Alex Bregman Delivers Cubs' 13th Walk-Off Win, Beating White Sox Again

Q: With conflicting reports of the game's final play, who truly delivered the historic walk-off blow for the Cubs?

Alex Bregman delivered the walk-off hit in the Tuesday night game in question. The confusion comes from two separate Cubs-White Sox thrillers being blended together. In the game described in the main news story — a 4-3 Cubs win at Wrigley on Tuesday — the White Sox intentionally walked Pete Crow-Armstrong with first base open after Carson Kelly doubled, and Bregman followed with the game-ending RBI single. Multiple reports, including the AP recap and Cubs coverage, match on that sequence. Pete Crow-Armstrong’s historic walk-off blow happened the night before, in Monday’s 7-5, 10-inning win. In that game, he hit a leadoff homer and later crushed his first career walk-off home run, becoming the first Cub ever to hit both a leadoff homer and a walk-off homer in the same game. So the clean answer is this: Bregman had the actual walk-off hit in Tuesday’s game, while Crow-Armstrong authored the historic walk-off homer in Monday’s game. The conflicting reports reflect two dramatic rivalry wins on back-to-back nights, not a disagreement over the same final play.

Q: Why did the White Sox's risky intentional walk backfire so spectacularly in the final moments of the Crosstown Classic?

It backfired because the White Sox chose to avoid Pete Crow-Armstrong and instead handed the deciding at-bat to another proven late-game hitter, Alex Bregman, while also creating a more dangerous baserunner situation. With Carson Kelly already on second in the ninth and first base open, Chicago intentionally walked Crow-Armstrong after Kelly’s leadoff double. The idea was understandable: Crow-Armstrong had been scorching hot, coming off a historic stretch that included leadoff home runs in consecutive games and a walk-off homer the night before. But the move put the go-ahead run on base and brought up Bregman, a veteran with a long track record in pressure spots. That is exactly what hurt them. Bregman had already tied the game once with an RBI single in the seventh, showing he was locked in. In the ninth, after the intentional walk, he delivered again, singling to bring Kelly home and end the game. Instead of neutralizing the Cubs’ hottest bat, the White Sox gave the inning to another clutch hitter and increased the Cubs’ margin for winning with a simple base hit. The decision also reflected the broader risk of intentional walks in that setup. Recent examples around the league have shown that walking a dangerous hitter with men on can quickly unravel if the next batter makes contact. Against a Cubs team that has thrived in tight games and now owns an MLB-leading 13 walk-off wins, the gamble left almost no room for error. Bregman made sure the error was immediate.

3 articles · Updated · Bleacher Nation · Aug 18

Alex Bregman drove in Carson Kelly from second after Pete Crow-Armstrong was intentionally walked, giving the Cubs a second straight walk-off win over the White Sox at Wrigley Field.
Bregman also tied the game with an RBI in the seventh, making him central to both the comeback and the finish.
The decision to walk Crow-Armstrong flipped the previous game's script, when the White Sox pitched to him and he produced the winner.
Chicago's 13th walk-off victory of the season underscored the late-game value Bregman and Nico Hoerner were brought in to add to a power-heavy lineup.