The Chicago Cubs and the Colorado Rockies are meeting once again, this time at The Friendly Confines.
Last week did not go so well for the Cubs at Coors Field — they lost two of three, one of which was a painful walk-off defeat after mounting a ninth-inning comeback.
But one series can change a lot, and the Cubs are playing much better baseball since that trip to Denver. Two wins against the San Francisco Giants over the weekend gave them their first series victory in over a month, and they’ve begun to find their bearings in multiple facets of the game.
This time, the Cubs (38-35) completed the ninth-inning comeback and were on the right end of a walk-off against Colorado (27-46) as Pedro Ramirez tied the game with a single and Matt Shaw drew a bases-loaded walk to win the game, 5-4.
The Cubs have now won four of their last five games. At the center of the surge is none other than Pete Crow-Armstrong, who put on an incredible offensive showing Monday night. The emerging star hit the 13th cycle in Cubs history and the first Cubs cycle at Wrigley Field since Mark Grace on May 9, 1993.
Here are three things we learned from the Cubs’ ninth walk-off win of the season!
Pete Cycle-Armstrong
He’s come close before.
In fact, it was just over the weekend in San Francisco that Crow-Armstrong had a chance to hit for the cycle. He came just a triple shy, as many often do.
It wasn’t meant to be then, but on Monday night, it sure was.
Lead off home run. Triple. Double. Single.
He did it in that very order, and in consecutive at-bats, because of course he did.
It’s the 350th cycle in baseball history, and it’s the Cubs’ first cycle since Carson Kelly did it on March 31, 2025. Before Crow-Armstrong and Kelly, no Cub had hit for the cycle since Grace.
Crow-Armstrong is also the first player to hit for the cycle in reverse order since Rajai Davis did it for Cleveland on July 2, 2016. *Cubs fans shiver*
Crow-Armstrong simply cannot cool off. White-hot may be the only way to describe what he’s been doing at the plate over the last month.
He’s slashing .433/.438/.900 over his last 15 games, and his season slash line is up to .277/.351/.493 (.844 OPS). He’s on pace for 7.9 fWAR, which is the best such projection for a position player in the NL. That’s not just an All-Star campaign. That’s MVP stuff!
Cardiac Cubs Strike Again
Two things can be true at once — yes, the Cubs have struggled to deliver with runners in scoring position. They stranded the bases loaded in the 7th, went 1-for-10 with RISP and left 15 on base.
And yet, they’ve established themselves as MLB’s walk-off kings. Their nine walk-off wins still lead the league. When they put themselves in a position to mount a comeback at home, they’ve often cashed in and put on a show.
Crow-Armstrong’s historic day nearly went to waste in the top of the 7th when Caleb Thielbar gave up a go-ahead, three-run home run to Rockies shortstop Cole Carrigg.
Crow-Armstrong’s sacrifice fly in the 8th cut the deficit in half, but the Cubs couldn’t scrape the go-ahead run across.
Daniel Palencia held the deficit at one in the 9th, and then it was time for Cubs chaos.
It started with a lead-off walk for Seiya Suzuki. The threat remained afloat when Ian Happ reached on a dribbler that Rockies pitcher Juan Mejia skied over second base. Nico Hoerner walked to load the bases, and up came rookie Pedro Ramirez to notch the biggest hit of his young career — a game-tying single punched to right.
With no outs and the bases loaded, Matt Shaw sat back and let Rockies righty Seth Halvorsen struggle to hit the zone, as he drew a five-pitch walk-off walk. Shaw had a two-hit, two-RBI night in the win.
Game over, job done. Sometimes it’s ugly, but the Cubs will take any win they can get right now.
Shota’s Clean Sweep
Twice Shota Imanaga saw the Rockies this season, and twice he shut them down with ease.
Neither start was projected to be easy for Imanaga. For a pitcher who has struggled with the home run ball, the thin air Coors Field and the wind blowing out at Wrigley are never great concoctions for success.
But Imanaga has managed to prove doubters wrong these last two outings. On June 10, he threw five scoreless innings, struck out seven, and allowed just two hits.
On Monday, he went 5.2 innings, allowed an earned run on five hits and struck out three.
Best of all, Imanaga did not allow a home run in either start. It marks the first time he’s allowed 0 home runs in back-to-back starts since April 26 and May 2.
Imanaga lowered his season ERA to 4.26 and his WHIP to 1.06 in 86.2 innings following the outing.
Coming Up Next
It will be same time, same place for Game 2 of the series on Tuesday as the Cubs try to notch consecutive series wins for the first time since May 5.
Edward Cabrera (4-3, 4.86 ERA) will take the mound after allowing two earned runs over 5.1 innings to the Rockies last time out. Cubs hitters will face right-hander Ryan Feltner (2-2, 5.20 ERA).
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