The Cubs carried a nine-game winning streak into their game against the Dodgers on April 24, 2026, matching their longest run since they won 11 straight from July 31 to Aug. 12, 2016. Chicago had also won nine in a row from Aug. 6-15, 2015 before losing its 10th game.
This streak was the 35th time the Cubs had won at least nine straight games since 1901, and they had taken the 10th game in 23 of those 35 runs. They had also been hard to topple this month without seeing much top-tier resistance, going 10-1 over 11 games and not facing an opponent with a winning record in that stretch. Their most recent game against a team above.500 before the Dodgers came on April 12, when they beat the Pirates 7-6 on a walk-off.
The numbers behind the run explain why the Cubs have looked so steady. They were 3-4 in 2026 against teams with more wins than losses, but 14-4 when they scored at least four runs, 12-1 when they scored six or more and 11-2 when they allowed three or fewer. When they gave up at least four, they were 5-7. That split made the matchup with Los Angeles a better test than the recent schedule had offered.
Michael Busch had reason to like Dodger Stadium. He carried a.317/.379/.633 career line there, with 19 hits in 60 at-bats, seven doubles, four home runs and 10 RBI. He hit.235/.333/.412 at the ballpark while with the Dodgers in 2023, then as a Cub in Los Angeles he put up a.423/.444/.923 line with 11 hits in 26 at-bats, four doubles, three homers and nine runs scored. Against his former club, Busch had been one of the few Cubs hitters with a clear track record in the building.
On the mound, Jameson Taillon brought his own history. He had allowed six home runs in 22.2 innings, and the current Dodgers were batting.260 against him. Kyle Tucker had homered off Taillon, while Shohei Ohtani and Teoscar Hernandez had each gone deep twice against him. Taillon had last started against Los Angeles on April 15, 2023 at Dodger Stadium, so this was a familiar opponent but a fresh setting for the Cubs’ right-hander.
Emmet Sheehan was the other side of the equation, making his first full year in the Dodgers rotation in 2026 after missing all of 2024 and part of last year following Tommy John surgery. He had never faced the Cubs before April 24, and among current Cubs only Alex Bregman was 1-for-4 and Michael Conforto was 0-for-3 against him. The pitching matchup, shown on Apple TV with Wayne Randazzo, Dontrelle Willis and Heidi Watney on the call, gave the game its cleanest edge: a hot Cubs team finally meeting an opponent capable of testing whether the streak was as real as the record suggested.
