Cubs walk off Blue Jays in extra innings after Alex Bregman's game-tying HR off Louis Varland

The Chicago Cubs have been winning quite a few games recently, but no game has been quite like what they did Thursday against the Toronto Blue Jays.

With his team trailing 2-0 and down to its last strike, Alex Bregman got his bat on a curveball from All-Star closer Louis Varland and sent it to the left-field stands for a game-tying homer. It was Varland's first blown save of the season and his second home run allowed in 2026.

With no further runs, the teams went to extra innings and remained scoreless in the 10th inning, with the Blue Jays benefiting from an incredible jumping catch by second baseman Ernie Clement. Toronto again failed to score in the 11th, opening the door for the Cubs to walk it off in the bottom of the frame.

There was an initial disappointment for Cubs fans when Carson Kelly got thrown out while trying to score from second on a Pete Crow-Armstrong single, but that set up a game-ending mistake for Toronto.

Having advanced to second on the previous play, Crow-Armstrong attempted to steal third with Michael Busch at the plate, and the throw from Blue Jays catcher Brandon Valenzuela wound up going into left field, to the delight of Wrigley Field.

It was a great win for the Cubs and a mortifying loss for the Blue Jays. Their ace, Dylan Cease, posted one of his best starts of the season, with 10 strikeouts and two hits allowed in seven scoreless innings, only for Varland to cough up those two runs in the ninth.

On offense, Toronto went an incredible 1-for-19 with runners in scoring position Thursday. This could have been a very different game for the Blue Jays, but they failed to execute at nearly every critical juncture.

That's hardly a change from how their season has been going. After reaching the World Series last year, Toronto has been one of the most disappointing teams in baseball with a 54-62 record, good for last in the AL East. They sold what they could at the MLB trade deadline earlier this week.

As for the Cubs, they have won four straight after sweeping the Los Angeles Dodgers this week and have won eight of their past 11. They remain second in the NL Central at 67-49, five games back from the first-place Milwaukee Brewers but with breathing room for the top NL wild-card spot.