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Twins Take a Big Step Against the Cubs

Minnesota moved back to .500 and tightened the yellow-status race.

By BaseChaser · July 18, 2026 · 3 min read

The Twins beat the Cubs 5-2 at Wrigley Field on July 17.

Chicago scored first, but Minnesota answered in the third inning. Trevor Larnach tied the game with an RBI single, and Ryan Jeffers followed with a three-run homer to give the Twins a 4-1 lead.

Ryan Kreidler added an RBI single in the seventh. The Cubs got their second run in the sixth, but Minnesota held the rest of the way.

Bailey Ober earned the win after allowing two earned runs over 5.1 innings with seven strikeouts.

5-2
Final score, Twins over Cubs.
43.0%
Minnesota's latest BaseChaser playoff odds.
73.8%
Chicago's latest BaseChaser playoff odds.

What It Means

The Twins improved to 49-49. The Cubs fell to 54-43.

BaseChaser lists Minnesota at 43.0% to make the playoffs and Chicago at 73.8%.

Minnesota moved up 7.6 percentage points. Chicago dropped 2.3 percentage points on today’s BaseChaser board.

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