Three two-run homers lift Braves past Cubs 6-3 after Chicago’s early lead at Wrigley

Chicago built the lead, but never widened it

For much of the evening, this looked like the kind of Cubs win assembled through steady pressure rather than fireworks. Chicago opened the scoring in the second when Pedro Ramirez singled to center, bringing home Michael Busch while Matt Shaw moved to second. It was modest offense, but it worked, and the Cubs kept adding to it without ever needing a ball to leave the yard.

The fourth inning pushed that edge to 3-0 and should have felt substantial. Ramirez brought in Busch again on a fielder’s choice, and the play grew more costly for Atlanta when Shaw was safe at third on a throwing error by shortstop Mauricio Dubón. Miguel Amaya then added a sacrifice fly to left to score Shaw. That sequence mattered because it accounted for the unearned portion of Chicago’s offense and gave the Cubs a three-run cushion behind Kevin Gausman, who struck out six and did not issue a walk in 5.2 innings.

But there was a warning inside the lead. Chicago’s offense finished with only five hits, all singles, and left 13 runners on base. Shaw’s 2-for-2 night and Busch scoring twice gave the Cubs useful table-setting, yet the lineup never found an extra-base hit to deepen the damage. Against a team with Atlanta’s power, 3-0 was real, but it was not roomy.

Atlanta answered with thunder

The Braves did not chip away one run at a time. They detonated the deficit. In the sixth, Drake Baldwin was aboard when Acuña Jr. drove a 371-foot homer to left-center, instantly cutting the game to 3-2. After five scoreless innings, Atlanta had changed the entire shape of the night with one swing.

An inning later, Albies did even more. With Austin Riley on base, Albies sent a 396-foot drive to right-center for another two-run homer, and this one flipped the scoreboard for good at 4-3. The game turned sharply at that bullpen hinge: Gausman had kept Chicago in front, but Jacob Webb’s brief seventh-inning work ended with Atlanta suddenly leading.

The ninth supplied the last proof that Atlanta’s offense was carrying a different kind of weight. Baldwin homered to right, 376 feet, and Albies scored in front of him for the third two-run shot of the night. That is the cleanest explanation of this result: all six Braves runs came on three homers, while Chicago finished with five total bases for the entire game. Atlanta did leave 10 runners on base and struck out nine times, so this was not a flawless offensive performance. It was simply the one with force behind it.

Our take: power decided it, but the details mattered too

Atlanta’s win deserves more than the easy headline about home runs, even if the home runs were the headline. Martin Perez gave the Braves six innings, allowed three runs but only two earned, and kept the score from breaking open despite four walks. Then Didier Fuentes and Raisel Iglesias closed the door with three hitless, scoreless innings. That relief work was especially important because the Cubs were not overwhelmed by strikeouts; they struck out only four times. Atlanta’s pitchers won by limiting damage and, crucially, by allowing no extra-base hits at all.

For the Cubs, the place to start is not panic over pitching but a clearer look at the missed offensive margin. Chicago drew four walks, put five singles on the board, and still finished with just three runs because so many of those chances stalled. A lineup that leaves 13 aboard and produces zero doubles, triples or homers is asking its run prevention to be nearly perfect. The patience was there. The impact contact was not.

The other Chicago problem was the handoff after Gausman. He left after 5.2 innings having allowed only two runs, with the Cubs still ahead 3-2, and the bullpen could not hold that shape. Webb and Edward Cabrera combined to give up four runs on four hits, three walks and two homers over the rest of the game. As for Atlanta, there is still something to clean up in victory: the Braves stranded 10 men and their fourth-inning throwing error helped Chicago score an unearned run. Even so, when one team posts 19 total bases and the other posts five, the final score usually catches up to that gap. Tuesday’s 6-3 finish did exactly that.

Scoring moments

1. 2nd Inning

   Ramirez singled to center, Busch scored, Shaw to second.

2. 4th Inning

   Ramirez grounded into fielder's choice to shortstop, Busch scored, Shaw to second, Shaw safe at third on throwing error by shortstop Dubón.

3. 4th Inning

   Amaya hit sacrifice fly to left, Shaw scored.

4. 6th Inning

   Acuña Jr. homered to left center (371 feet), Baldwin scored.

5. 7th Inning

   Albies homered to right center (396 feet), Riley scored.

6. 9th Inning

   Baldwin homered to right (376 feet), Albies scored.