MLB Recap · September 1, 2023

Chicago Cubs at Cincinnati Reds: Final Score & Recap

CHC2
Final
CIN3

Line Score

Team123456789RHE
CHC001010000251
CIN001000002380

The Story

The Cincinnati Reds defeated the Chicago Cubs 3-2 on September 1, 2023, at Great American Ball Park in a game that remained tightly contested through eight innings before a stunning ninth-inning collapse by Chicago sealed the outcome. The DiamondIQ model opened with a 52 percent home win probability for Cincinnati, a figure that climbed to 100 percent by game's end following a two-run Reds rally that erased a 2-1 Cubs advantage.

The decisive sequence came in the bottom of the ninth against Adbert Alzolay. Noelvi Marte delivered a single that swung win probability by 35.9 points in Cincinnati's favor, setting the stage for Nick Martini's walk-off home run, which added another 47.1 points and ended the game outright. Those two plays in succession represented the sharpest win-probability swing of the night and effectively undid the work Chicago had built across the previous eight frames. Earlier, Cody Bellinger had given the Cubs a lead with a third-inning home run off Lyon Richardson, worth 10.9 points of win probability, and Ian Happ extended the advantage with a fifth-inning single off Sam Moll that added 12.7 points. A Spencer Steer strikeout in the bottom of the eighth against Mark Leiter Jr. briefly preserved Chicago's hopes, registering a 19.9-point swing in the Cubs' favor.

Among individual performers, Nick Martini led all batters with a WPA of plus-38.2, while Marte contributed plus-22.5 and Jake Fraley added plus-14.2 with a team-best RE24 of plus-1.1. On the pitching side, Hayden Wesneski paced all hurlers with a WPA of plus-27.1, followed by Leiter Jr. at plus-23.3 and Ian Gibaut at plus-14.0, though none of their efforts proved sufficient once Alzolay entered in the ninth and allowed the Reds to walk it off.

Analysis generated by DiamondIQ's model.

Win Probability

755025CHC bats firstFinalCIN win %CHC win %
DiamondIQ model home win probability across the game (pre-game 51.8% → final 100%).

Biggest Plays by Win-Probability Added

Nick Martini Home Run
Bot 9th · off Adbert Alzolay
+47.1%
Noelvi Marte Single
Bot 9th · off Adbert Alzolay
+35.9%
Spencer Steer Strikeout
Bot 8th · off Mark Leiter Jr.
-19.9%
Ian Happ Single
Top 5th · off Sam Moll
+12.7%
Cody Bellinger Home Run
Top 3rd · off Lyon Richardson
+10.9%

Top Batters by WPA

Nick Martini+38.2%+0.3 RE24
Noelvi Marte+22.5%-0.1 RE24
Jake Fraley+14.2%+1.1 RE24

Top Pitchers by WPA

Full box score, pitch data, and the play-by-play timeline
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