Chicago Cubs Score and Recap (9/18/25): Reds 1, Cubs 0 – Greene Gem Stops Winning Streak at 4

A day after clinching a playoff berth, the Cubs ran into an absolute buzzsaw by the name of Hunter Greene on Thursday night. The Reds ace threw a complete-game shutout at the Great American Ball Park in a contest where just a single run crossed the plate.

Colin Rea was also brilliant, putting together what was easily his best performance in a Cubs uniform. Maybe any uniform. Cincinnati scored the only run in the 4th inning when Austin Hays doubled and then came home when Will Benson followed with his own shot off the wall.

Seiya Suzuki doubled down the left field line to give the Cubs their only hit against Greene in the top of the 7th. That would be all the hard-throwing righty would allow and the Reds won 1-0. (Box score)

Key Moment

Michael Busch worked a long at-bat in the top of the 9th and hit a very deep fly ball to right, but it died on the warning track just short of a game-tying home run.

Why the Cubs Lost

To paraphrase Bob Uecker playing Harry Doyle in the movie Major League, they only got one GD hit Thursday night.

Stats That Matter

• Rea deserved a much better outcome because he was great, striking out a career-high 11 Reds: 7 IP, 1 R, 4 H, 11 K, 0 BB.
• After reaching first base via an error in the 5th inning, Moisés Ballesteros took a deflected Pete Crow-Armstrong line drive off the helmet. The ball ricocheted into center field and became a force out at second base. Ballesteros did not come out of the game and appeared to be fine.

Bottom Line

Thursday just felt like one of those times the other team’s pitcher was in the zone and there was nothing the Cubs could do. They could also have feeling a bit hung over after celebrating Wednesday, but Greene being immensely talented was a big factor. The good news is the Padres also lost, so Chicago did not give up any of their lead for the top Wild Card spot.

On Deck

The second game of the series is Friday night at 5:40pm CT. Shōta Imanaga gets the start against Nick Lodolo in a matchup available on MLB Network and Marquee with a radio feed on 670 The Score.