Detroit Tigers at Chicago Cubs: Final Score & Recap
Line Score
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | R | H | E |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| DET | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 8 | 12 | 1 |
| CHC | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 6 | 11 | 1 |
The Story
The Detroit Tigers erased a three-run deficit and outlasted the Chicago Cubs 8-6 in ten innings at Wrigley Field on July 20, 2026, completing a comeback that the DiamondIQ model's estimate had made look unlikely — Chicago entered the game with a 63 percent pre-game win probability and still held a meaningful edge heading into the late innings. Detroit struck first and hardest, plating four runs in the top of the first, but the Cubs answered with three in the third to claw back into the game, and the contest remained tightly contested through the middle frames before a series of late swings reshaped everything.
The decisive sequence began in the eighth inning, when Ian Happ connected for a two-run home run off Kyle Finnegan, a swing that shifted win probability by 35.3 percentage points in Chicago's favor and momentarily gave the Cubs the lead. Detroit countered immediately, as Dillon Dingler hit a home run off Tyler Ferguson in the top of the eighth that had already swung the model's estimate by 14.9 points for the Tigers. The ninth inning provided its own drama, with Dansby Swanson drawing Chicago back within reach via a double off Kenley Jansen worth 17.5 points of win probability, but Seiya Suzuki's strikeout against Jansen to end the inning cost the Cubs 19.0 points and left the game level heading to extras. In the tenth, Riley Greene delivered a go-ahead single off Trent Thornton that moved the needle 32.0 points toward Detroit, and the Tigers added two more runs to build a cushion they would not relinquish.
Among the game's standout performers, Happ finished as the top batter by WPA at plus-25.3 with a 1.1 RE24, though his heroics ultimately came on the losing side. Dingler and Greene each posted identical RE24 marks of plus-2.0, with Dingler at plus-20.8 WPA and Greene at plus-18.4, anchoring Detroit's late-game surge. On the pitching side, Ryan Rolison led all pitchers with plus-15.6 WPA, followed by Jacob Webb at plus-13.5 and Jacob Waguespack at plus-11.8, a trio whose collective stability helped the Tigers preserve a win that required the full ten innings to secure.