Game Recap: Turner walks it off as Cubs top Orioles

David Banks - USA Today Sports

Dustin Riese · Senior Writer · 8 hours ago

CHICAGO - As long as the Chicago Cubs (65-46) can continue to get good starting pitching, they will have a chance to win most of their games. At some point, however, they would love for their bullpen and lineup to start to pull their weight, as that aspect of the team has been a struggle for quite a while and is a big reason why this is nothing more than a .500 team for two months.

You saw a lot of those similarities all weekend at Wrigley Field as the Cubs capped off a series win against the Baltimore Orioles (51-61) in difficult fashion. Given what the Orioles gave away at the deadline, this was a series that, on paper, the Cubs not only had to have, but theoretically should've swept.

Instead, the Cubs came close to getting swept themselves or, at the very least, losing two of three, as things weren't shaping up the way they were hoping for on Sunday. For the second straight day, the Cubs held a late-game lead only to have the bullpen let that lead get away late with Daniel Palencia blowing his first save in over two months. Fortunately for them, it was Justin Turner saving the day as he delivered a walk-off two-run blast to lead the Cubs to a 5-3 win.

"In the offseason, my whole goal was to win. I wanted to go somewhere and have a chance to win ... I want to win a championship," Turner said to reporters after his walk-off blast."

Once again, it was a shorter outing than what the Cubs were hoping for from Colin Rea, but he continues to give them all they can ask for more often than not. Rea walked one and struck out four across 4 2/3 innings, allowing two runs before handing things off to the pen. Opposing him was right-hander Brandon Young, who entered the game sporting a 0-5 record and an ERA near 6.00 in eight starts.

He looked like a completely different pitcher on Sunday as he matched Rea with 4 2/3 innings, allowing two runs, but none of the runs charged to him were earned, as he outpitched Rea most of the day. Even if things didn't come as easily as the Cubs would've liked, they controlled most of this series, and a big reason for that was being able to put up early runs on the Orioles' pitching.

That was again the case in this one as a leadoff error allowed Michael Busch to reach base while a sacrifice bunt from Kyle Tucker set the offense up. Three batters into the game, and it was the Cubs on top 1-0 as Seiya Suzuki drove home the game's first run with a single. Chicago added a run later in the inning on a clutch two-out double from Ian Happ as they jumped on Young quickly 2-0.

Apart from that, the Cubs' offense was quiet as Young settled in on the mound to make things difficult, which allowed for the Orioles to continue battling back. That started in the third inning as a leadoff hit by pitch, followed by a Jackson Holliday single, which put two runners on with no outs. Gunner Henderson managed to drive home a run a few batters later on an RBI force out, only to have Carson Kelly gun him down on an attempted steal to put an end to the inning.

Baltimore continued their comeback bid in the fourth with Adley Rutschman leading things off with a double before racing home on the Colton Cowser single to bring things back to even 2-2. Once again, Rea was able to limit the damage as he retired the next four hitters he faced before exiting the game with two outs in the fifth as Drew Pomeranz and the bullpen took over.

For the third time in five innings, the Cubs had their opportunity to get to Young as a one-out walk from Busch was followed by a Tucker single as the Cubs were in business once again, only to come away empty. In what was now a battle of the bullpens from the sixth inning on, this is the one significant advantage the Cubs looked to have as a pair of two-out singles from Willi Castro and Nico Hoerner had Dietrich Enns on the ropes.

Dansby Swanson made it three consecutive singles as his single brought home the go-ahead run in what was now a 3-2 Cubs lead. Two more hits from Tucker and Suzuki had the Cubs in business once again to begin the seventh, only to have a double play put an end to the inning and help the Orioles get off the hook.

Had it not been for a leadoff walk to begin the eighth, the combination of Pomeranz, Andrew Kittredge, and Brad Keller would have been perfect as they were about as dominant as the Cubs could've hoped for. Then came the ninth, where Palencia was called on to close things out and was looking for his 15th consecutive save.

What started with a leadoff double by Cowser to put Palencia in a pinch found the Orioles in a tough spot as Palencia was one out away from finishing things off. Sometimes the last out is the toughest out to get, and that rang true here as Ryan Noda connected for an RBI single off Palenica, pushing home the tying run and putting the pressure back on the Cubs' offense in the bottom of the ninth.

For the first time in what feels like forever, not only did the Cubs' offense take that pressure head-on, but they seemed to thrive as the Orioles gifted them the go-ahead runner on base with a leadoff error. That was the beginning of the end for Baltimore as Turner followed that error with a two-run shot into the left-center field bleachers as the Cubs walked off the Orioles 5-3 to take the series.