The Braves’ comeback formula did not carry into Wednesday. Atlanta fell 8–4 to the Cubs at Wrigley Field on September 16, a night when Chicago’s power and starting pitching put the visitors in a hole they never escaped.
The result left Atlanta at 89–64 and Chicago at 85–68. The teams finished their three-game series with two Cubs wins, according to the game summary and box score. Atlanta had won the middle game 6–3, but Wednesday brought a much different first half of the evening.
Chicago’s biggest bats did the damage
Pete Crow-Armstrong hit two solo home runs and added a run-scoring triple. Alex Bregman contributed a homer, triple and double while driving in four runs. The pair accounted for seven of Chicago’s eight RBIs, giving the Cubs production beyond the three balls they sent over the fence.
Associated Press reporting noted that Crow-Armstrong’s 43rd homer broke Billy Williams’ franchise mark for a left-handed hitter, set in 1970. His second of the night pushed his season total to 44. For the Braves, the record was the backdrop to a more immediate problem: stopping the inning before another extra-base hit arrived.
The fifth inning widened the gap
Chicago scored in the first, third and fourth innings, then added three in the fifth. Crow-Armstrong’s triple brought in a run before Bregman’s two-run triple made it 6–0. Atlanta’s starter, JR Ritchie, finished with six earned runs allowed over 4⅔ innings.
Reuters reported that this was Ritchie’s first major-league appearance since August 2. He struck out five and walked two. The difficult return does not settle his longer-term role, but it left Atlanta needing both a rally and several innings from the bullpen.
Imanaga limited the chances
Shota Imanaga gave Chicago six innings with one run allowed, eight strikeouts and no walks. After Atlanta collected three hits in the first two innings, he retired 11 consecutive batters before Ronald Acuña Jr. doubled in the sixth, according to the AP recap.
That stretch explains why the deficit became so demanding. Without walks or sustained traffic on the bases, Atlanta needed to create its offense almost entirely through hits. The Cubs, meanwhile, were adding to their advantage before the Braves had put a run on the board.
A late push narrowed the score
Atlanta scored once in the sixth, once in the seventh and twice in the ninth. Mauricio Dubón had a triple and a double, with his ninth-inning double driving in a run. Sean Murphy’s groundout brought home another before the Cubs recorded the final out.
The MLB game page records eight Atlanta hits against Chicago’s 12. The late scoring reduced the final margin, but it did not erase the Cubs’ early advantage. The Braves never led.
Houston comes next
The AP recap lists an off day Thursday before Atlanta starts a three-game series in Houston on Friday. Wednesday was an opportunity to clinch a postseason spot with a win and help elsewhere; that combination did not come together.
For Atlanta, the useful reset is straightforward: limit the early extra-base damage and give the lineup a closer game to work with. One September loss is not a verdict on a season, but the difference between Tuesday’s rally and Wednesday’s defeat shows how quickly the workload changes when a starter cannot get through the middle innings. All results here reflect the completed September 16 game.
