CUBS vs. PIRATES: Official Full Game Highlights (July 24) | 2026 MLB Season

Jared Jones, his car shield numbers on the season. We talked about the last three starts and how terrific he's been. 2-1-1 with a 4.05 ERA. 48 strikeouts in 40 innings. Here's Pete Crow Armstrong to lead it off. 3-2. Swung on and missed. Got him out in front of the slider. And the first of probably many strikeouts tonight for Jared Jones. 2-1 count on Seah Suzuki. Fly ball right center. Valdez is there. He'll make the catch. That's out number two. Here's Michael Bush and a swing and a liner. Caught at first by O'Hearn. He dove into foul territory and made a great diving play. The crowd loves it. Matthew Boyd. Well, let's tell you a little bit about the veteran left-hander. The Cubs are 5-0 in his last five starts. They're 8-2 in his ten starts so far this year. His slider has been outstanding. Taps softly on the ground right side. Horner takes it in and flips to first. And Nick Gonzalez puts a charge into this one but out to the deeper part of the park. PCA puts the squeeze on it. Two down. Here's a pop fly into shallow right center. It's going to be a 1-2-3 inning as Nico Horner makes the catch. Brian Reynolds pops out to second. Quick work for Matthew Boyd. Nicely done. Alex Bregman deleted off for Chicago. Ian Happ, Nico Horner to follow against Jared Jones. And that is ball four. So Bregman eyes it up. Doesn't chase. And a leadoff walk. That's nice. Breaks him out looking. I think he was looking for a slider there too after that fastball up. It just drives that fastball. 2-2. Swing and a ball. Lines sharply to center. Mangum back a few steps. Now over to his right to make the catch. Horner flies out to center. Two are gone in the Cubs' second. Jones on an 0-2. Swing and a foul back. Ball staying up there long enough maybe for Davis. Yes, the catch made. Right up against the screen. And Ramirez fouls out to the catcher. And that ends the inning. That leadoff walk never advanced past first. Here's ace Marilyn Valdez, a Pirates rookie. And Boyd doesn't care. He freezes him. It's a strikeout. Four in a row set down to begin. Swing and a miss. Struck him out. And there's two away. Matthew Boyd doesn't care about that either. Matthew's geeked up. He was walking off the field. He thought the inning was over. Ozuna hits one of the hole. It's short. Backhanded by Swanson. Smooth play by Dansby. Gets his man at first. Matthew Boyd walks off and says, now can I leave? What a way. And it's Dansby Swanson at the plate. No score. Top of the third. Here's a 1-2. And a swing and a miss. Swanson dispatched on a good slider. Two outs. Third strikeout for Jones. This one is hammered center field. That one back. Mangum near the wall. And he jumps and makes the catch. And then it spills out of his glove. And PCA into second. And they're going to say no catch. Mangum saying, I dropped it trying to make the transfer. Yeah, I didn't know that popped out of his glove when he hit the wall. Trying to plead his case before he even picks up the baseball. But that was not a catch. And now let's see if Seah Suzuki can drive in the game's first run. Pops this one up. And this is easy for Triolo. Jared Jones. Three scoreless. Nothing, nothing game. Brandon Lau will lead it off. Facing the lefty Matthew Boyd of the Cubs. And the 1-2 from the veteran left hander. Sidearm breaking ball. Swung on and missed. Strikeout number three for Matthew Boyd. Davis. He was down two quick strikes. Comes back to work a walk. Prolonging the inning. Bringing up Mangum with a man on. Ball looped over second. And that's going to be down for a base hit. Cut off by Crow Armstrong. And that holds Davis at second base. Mangum with the Pirates first hit. So now two aboard for Nick Gonzalez. Hitting at .337 with runners in scoring position. That one up the middle. Nikko steals a run. Throwback to third. And Bregman puts the tag on him. Heads up play and great athleticism. It's I.Q. and the athlete Nikko Horner. Wow. Bush lined out on a great play by O'Hearn in the first inning. While Jared Jones strikes out Michael Bush. He is five for 13 in his career against Jones. And a called third strike. Ring him up. Jones continues to sizzle. And that's out number two. Scoreless game. Bottom of the fourth. Ryan O'Hearn the batter. Way for O'Hearn who struck out on a slider against Boyd his first time. Ryan O'Hearn here. Bounces that one to first. Bush loves. Boyd is there. It's a seven pitch inning. Back-to-back walks. A little chink in the armor here. Matthew Boyd. Here comes Tommy Hadaway out of a Cubs bullpen to have a conversation with him. Be interested to see if Jared Shirola decides to bunt right here and move the runners. Even hitting in that eighth spot with Henry Davis on deck. Squares. And he gets it down. He wanted a perfect bunt. He got it. Beautiful. Bunt single to load them up. And like I said, if you're going to attempt a bunt right here, you either lay down a perfect bunt or you make it be fouled. And that's exactly what Jared Shirola did. Shirola loads the bases. Nobody out for Henry Davis. Deep enough fly ball gives the Pirates the lead. Little squibber. This is going to bring a run home. Davis is safe. 1-0. Nobody out. Little small ball for you. You don't need to hit the ball out of the infield to score. Look at this. Come on. Davis is fast. I don't think people realize he's not just fast for a catcher. His sprint speed when he gets going, he's quick. He beat that out no problem. Bases still loaded. Still nobody out. 1-0 Pittsburgh. And the ball hasn't left the infield this inning. Mangum pops it up. Shallow center. Dropping back corner. Coming in. Crow Armstrong. Crow Armstrong will make the play. One away. Runners stay where they are. Bases remain loaded. Works his motion and deals. Gonzalez swings. And it's a high fly ball. Shallow right near the line. Suzuki is under it. Makes the catch. Tagging and bluffing a tag is Lau as the throw is cut off by Bush. Two down. Surprised. Lau didn't go. Now you need a big two-out hit here from Reynolds. He's hitless in his last 13. In there. Got him. Great job of damage control by Matthew Boyd. The Pirates get one and only one. They leave him loaded. We'll head to the sixth. One down. They're going to bring up Pete Crow Armstrong. Pretty sure these two guys familiar with one another. Played against one another as kids. High fly ball. Right field. That one is back. That one near the high wall. And it's gone. They're Armstrong. And just like that, we're tied at one. You always have to wait on balls to right. The wall is very tall. 21 feet high. But that was a towering drive. And it got in there about four rows deep. Pirates and Cubs are tied at one. Wilbur Dotele, right-handed rookie on the pitch. He in half steps in. There's a check swing roller to the right side. Fielded by O'Hearn. Feeds the pitcher just in time. Dotele a little bit nonchalant running over to cover first. And Craig Council says, wait a minute. We might want to challenge that play. It was that close. We are. Yeah. It's very close at first base. This is one of those plays where you're going to have to slow the camera angle down very slow and stop it when you think he's caught the ball. The call on the field is overturned. Merced. Now let's see if that becomes a significant play in this game. Two-two. Line drive. Softly hits. Center field. Base in. Caps not stopping. On his way to third. Mangum's throw is cut off. And they're at the corners with one out. Nico Horner with a big nut. A couple of softies, but the Cubs in business now. First and third with just one out. Now a little situational hitting and the Cubs can take the lead. Pedro Ramirez batting left-handed infield back. Oh, let's see. Oh, Henry Davis. A huge challenge. Gigantic strikeout. Carson Kelly done some damage against Pittsburgh this year. Ground ball third. Scooped. And Wilbur Dotele gets out of it. Seventh inning stretch time. Looking for some runs. And now Henry Davis, who has been on base both times tonight, hit a soft ground ball to second and ended up going for an RBI single. Pitch. Swing and a ground ball. Hit hard and through. Base hit. Right past the diving try of Bregman at third. Henry Davis has been on base all three times. He singles the left here with one out. Bregman, you know, he's worried about giving up a double down that line. Get the go-ahead run in the scoring position. One-two. Davis runs. Pitch is dribbled right side. And it's off the glove. A push. And it goes into right field. Davis can get all the way to third as the ball is ran in. And it's a base hit for Mangum. And the ball finding the way that was left vacant when the base runner, Davis, took off. I love baseball. Maybe a flash from Nick Gonzalez is upcoming. He's been such a good clutch hitter. And the Pirates have first and third with one out. Boyd will be left in at least for Gonzalez. Fly ball left field. Fairly shallow. Hatt makes the catch on low. What else would you expect? Ian Hatt comes through. In the field bar is the new man on the mound. A veteran southpaw will go to work on the bottom of the order. Lau, Triolo, and Davis. Line drive caught. Alex Bregman, self-defense. And a nice play at third by Bregman. Off pitch. Swing and a miss. Strike three. A good overhand curveball gets him. And that's out number two. Henry Davis has driven in the only Pirates run. With his hit back in the fifth, he singled another time and walked. Two for two tonight. Popped up Swanson under it. And we're playing extras. On to the tenth. One-one game. Johan Ramirez tries to keep it tied. We'll have the automatic runner at second base, Ian Hatt. Two coming. Swing and a miss. Struck him out. Almost never see that. Ninety-eight up and away. And Horner has gone one out. Hatt is the lead runner at second. Pedro Ramirez on at first. Johan Ramirez pitching for the Pirates. In a one-one tie. Top of the tenth. Two outs. Line drive. Base hit. Center field. Hatt for round third. Mang him up with it. Here's a throw to the plate. Safe. Slide by Ian Hatt. A great slide. He went inside and avoided Davis. And the Cubs have a two-one lead. They're going to walk Crow Armstrong to load the bases. That pushes up the other two runners. That's how hot Crow Armstrong is in getting the bonds treatment. They'll take their chances with Seiya Suzuki, but it also puts a little more pressure on the pitcher to throw strikes. This is some move here. It's taken high, and the Cubs have scored again. The Cubs now lead three to one. A four-pitch walk to Suzuki. Again, you go back to the intentional walk to Pete Crow Armstrong. Ron, you knew that would put pressure on the pitcher, and it did. Cubs lead three to one. Bush at the plate. Struck him out, but damage done. Pirates will have their shot now with the top of the order due up. In the bottom of the tenth, down two. The automatic runner is Henry Davis at second. Miguel Amaya will catch. He'll bat on the eighth spot, and coming out of pitch is Gavin Hollowell. Right-handed pitcher, left-handed batter. It's butted toward third. Bregman will throw him out at first. Very nice play. Hollowell and Bregman were both in the area. Bregman obviously called him off and said, I've got it. Hollowell then bailed out. Bregman made the play. So they get the out at first, and now a runner goes to third. Now Nick Gonzalez with a man at third and one out. Hollowell delivers. Swing and a grumble right to short. That'll get the run in. And Swanson will throw on to first for the second out. Two outs and nobody on a 3-2 Cubs lead. Now you need Brian Reynolds. Oh, you need Brian Reynolds. This is such a big game, and, you know, what's the story tomorrow? Well, missed opportunities. It'll be Brian Reynolds trying to save the game for the Pirates. He's ahead 0-1. Line, drive, right field. Suzuki there. He's got it. And that's the ballgame. Cubs win. Hollowell closes it out, and the Cubs victorious in 10-3-2. The final. J.D., that's a good win. Yeah, good ballgame.