The Cubs' victory over the Reds on Friday was their 250th by 1-0 since the start of the Modern Era in 1901.
They have lost 253 games by 1-0.
They have played 18,743 games over those 121 seasons, so the 1-0 wins represent just 1.3 percent of their games.
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ABOUT 1 IN 5 WINS ON HOMER
Yesterday was the 56th of those 250 wins in which the Cubs' only run came on a home run. They have lost 44 such games, most recently to the Brewers, on June 13, 2018.
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ABOUT 1 IN 7 WIN WITH FEW HITS
In a 1-0 win over the Giants in 1936, the Cubs made 12 hits.
In a dozen other 1-0 wins, they made at least 10.
They have made no more than the 3 hits they made yesterday in 38 wins by 1-0: 3 in 28 games, 2 in 9 games and 1 just once, on July 4, 1906, against the Pirates.
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COMBINATION EXCEEDINGLY RARE
But yesterday was only the 8th game which the Cubs have won by 1-0 on a home run AND had no more than 2 other hits.
That is 8 out of 250 wins by 1-0, about 1 of every 31, and 8 out of 18,743 games -- less than 0.05 percent!
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FIRST TIME THIS CENTURY
Until yesterday, they had not had a 1-run, 1-homer, 3-hit victory for more than 21 years, since Sept. 1, 1999, at San Diego. Sammy Sosa hit the homer, in the fourth inning.
Since then, the Cubs had lost 21 consecutive games in which their only run came on a homer and they finished with 3 or fewer hits.
Eight of the 21 losses had come since 2015, most recently a 3-1 loss to the Cardinals on Aug. 17, 2020, in the 7-inning first game of a doubleheader.
Their most recent such defeat in a 9-inning game was a 7-1 defeat by the Brewers on Sept. 6, 2019 -- 20 years and 5 days since their win at San Diego.
In all, the Cubs have lost 59 such games, compared to their 8 wins.
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PREVIOUS RARE WINS
The Cubs' 6 earlier wins by 1-0, with a homer among no more than 3 hits were against the Cardinals, in 1927 (homer by Hack Wilson); the Dodgers, in 1939 (Gabby Hartnett); the Reds, in 1957 (Ernie Banks); the Braves, in 1963 (Ken Hubbs); the Pirates, in 1976 (Rick Monday); and the Expos, in 1987 (Jerry Mumphrey).
Mumphrey hit the latest of the homers, leading off the top of the ninth.
The Cubs finished with just 2 hits in the 1927, 1939 and 1999 wins, and with 3 in each of the others.
Their only other hit in the 1927 game was a double. All the other hits in the 7 other games were singles
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1-0 WINS SINCE 2015
Yesterday's win was the Cubs' 14th by 1-0 since the start of 2015. Their lone run came on a homer in 6 of the 14. Of the 5 before yesterday, 2 came in 2015 (Addison Russell homered vs. the Brewers and Chris Denorfia vs. the Royals) and 3 in 2018 (Kyle Schwarber vs. the Brewers, then Ian Happ and Schwarber vs. the Pirates on consecutive days, Aug. 18-19).
The fewest hits the Cubs made in any of 1-0 wins in 2015-20 was 4, against the Royals on Sept. 28, 2015. Hit No. 4 was Denorfia's walk-off homer leading off the 11th inning.
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LOSSES WHEN HIT ONLY SOLO HOMER
The Cubs have lost 428 total games since 1901 in which they scored only once, on a homer, including a 7-1 loss to the Pirates on April 11 of this season.
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WINS WHEN ALLOWED ONLY SOLO HOMER
The Cubs have won 368 games in which they allowed their opponent 1 run, on a homer, including a 7-1 win over the Dodgers in 7 innings on May 4 and 3-1 win over the Mets in 9 innings on April 20.
They surrendered 3 or fewer hits in 63 of those wins: 3 in 44 of them, 2 in 14 and 1 in 5.
Three of the 1-hit wins came in recent seasons: 2014, 2-1 over the Orioles; 2016, 4-1 over the Cardinals; and 2017; 2-1 over the Rays. The first came in 1955, 2-1 over the Braves, and the second in1992, 3-1 over the Giants.
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1-0 LOSSES WHEN ALLOWED SOLO HOMER
And in 9 games, the Cubs have lost, 1-0, on a homer and no more than 2 other hits.
The first 2 came just 2 years apart, in 1916 and 1918, both to the Giants.
It didn't happen again until a 1952 loss to the Braves.
After the fourth time, in 1961 to the Phillies, there was a gap of a quarter century, until a defeat by the Cardinals in 1986.
That made a total of 5 times in 70 years.
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Then the Cubs suffered 4 more such losses in fewer than 16 years, between May 29, 2000, to the Braves, and May 11, 2016, to the Padres.
During that span, they also lost 1-run, 1-homer, low-hit games to the Brewers in 2004 and to the Padres in 2007.
In the 1918, 2000 and 2007 games, the opponent finished with just 2 hits. In the 7 other games, they had 3.
One of the 2 additional hits was a double in the 1916 and 1986 games. In the 1952 game, 1 hit was a triple.