 35; Mariners, 34; and Phillies and Yankees, 32.
Here’s how they did that in the bottom of the sixth.
Suzuki led off with a walk and Ian Happ singled. After Matt Shaw struck out, Nico hit a ball that Jays second baseman Davis Schneider couldn’t handle and it went for a hit, loading the bases again.
The bases remained loaded and Swanson also walked (after an unsuccessful Jays challenge) and it was 9-2 [VIDEO].
With the bases still loaded, PCA singled in the Cubs’ 10th run [VIDEO].
And then came yet another Cubs plate appearance with the bases loaded. Bregman drove in the Cubs’ 11th run with this RBI forceout [VIDEO].
Those runs were all charged to Brendon Little, who as you might remember was a first-round pick of the Cubs in 2017.
After Ethan Roberts threw a scoreless seventh, the Cubs bats got to work again. With one out in the bottom of the seventh, Happ singled and Shaw reached on an error by Schneider. A ground out by Hoerner moved both runners up a base, and Kelly hit a ball about 30 feet to score Happ for his sixth RBI of the game [VIDEO].
Shaw took third on that hit and Swanson walked to load the bases.
That brought up the newest Cub, Justin Dean, who had just been called up from Triple-A Iowa Friday and who had gone to center field to give PCA a break for a few innings. Dean had played in 18 games for the Dodgers last year, mostly as a pinch-runner and defensive replacement, and went 0-for-2.
Right there you can see the value of Dean on the bases. He’s really, really fast!
So now it’s (checks notes) 15-2 and no, the Cubs are not done! Pedro Ramirez batted for Bregman and singled in Dean with the Cubs’ 16th run [VIDEO].
As you can see, that hit was off Jays reserve outfielder Myles Straw, because at that point Toronto manager John Schneider had thrown in the proverbial towel. All five runs were charged to the previous pitcher, Tyler Rogers, but because of the error in the inning they were all unearned.
The Cubs did get a couple of runners on in the eighth but did not score again. Gavin Hollowell had thrown a scoreless top of the eighth and Hoby Milner finished things up. Here’s the final out [VIDEO].
The last time the Cubs scored 16 runs in a game was April 12, 2025, in a 16-0 blowout of the Dodgers in Los Angeles. This had to feel really good for Cubs hitters, who — as I have said — are far better than they have shown in the last few weeks. Obviously they’re not going to do this every day but it’s clear that this has been waiting to happen for a while. Hopefully hitting is contagious and keeps going. Also, this:
That is a great RISP result — even with the 15 left on base, which means they could have scored even more runs!
A few more notes: PCA went 3-for-3 with two walks. He now has 27 walks for the season. Two more and he matches his total for all of 2025. That is a very good thing. It was also good to see Swanson with a hit and a pair of walks and two stolen bases — maybe he can get going too. Lastly, Hoerner had three hits and that has to be a good sign.
This is the 18th game since 1910 in which a Cubs catcher had at least six runs batted in.
The last before Kelly was Christian Bethancourt, with seven, on Aug. 28, 2024, at Pittsburgh.
The last at home was Willson Contreras, with seven, on May 11, 2018, vs. the White Sox.
Kelly is the 13th to do it. Gabby Hartnett did it four times; Contreras and Geovany Soto, twice.
Three of Hartnett’s and both of Contreras’ were at home, where 11 of the 18 took place.
Also, I thought you might enjoy a look at my scorecard (click or tap to embiggen):
The Cubs and Blue Jays will go at it again Saturday afternoon at Wrigley Field. Colin Rea will start for the Cubs and Patrick Corbin will go for Toronto. Game time is again 1:20 p.m. CT and TV coverage will be via Marquee Sports Network.
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