Alex Bregman homers twice as Cubs beat Red Sox 6-2 in finale

Alex Bregman hit two home runs and collected four hits Sunday as the Cubs beat the Red Sox 6-2 in their final regular-season game. The clubs played at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg after a weather-related schedule change in Boston. Chicago finished with 13 hits and heads to San Diego for a best-of-three Wild Card Series beginning Tuesday.

Bregman did not wait to make an impact. His two-run homer off Tanner Houck in the first gave Chicago a 2-0 lead. Boston tied the game with Adley Rutschman’s solo homer and an Andruw Monasterio run-scoring groundout, but Bregman homered off Houck again in the third to put the Cubs ahead 3-2. The game stayed that close until the ninth.

Bregman’s RBI double opened Chicago’s three-run ninth; Gabriel Arias added a sacrifice fly and Michael Conforto doubled in another run. Braxton Garrett received the win after five innings, while Colin Rea covered the final two for the save. The official box score records a 13-to-5 edge in hits for Chicago and no Cubs errors. Those details matter because the Cubs had scored only nine runs across their previous five games, according to the Chicago Sun-Times.

The four-hit day carried more weight than a routine season-ending surge. Bregman returned to the lineup Friday after being hit in the face by a foul ball the previous Sunday and sustaining facial fractures. He finished the season with 28 homers. He told the Sun-Times that he wanted his swing to feel right before the playoffs and felt mechanically sound Sunday. That is his own assessment, not a medical clearance beyond the fact that he played.

The Cubs’ official video shows the first homer from a field-level view. The result gives Chicago some offensive momentum, but it does not settle the pitching plan: MLB reported that manager Craig Counsell had not named a Game 1 starter as of Sunday, with Matthew Boyd and Kevin Gausman under consideration. San Diego will host the opener Tuesday at 10 p.m. Eastern on Peacock and NBCSN.