So if you saw the preview for this game yesterday, you read this:
José Soriano was the Angels Opening Day starter. I daresay he wouldn’t have had that role for most other teams. He’s good, no question, but that good?
Well… I dunno, but maybe Soriano is that good? He absolutely baffled Cubs hitters for six innings, allowing just two hits and two walks. Only one Cubs runner got past first base during that time.
Meanwhile, Cubs pitching was almost as good… almost, except for one sharp grounder that Alex
Bregman couldn’t handle. That went for a two-run single by Logan O’Hoppe and the Angels shut out the Cubs 2-0.
Jameson Taillon was… well, not too bad in this first start of 2026, after a really awful Spring Training. Taillon walked too many guys, four of them (one intentional), and the Angels had traffic on the bases in three of the five innings Taillon threw. Taillon departed after the IBB (to Mike Trout in the fifth) and Hoby Milner cleaned up that bases-loaded mess with a ground out [VIDEO].
Here’s more on Taillon’s outing, in which he threw 85 pitches (52 strikes) [VIDEO].
The Cubs, as noted, couldn’t do anything with Soriano. The only runner past first base in the first six innings was Ian Happ, who led off the fourth with a walk. Pete Crow-Armstrong then tried to bunt for a hit, not a bad idea on a very cold, windy night. PCA was thrown out, but credited with a sacrifice. So Happ’s in scoring position with one out, but Nico Hoerner and Dansby Swanson struck out.
The game’s only runs scored in the sixth off Phil Maton. Maton issued a leadoff walk, and those almost always cause some sort of trouble. The next hitter, former Cub Jeimer Candelario, hit a sinking line drive to center. PCA attempted a sliding catch. You’ve seen him make catches like that many times. This time… nope [VIDEO].
So there are Angels on second and third with nobody out. Maton recovered to retire the next two hitters, but then came the aforementioned ground ball past Bregman [VIDEO].
Please note that I am not blaming Bregman for that, just describing the play. That ball was scorched:
At nearly 105 miles per hour, I don’t think any third baseman makes that play. Both runners scored and it was 2-0.
Bregman did make this really nice defensive grab in the third [VIDEO].
Still, 2-0 in the sixth is not insurmountable, in most games. Not in this one, though. The Cubs did get a pair of runners on in the seventh when Hoerner singled with one out and one out later, Moisés Ballesteros walked. But the runners (including Scott Kingery, making his first Cubs appearance running for Ballesteros) were stranded when Matt Shaw flied to right.
The Cubs got a two-out walk in the ninth by Swanson, but pinch-hitter Michael Conforto struck out to end the game.
The best takeaway from this game is the stellar relief appearance by Ben Brown. Brown entered with two out and two runners on in the sixth, relieving Maton. He struck out Zach Neto to get out of that jam, and then threw three more shutout innings, allowing only a leadoff walk in the seventh and a leadoff single in the ninth.
Brown struck out five overall [VIDEO].
I continue to believe that the bullpen is the best place for Brown. He has done well so far this year (granted, just two appearances) in a long-relief role, and maybe he will continue to thrive in that role. He was hitting 97-98 again, and so far this year has struck out eight of the 25 batters he has faced (32 percent).
Here are Craig Counsell’s postgame comments [VIDEO].
Lastly, there were too many walks issued by Cubs pitchers in this game. More from BCB’s JohnW53:
The Cubs issued seven walks. They walked at least seven in eight games last season. They lost the first seven before beating the Brewers, 4-3, on Aug. 20. That was the fifth game in which they walked seven. They walked eight twice, at home vs. the Dodgers and Padres, and nine once, at Arizona. All three of those games came in their first 12 games of the season, between March 18 and April 6.
The Cubs were 51-7 last year when allowing two runs or fewer. Sometimes you run into a pitcher who’s better than yours, and sometimes it’s just one play that turns the game around. This one was one of those. This team will be just fine if it continues to get pitching like that.
Maybe 10,000 of the 26,288 announced crowd showed up at Wrigley Field on a very cold night. It rained briefly before the game started but during the game it was dry, but cold. More of the same is expected Wednesday afternoon, when the Cubs and Angels will play the series finale. Cubs Opening Day starter Matthew Boyd will make his second 2026 start and hope for better results than the first. The Angels will counter with left-hander Yusei Kikuchi. Game time is 1:20 p.m. CT and TV coverage will be via Marquee Sports Network.
