As you might imagine, I had an entire recap written, or nearly so, about how the Cubs couldn’t afford too many more starts like this from Ben Brown, and the team went into the sixth inning trailing 8-3.

Eight unanswered runs made me proverbially rip up all that electronic text, and instead the Cubs had yet another incredible come-from-behind win, 11-8 over the Reds, in so doing taking the series. Coming back from that five-run deficit made this the Cubs’ biggest comeback win of 2025 to date.

And a lot of it was because of a pair of home runs from a guy who wasn’t even on the team a day ago, Reese McGuire.

The Cubs took the early lead with a pair of runs in the first inning, taking an early lead. Kyle Tucker walked with one out and Seiya Suzuki singled. Both runners moved up on a wild pitch and both scored on this single by Pete Crow-Armstrong [VIDEO].

But Brown got himself in trouble with walks in a 32-pitch first inning that also saw the Reds hit some baseballs hard. I’ll spare you the carnage, but by the time it was over the Reds had a 4-2 lead.

The Cubs cut the deficit to 4-3 when McGuire, in his first at-bat for the team, smacked a home run [VIDEO].

About that home run, from BCB’s JohnW53:

According to the data at baseball-reference.com, Reese McGuire is the 49th Cub since 1901 to hit a home run in his first game with the team. The first was Earl Webb, in 1927. The last before McGuire was Christopher Morel, on May 17, 2022.

McGuire is the 13th since 2000. The others, in order: Brant Brown, Phil Nevin, Kosuke Fukudome, Marlon Byrd, Starlin Castro, Cody Ransom, Javier Baez, Jorge Soler, Willson Contreras, Ian Happ, Trayce Thompson and Morel.

Brown held the Reds down for a while, at one point retiring 10 in a row, but then got touched up for more hard-hit balls in a four-run fifth that seemed to put the Cubs out of the ballgame. It started with a dribbler that McGuire couldn’t quite handle, but there were also several hard-hit balls in the inning before Brown was removed in favor of Caleb Thielbar.

The Cubs got one of the runs back in the top of the sixth. Nico Hoerner and Michael Busch led off with walks. A ground out by Matt Shaw moved the runners up. Nico scored on a wild pitch [VIDEO].

Ryan Brasier threw a scoreless sixth and then the Cubs bats went to work in the seventh. The first two hitters, Tucker and Suzuki, were routine outs. Dansby Swanson singled, extending his on-base streak to 24 games. PCA followed with a single and Nico doubled in both runners [VIDEO].

Busch followed with this RBI single and the Cubs trailed by one, 8-7 [VIDEO].

Drew Pomeranz, who has been outstanding since joining the Cubs, retired the Reds in the seventh without allowing a run.

In the top of the eighth, McGuire did it again [VIDEO].

Both of McGuire’s homers were off a lefthander, who McGuire historically has not hit as well as righthanders. That tied up the game and McGuire, that made this game the first multi-homer game of his career.

And JohnW53 answers the question you no doubt were asking:

Players who have hit two home runs in their first game as a Cub:

Earl Webb, on April 12, 1927, in 10-1 win at home vs. CardinalsJim Marshall, on Aug. 24, 1958, in 13-8 loss at home to Phillies

Reese McGuire, today — so he is first to do it on the road!

If the name Earl Webb sounds familiar, a few years after that homer (1931) he hit 67 doubles for the Red Sox, which remains the record for doubles in a season. And, of course, Jim Marshall later served as Cubs manager from 1974-76.

After McGuire’s homer, Happ walked and Tucker singled. Then, Suzuki — BOOM! [VIDEO]

With that, Suzuki matched PCA for the team lead with 14 homers. Here’s another view of Suzuki’s blast from field level [VIDEO].

Brad Keller threw the eighth and struck out the side, despite allowing a pair of singles. I’ll say it again, I was skeptical about Keller when the Cubs signed him but he has become one of the best relievers this team has. Kudos to Jed Hoyer & Co. for seeing this possibility in Keller and I’m happy to admit I was wrong.

McGuire came up in the top of the ninth with a chance to hit a third home run, but he flied to short center to end the inning.

Daniel Palencia got the save opportunity. He allowed a leadoff single to Elly De La Cruz, then retired three Reds in a row, two by strikeout, for his second save. Here’s the final out [VIDEO].

As noted on the Marquee broadcast, the Cubs have now outscored their opponents 53-3 from the sixth inning on over the last week. That’s just incredible. Also, props for more good work from the collective bullpen. They threw 4⅔ scoreless innings, allowing four hits and a walk, striking out seven.

The Cardinals also won Sunday, so the Cubs’ lead in the NL Central remains at two games. The Cubs completed a 4-2 road trip and in the first 12 games of their 21-game stretch against teams with records under .500, they are 9-3.

And so…

Though I will say this: These comeback wins are fun, but… at a certain point I’d like to see the Cubs take early leads and hold the opponents down.

The Cubs return to Wrigley Field this evening and they will open a three-game series against the Rockies Monday afternoon. Jameson Taillon will start for the Cubs and Carson Palmquist will go for the Rockies. Game time is 1:20 p.m. CT and TV coverage will be via Marquee Sports Network.