They might as well have stayed in Arizona.
The Cubs got blasted 10-4 by the Nationals on Opening Day, and the weather, well, it was what you would expect for late March — 49 degrees, very windy, annoying light rain showers off and on.
Matthew Boyd, who was so good at Wrigley Field all of last year, threw two good innings despite allowing a solo homer in the second. After the homer, he struck out five straight Nats but then got pounded out of the game in the fourth, allowing five hits and a walk in that
inning. Ben Brown relieved him and gave up a second home run in the frame, but the damage had already been done.
Here’s more on Boyd’s outing [VIDEO].
That solo homer, by former Brewer Joey Wiemer, gave Washington a 1-0 lead. The Cubs came back with a pair of runs in the bottom of the third. Dansby Swanson led off with a walk and took second on a missed pickoff throw. After Matt Shaw flied to right, with Dansby taking third, Michael Busch’s bloop single tied the game [VIDEO].
Alex Bregman, who was welcomed to Wrigley with loud ovations, followed with a walk. Ian Happ struck out, but then Pete Crow-Armstrong’s single gave the Cubs the lead [VIDEO].
As you can see, though, Bregman was out trying to take third. That sort of set the tone for the rest of the game. I get wanting to be aggressive, but maybe those runners should have stayed put for Nico Hoerner.
Anyway, the aforementioned six-run fourth for the Nats gave them a 7-2 lead. The Cubs got one of those runs back in the fourth. Nico led off and reached on a throwing error. He took second on a Carson Kelly walk and third on an infield out.
Another infield grounder by Swanson scored Nico to make it 7-3 [VIDEO].
By then, as you can see, a lot of seats had emptied out because of rain. The Nats scored one more run off Brown in the sixth. Brown didn’t throw too badly in this long relief role, which might wind up suiting him.
The Cubs’ final run scored in the seventh. Busch led off with a double, his third hit (and second double) of the game. He went to third on a single by Bregman and one out later, PCA dropped this very pretty bunt single down the third-base line, scoring Busch [VIDEO].
That’s something I hope PCA holds in his back pocket for more important situations later in the season. He’s definitely capable of doing that more often.
Hoby Milner threw a scoreless eighth and Jacob Webb allowed a two-run homer in the ninth, both of those runs unearned due to an error charged to Bregman on a ground ball that got through him. Tough error, I thought, given the weather conditions, the ball was likely quite wet at the time.
There were three ABS challenges in the game, all by the Nationals. Two of them confirmed the call made, the other was overturned. None of these had any significant impact on the game, and as has been the case for these during Spring Training, they didn’t take up much time. The game did, though, running a ghastly two hours, 59 minutes, largely because of 195 pitches by the Nats, far more than the approximately 130 per team that’s average for a nine-inning game. (Cubs pitchers threw a more reasonable 138 pitches.)
This loss ruined what began as a festive afternoon. Anthony Rizzo threw out a first pitch to a huge ovation [VIDEO].
Bregman was warmly welcomed to Wrigley [VIDEO].
But that was it for fun for the full house of 39,712. I remain steadfast in my belief that MLB should not be playing games in northern cities in March. Yes, it can be like today’s weather in April or even early May, but at this time of year days like today are more the norm than the exception. The weather had nothing to do with the result, but it was not much fun for fans. The upper deck cleared out by the fourth inning — I can only imagine how cold it must have been up there with a 22 mile per hour sustained wind blowing in their faces.
In any case, the Cubs did not look good in this game, but it’s one game, so let’s not overreact. Boyd looked bad, but… it’s one game. He did strike out seven [VIDEO].
Regarding Matt Shaw in right field, he did make this one nice play [VIDEO].
But overall I thought he looked kind of awkward and out of place there. He made a couple of wrong turns on fly balls and didn’t take good routes. Personally, I’d rather see Dylan Carlson out there. Shaw went 0-for-3 at the plate in this game.
Lastly, here are some Opening Day facts from BCB’s JohnW53:
The last Opening Day starter for the Cubs to exit after exactly 3.2 innings was Bob Rush, on April 11, 1955 (four runs on 10 hits). Only other with exactly 3.2 was King Cole, on April 11, 1912 (five runs on nine hits). Both were at Cincinnati. Ten have lasted fewer than 3.2, from 0, Ed Reulbach (faced two batters in 1911) to 3.1 (Clay Bryant, 1938, and Jon Lester, 2018). Most recent was Kyle Hendricks, 3.0, at home vs. Pirates in 2021 (three runs, four hits).
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Michael Busch is the 85th Cub since 1901 to make at least three hits on Opening Day. Billy Herman had five hits in 1936 and eight players had four, most recently Emilio Bonifacio, in 2014. Karl “Tuffy” Rhodes, in 1994, is the only one to do it at home — and the only one with three homers.The last of the previous 75 with three were Ian Happ, in 2022, and Dansby Swanson, in 2023, both at home. Busch also had a walk, as did 18 of the previous 75 with three hits. The most recent was Dexter Fowler, in 2016.
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Alex Bregman’s seventh-inning single made him the 500th Cub since 1901 to make a hit in his first game with the team.
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This is the ninth Opening Day game since 1901 in which the Cubs have surrendered double-digit runs. They also gave up 10 in 1912, 1914, 1965 and 1979. They gave up 11 in 1962 and 1998, 12 in 1994 at home vs. the Mets (8-12) and 16 in 2010, at Atlanta (5-16).
The Cubs will have Friday off and will resume the series against the Nats Saturday afternoon at Wrigley Field, when it will be chilly (48 degrees) but sunny and less windy. Cade Horton will start for the Cubs and old Cardinals friend Miles Mikolas (who I was almost certain was going to retire after 2025) starting for Washington. Game time Saturday is again 1:20 p.m. CT and TV coverage will be via Marquee Sports Network.
