Extra innings were needed to decide the winner on the final day of the regular season between the Chicago Cubs and the Cincinnati Reds. After a weekend series dominated by pitching, Sunday was no different, with a full nine-inning ball game going by with no runs coming across to score before the Reds put three on the board to win in the tenth. Neither skipper was willing to overwork their starter despite the spotless outings, and the bullpens continued to shut down the bats in this one until Ethan Roberts coughed up the go-ahead runs in the tenth.
Hunter Greene took the mound for the visiting Cincinnati Reds, ending his 2024 campaign on a high note. The right-hander tossed four scoreless innings while only surrendering one hit. It was much of the same in the other dugout with Caleb Kilian. Kilian had a much different season than Greene, spending most of the year on the IL before returning late in the season. Although brief, Kilian ended his 2024 with a great outing, going five innings and striking out four.
Bats Left Early For Offseason
After nine frames of action on Sunday afternoon, the Cincinnati Reds and Chicago Cubs had failed to put anything up on the scoreboard. It took extras for the first salvo of the game to be fired and it came off the bat of Elly De La Cruz. After a fitting start to the tenth frame where Noelvi Marte was picked off of second, a pair of batters reached base before De La Cruz lifted a ball just over the extended glove of Michael Busch at first and down into the right field corner.
Both runners came in to score and break the seemingly endless draw. De La Cruz was brought in to score by Tyler Stephenson, who punched a dribbler past a drawn-in infield to give the Reds a 3-0 advantage. For Cincinnati, it had been 28 consecutive scoreless innings against the Chicago Cubs until the tenth inning. After Buck Farmer notched his first save of the season, the Reds ended a six-game losing streak that dated back to before they made the move to fire David Bell.
Chicago Cubs Offense Ends Season On A Low Note
The Chicago Cubs offense was stifled all day, limited to weak and insignificant contact. They could only muster a total of three hits but had success when they were patient, drawing seven walks, four by Busch. Despite the frequent traffic on the base paths, they couldn’t make it count. In a microcosm of the 2024 season for the bats, the Cubs were 0-of-10 with runners in scoring position, including three chances with less than two outs in an inning.
Despite the offensive woes, the pitching left fans with a good feeling heading into the offseason. After Caleb Kilian worked five shutout innings, Hayden Wesneski tossed two scoreless to get the game into its later stages. In what is likely his final appearance as a Cub, Drew Smyly got into a jam and was removed in favor of Keegan Thompson. Thompson wouldn’t stay in the game long as he would leave with a lower leg injury that does not bode well for his availability in 2025.
Nate Pearson came in to relieve Thompson and Pearson was able to strike out Spencer Steer to end the inning and escape the threat. Pearson came back out for the ninth and got the game to the bottom of the inning with the game still deadlocked at 0-0. When the Cubs weren’t able to push anything across to end the season in walk-off fashion, Ethan Roberts came in for the tenth and allowed the ultimate game-winning runs to be scored and the Reds to take the final game of the season 3-0.
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