Los Angeles Dodgers at Chicago Cubs: Final Score & Recap

The Chicago Cubs defeated the Los Angeles Dodgers 7-6 at Wrigley Field on August 5, 2026, in a game that turned on a handful of pivotal swings and ultimately saw the DiamondIQ model's estimate of a Cubs victory climb from 51 percent before first pitch to a certainty by the final out. Chicago built its lead methodically through the early innings, scoring once in the first, twice in the second, and three more in the fourth to stake out a 6-1 advantage through four frames. The Dodgers, however, staged a dramatic eighth-inning rally, and the game's single largest win-probability event came in that half-inning when Shohei Ohtani connected for a home run off Ryan Zeferjahn, a swing that shifted win probability 18.0 percent toward Los Angeles and briefly made the outcome feel uncertain again. The Dodgers plated five runs in the top of the eighth to cut the deficit to one, but Chicago's bullpen slammed the door, and Tommy Edman's groundout to Jacob Webb to end the ninth — a play that swung win probability 7.1 percent against Los Angeles — closed out the Cubs' narrow win.

The game's top performer by win-probability contribution was Pete Crow-Armstrong, whose fourth-inning home run off Eric Lauer added 14.6 percent to Chicago's win probability and anchored his final line of plus-23.2 percent WPA and a RE24 of plus-3.0, the best of any position player on either side. Dansby Swanson's two-out double in the second inning, also off Lauer, had contributed an earlier 8.4 percent bump to Chicago's chances, and his overall WPA finished at plus-7.3. On the Dodgers' side, Ohtani's final WPA of plus-17.1 and RE24 of plus-2.8 reflected how close his eighth-inning blow came to turning the game, though it ultimately fell short.

On the mound, Jacob Webb was the game's most valuable reliever by WPA at plus-15.2 percent, protecting the one-run lead through the ninth, while starter Shota Imanaga contributed plus-14.6 percent WPA across his portion of the contest. Michael Busch's pop out in the bottom of the eighth, recorded as plus-6.9 percent WPA from Chicago's perspective as it preserved the lead by keeping Los Angeles from adding to their deficit, highlighted how tightly the late innings were managed by the Cubs' defense and bullpen. The Dodgers finished with 14 hits and committed one error to Chicago's zero, making Chicago's clean defensive performance a quiet but meaningful factor in preserving the one-run outcome.