Colin Rea holds Blue Jays scoreless into sixth

Rea allowed seven hits, walked two and struck out just two. He also gave up a two-run homer to Pete Alonso. Still, he kept it together and departed with a 4-3 lead that held up, even though the final score was 9-7. Rea ends the first half 7-5 with a 4.75 ERA. Ideally, the Cubs will be able to stick him in middle relief at some point, but it’s not like he’s holding them back.

It wasn’t Rea’s best performance, but he had an 11-run cushion by the time he departed. The veteran righty has been a key part of the Cubs’ rotation as they’ve battled a long list of injuries, prompting a recent trade to acquire David Peterson from the Mets for immediate help. Rea is only a deep-league streaming option in his next start on the road against the Orioles.

Going toe-to-toe with Jacob Misiorowski, Rea did everything he could to keep his team in contention. The righty escaped a bases-loaded jam in the first inning when he forced Andrew Vaughn to ground out to end the threat, and took a shutout into the sixth inning. After allowing the first two runners he faced to reach base in the sixth, Rea was relieved by Ethan Roberts, who forced a double play to immediately get two outs, but gave up a two-run homer to Garrett Mitchell on the following at-bat to put the Brewers up 2-1. Rea would get charged with one earned run on the night, with the loss being credited to Roberts. Rea’s next start is scheduled for Wednesday against the Padres.

Ryan Rolison retired all four batters he faced as the opener today. Rea then kept the Giants scoreless until the fifth, when he gave up three of his four runs. The three hits in that inning were a 52-mph flare over Alex Bregman’s head, a popup double into no man’s land down the left field line and then a homer from Matt Chapman that would have stayed in play in 27 ballparks. Rea fell to 5-5 with a 5.35 ERA. He’s probably looking at a move to the bullpen if Matthew Boyd can return later this month. If the Cubs stay in the current rotation, he’ll face the Blue Jays on Saturday, but they could make adjustments after Thursday’s off day.

Rea allowed nine hits — two of those homers — and he walked three against two strikeouts. The right-hander gave up two in the first, three in the second, and two more in the third in an outing that saw the 35-year-old’s ERA bump up to 5.19 in the process. Matthew Boyd will be back soon from his knee injury, but for now, Rea is scheduled to start against the Giants on Sunday.

Taillon seems likely to land on the injured list. The Cubs are about to get Matthew Boyd back from his knee issue, so that’s something. Colin Rea would no longer be in danger of being replaced in the rotation with Taillon out.

Rea settled in decently well after letting up a run in each of the first two innings and fighting through some traffic in each. He set down seven of the last eight hitters he faced and the only one who reached – Zack Gelof via a walk – was picked off. Now, many of those outs were well hit balls that were fortunately hit directly at a defender, but it’s all the same in the box score. Just be cautious ahead of a two-start week for Rea coming up in Coors Field against the Rockies then in San Francisco against the Giants.

Rea punched out five opposing hitters on the night, though he also issued three free passes. He kept the Pirates off the board entirely through the first five innings, but they broke through for two runs while chasing him in the sixth — including a solo homer by Bryan Reynolds. Rea generated eight whiffs on 92 pitches, posting a CSW of 28 percent. He’ll look to extend his winning streak as he totes a 4.70 ERA and 1.37 WHIP into Wednesday’s tilt against the Athletics.

Two line-drive homers from Christian Walker accounted for all three runs. The second of those was a homer in only three ballparks. Rea allowed just two other hits and struck out four in his longest outing of the season. He’ll take a 4-3 record and a 4.83 ERA into his next start in Pittsburgh.

Rea struck out four and walked one in the contest, raising his ERA to 4.98 this season. Sunday was his tenth appearance (seventh start) of 2026, and he’ll likely continue to hold a rotation spot with Matthew Boyd (knee) on the IL. Rea’s next start lines up at home against the Astros.