Chicago Cubs Score and Recap (7/29/26): Cardinals 3, Cubs 2 F/10 – PCA Homer Not Enough in Extras Loss

The Cubs and Cardinals played a full nine innings that were largely uneventful on Wednesday night, with no runs crossing the plate. That changed dramatically in the 10th inning, when the road team jumped ahead and then the home side responded to walk it off in the bottom of the frame.

Matthew Boyd was excellent on the mound for Chicago, tossing seven shutout innings and navigating a couple of jams at the end of his outing. Dustin May and several St. Louis relievers were even better, allowing just an Alex Bregman double over nine frames.

After being kept quiet the whole night, Pete Crow-Armstrong woke up in a big way with an absolute tank of a two-run homer to right field off of Luis Gastelum that put the North Siders on top 2-0 in the top of the 10th. Trent Thornton came on to try and save it in the bottom half, and it did not go well. The Cards scored one run on an RBI groundout by Jordan Walker, and then Iván Herrera smoked a game-winning two-run double to right-center for a 3-2 victory. (Box score)

Key Moment

The Cubs had to use their two best bullpen pieces, Jacob Webb and Caleb Thielbar, just to reach extra innings. That forced them to go with the less-reliable Thornton at the end, and it wasn’t enough to make PCA’s homer stand up.

Why the Cubs Lost

They just could not get one run across in the first nine innings despite excellent work from the pitching most of the evening.

Stats That Matter

• Boyd continues to pitch very good baseball in the second half: 7 IP, 0 R, 4 H, 5 K, and 2 BB.
• Michael Conforto reached base three times with a pair of walks and a hit by pitch.

Bottom Line

It seems like an old baseball cliché that you struggle to score the next day after you put up 10 runs, but that’s what happened to the Cubs on Wednesday. The good news is that Boyd is pitching like an ace again, which is a very positive harbinger for the final two months. The outcome of this game is just more evidence that Jed Hoyer has to do something in the trade market to solidify the pitching staff in the next five days.

On Deck

The Cubs try to win the series Thursday afternoon at 1:15pm CT. Javier Assad gets the start against Andre Pallante in a game broadcast on Marquee with a radio feed on The Score.