BOX SCORE

The Cubs (55-38) were on a mission on Thursday — to avoid a three-game sweep for the very first time this season.

A comfortable 8-1 win over the Twins (45-48) ensured that the record is safe, and the Cubs are now back in the win column after a rough first two games.

Here are three things we learned as the Cubs salvaged the series finale to keep a buffer in the NL Central standings:

Stopgap savior

Colin Rea saw the Twins jump on both Shota Imanaga and Cade Horton for first-inning runs in the last two games. 

It was clear he was determined to avoid that fate on Thursday, and he did so in the most efficient of manners when he threw just six pitches to set the Twins down in order in the first. 

In the second, Rea got into a bit of a jam when he found himself working around a leadoff double and subsequent walk with no outs. However, he was able to induce a double play ball from Carlos Correa before a popout to get him out of the inning unscathed.

Rea kept rolling through his first four innings, with the double remaining the only hit he allowed.

A solo shot from Kody Clemens followed by a Royce Lewis single in the fifth inning looked to be an inkling of the Twins figuring Rea out — but the righty remained as efficient as he was in the first and only needed 65 pitches through five innings. 

Rea came back out for the sixth and set the Twins down in order. He did it again in the seventh, striking out the last two batters he saw as his final act. 

A stellar performance from Rea saw him bow out after throwing seven one-run frames, allowing just three hits while striking out five. It was Rea’s longest — and perhaps best — outing of the season when the Cubs needed it most. 

Five-star review 

Pete Crow-Armstrong entered Thursday still hitless at Target Field. 

He changed that in a big way, first with a two-run home run in the third inning. The 414-foot blast was his 24th of the season, inching him closer to his teammate Seiya Suzuki at the top of the Cubs’ home run leaderboard.

But Crow-Armstrong’s home runs have seemed to come in bunches a whole lot this season, and he wasn’t done yet. He went deep once again in the seventh inning, this time a 425-foot solo shot to make it No. 25 on the season and equal Suzuki in their never-ending cat and mouse game. 

Just like the All-Star he is, Crow-Armstrong added a hustle double in the ninth inning to make it a 3-for-4 bounce-back day. 

Crow-Armstrong now has five multi-home run games this season, and he’s the first player to ever rack up 25 home runs and 25 steals with 70 RBI before the All-Star break. 

Put the brooms down!

The Cubs have not won any of their last five road series — that was already settled after Wednesday’s 4-2 loss. They dropped two in each of Detroit, Philadelphia, Houston and now Minnesota, while grabbing a series split in St. Louis. 

However, not all hope was lost for the Cubs on Thursday: After an 8-1 win over the Twins, they remain one of two teams in MLB to have avoided a sweep in a three-game series, sharing that honor with fellow NL Central rival Cincinnati Reds. 

But contrary to Cincinnati, which has skidded for three or more games seven times this season, the Cubs have only lost three games in a row twice in 2025 — that’s the fewest in MLB. 

The snapped skid was helped in part by Rea’s shutdown performance and the righty finally got the run support that both Imanaga and Horton desperately needed in the previous two games. 

It began with Dansby Swanson’s double in the top of the second inning, cashed in by the ever-productive Nico Hoerner on an RBI single. 

Crow-Armstrong’s home run in the third made it 3-0 and opened the floodgates. The Cubs kept adding on after that, putting four more runs on the board in the span of the next two innings. 

It’s a display of this Cubs team’s ability to bounce back no matter what this year, as they now own a 28-10 record in games after a loss. 

A trip to the Bronx awaits the Cubs as they get set to take on the New York Yankees in a three-game series beginning Friday at 6:05 p.m. CT. 

Coverage begins at 4:55 p.m. CT on Marquee Sports Network.