Cubs 1, Reds 0: A blast from the past

A pitching gem, and a single run, gave the Cubs an old-fashioned win.

One hour and forty-eight minutes!

That’s all it took for the Cubs to defeat the Reds 1-0 on a very windy Friday afternoon at Wrigley Field.

Before I get to the details of this game, a few notes on that game time.

It’s the fastest nine-inning game by time in MLB this year... in fact, it’s the fastest nine-inning MLB game in 14 years, since Cleveland and Detroit played a game at Comerica Park in 1:44 on June 2, 2010. You might have heard about that one — that’s the famous Armando Galarraga almost-perfect game.

It’s the fastest nine-inning game at Wrigley Field since May 24, 2001, when a one-hit shutout by Jon Lieber defeated ... the Reds, 3-0. The thing about that game, though, was that there was a rain delay of 1:37 in the fourth inning, so more than three hours elapsed from first pitch to last out.

The most recent nine-inning game at Wrigley that went 1:48 or shorter without any sort of delay was the first game of a doubleheader against the Phillies June 30, 1978, which the Cubs won 3-0, a three-hit shutout by Mike Krukow.

The pitch timer, obviously, was part of the reason for the speed of this one, but also, Cubs and Reds hitters were putting balls in play. There were just two walks — both by Jameson Taillon — and seven total strikeouts. There were 202 total pitches thrown, 95 by Reds starter Nick Martinez, and 107 by Cubs pitchers (89 by Taillon, 10 by Tyson Miller, and eight by Porter Hodge).

Martinez threw the first eight-inning complete game by a visiting pitcher at Wrigley Field since Jordan Lyles of the Royals did so Aug. 20, 2023, a game the Cubs won 4-3. Previously it hadn’t been done since Gavin Floyd of the White Sox June 13, 2010, a game where Ted Lilly of the Cubs took a no-hitter into the ninth. (Thanks to BCB’s JohnW53 for looking this up for me when I emailed him about it!)

I absolutely love games like this. Good defense, great pitching and a bit of small ball played by the Cubs that resulted in the single run. The wind didn’t hurt either; at least four baseballs that would have landed in the bleachers on an ordinary day were held back by the wind noted at 22 miles per hour at first pitch.

Now let’s get to the details of this one.

In the top of the first with one out, Reds shortstop Elly De La Cruz doubled to deep center field off of Pete Crow-Armstrong’s glove.

But PCA then threw him out trying to stretch it to a triple [VIDEO].

In the second, Isaac Paredes flashed some glove [VIDEO].

The Cubs went down pretty meekly over the first four innings, with just two singles, one by Nico Hoerner, the other by Miguel Amaya. No Cub got past first base until Nico led off the fifth with a double [VIDEO].

PCA followed with a bunt attempt. Clearly he was trying for a hit, not a sacrifice, but he got the latter when he was thrown out, with Nico taking third.

Amaya followed with a sacrifice fly, scoring Hoerner [VIDEO].

So then it was up to Cubs pitching to finish things off. Taillon completed seven innings, allowed four hits and two walks, striking out two. Yes, he was helped by the wind and some good defense, but Taillon has had a very strong second half and in general, had an excellent 2024 season. Here’s some video of his outing [VIDEO].

And, here’s a summary of how Taillon did on this cloudy afternoon [VIDEO].

Tyson Miller, who had been warming up in the seventh in case Taillon got in trouble in that inning, came in to throw the eighth. With two out, he hit Jonathan India with a pitch, but then struck out De La Cruz to end the inning.

Then it was up to Porter Hodge for the save opportunity, and he did it quickly, with just those eight pitches noted above. A fly ball to center was the first out, then Hodge struck out Spencer Steer. Here’s the final out [VIDEO].

Here are a couple of details from this game, from BCB’s JohnW53;

This was the Cubs’ 100th shutout of the Reds at home since 1901, first season of the Modern Era. Those 100 are the Cubs’ most against any opponent. They have blanked the Braves 95 times; the Pirates, 91; and the Cardinals, 88.

The Cubs have played 1,131 games at home vs. the Reds. They have won 610, lost 512 and tied 8.

This was their 967th meeting at Wrigley Field, where the Cubs are 497-465-5, including 79 shutout wins.

Sacrifice flies became an official statistic in 1954. Today’s win was the Cubs’ ninth since then in which they scored their only run on a sac fly. They have lost 100 and tied three. They did it at New York against the Mets on May 1, making 2024 the first season in which they have won two such games.

With a game as crisply played as this one, you know what’s coming...

With the win, their 82nd, the Cubs clinch a winning season, their second in a row. Hopefully they can win the next two so they can exceed last year’s win total. Ultimately that means little, but at least it’d be a step in the right direction.

The Cubs will go for two in a row over the Reds Saturday afternoon at Wrigley Field. Kyle Hendricks will make what is likely his last start as a Cub and Rhett Lowder will go for the Reds. Game time is again 1:20 p.m. CT and TV coverage will be via Marquee Sports Network.