Nothing looked threatening for Toronto through six innings at Wrigley Field. The Blue Jays trailed 5-0 and had managed nothing against the Cubs' pitching. Then the seventh inning arrived, and then the eighth, and by the time it was over, Toronto had scored eight unanswered runs to win 8-6 before 40,706.
The Cubs built their lead on power. Matt Shaw's three-run homer to left in the second — a 390-foot shot that scored Alex Bregman and Ian Happ — gave Chicago an early cushion. Pete Crow-Armstrong extended it in the sixth, connecting on a 400-foot drive to right that scored Dansby Swanson, pushing the lead to 5-0. Shaw finished 1-for-5 with 3 RBI. Crow-Armstrong went 2-for-4 with a homer and 2 RBI.
Toronto began its climb in the seventh. Daulton Varsho homered to right, a 368-foot blast that scored Vladimir Guerrero and Kazuma Okamoto, cutting the deficit to 5-3. The eighth inning is where the game turned. Straw scored on Alejandro Kirk's single to left, making it 4-5. Then Springer scored on Vladimir Guerrero's single to center, tying the game at 5-5. From that tie, Okamoto homered to left center — 377 feet — scoring Pinango and Guerrero to put Toronto ahead 8-5. It was the go-ahead swing, and the Blue Jays never trailed again. Okamoto finished 1-for-3 with a homer, 3 RBI, and 2 runs scored. Varsho added 3 RBI on his 1-for-4 night.
Jacob Webb absorbed the damage for Chicago. The Cubs reliever allowed 3 runs on 3 hits in just 0.2 innings, taking the loss to fall to 1-2. Jeff Hoffman, who worked a scoreless inning for Toronto, earned the win to improve to 5-4. Louie Varland closed it out with 2.0 scoreless innings, striking out 2, to record his 15th save of the season, carrying a 1.07 ERA. Colin Rea had kept the Blue Jays off the board through 5.1 innings, allowing 3 hits with 3 strikeouts and no runs, but the decision went against his bullpen.
George Springer appeared in his 1,500th career game in this contest. Toronto fell to 37-39 with the loss snapping a brief run, while Chicago dropped to 40-36 despite having won two straight entering the night.