How many times in recent days had we seen the Cubs get plenty of baserunners, but no key hits?
Tuesday night in Atlanta, at last, they did that. The Cubs went 4-for-11 with RISP and Matt Shaw’s bases-loaded single broke open a close game. The Cubs defeated the Braves 6-1, ending their three-game losing streak. They remain the only MLB team that has not lost four in a row this year.
The Cubs loaded the bases with nobody out in the first inning off Spencer Strider. Michael Busch walked and Ian Happ and Seiya
Suzuki both singled.
Pete Crow-Armstrong’s sacrifice fly made it 1-0 [VIDEO].
Bases loaded, nobody out should score two runs or more, per this run expectancy matrix, but okay. One run is still good!
The Cubs extended their lead to 2-0 in the third. Happ doubled with one out and Suzuki walked.
Cade Horton, who had no-hit the Braves for five innings last week at Wrigley Field, held them hitless for the first two Tuesday evening, then allowed a couple of hits and a run in the third to make the score 2-1 Cubs.
But Horton slammed the door after that. He left with one out in the sixth having allowed just four hits and that single run. He didn’t walk anyone and threw 87 pitches (61 strikes). That’s a bit farther than I thought Craig Counsell would allow Horton to go, but there is an off day this week, so Horton should get an extra day of rest before his next start, which won’t happen until at least Monday in Pittsburgh.
Here’s more on Horton’s outing [VIDEO].
And more from BCB’s JohnW53:
Cade Horton’s ERA in his last 10 starts is 0.84 — five earned runs in 53.1 innings. That is the sixth-lowest over any 10 consecutive starts by a Cub since 1912, when ERA became official. Jake Arrieta had two spans of 0.48 in 2015, one of 0.49 and another of 0.75. Rick Reuschel had 0.79 in 1977; Hippo Vaughn, 0.86 in 1920; and Bill Lee, 0.90 in 1938.
Horton had allowed a one-out single in the seventh, but Andrew Kittredge finished that inning off without incident.
The Cubs broke the game open in the eighth. With one out, PCA was hit by a pitch and stole second [VIDEO].
That was PCA’s second steal of the game and 34th of the year. Nico Hoerner walked, and one out later Willi Castro walked to load the bases.
One more walk, this one from Dansby Swanson, made it 3-1 Cubs [VIDEO].
With the bases still loaded, Matt Shaw hit a sharp single to center [VIDEO].
Shaw’s single scored two runs and when Michael Harris II’s throw to third got away, Swanson also scored to make it 6-1. More on that play from John:
The last time the Cubs had scored three runs on a bases-loaded single plus an error was April 3, 2024, at home vs. the Rockies. Michael Busch, Nico Hoerner and Michael Tauchman scored on a single by Miguel Amaya and a throwing error on the center fielder.
The time before that was April 8, 2023, at home vs. the Rangers. Nick Madrigal, Hoerner and Dansby Swanson scored on a single by Ian Happ and a throwing error by the center fielder.
Those are the only two such plays since 2020.
The Cubs had not had a five-run lead since last Friday, so that felt pretty good. Caleb Thielbar threw a 1-2-3 eighth and Ben Brown, celebrating his 26th birthday, was entrusted with the five-run lead in the ninth. Brown also recorded a 1-2-3 inning to finish up. Here’s the final out [VIDEO].
Here’s much more on Horton. From PCA:
From Craig Counsell:
And from Horton:
With the win and a Brewers loss to the Rangers, the Cubs edged to within 6.5 games of first place in the NL Central. The division title is still quite unlikely, but you never know. The win and a Dodgers loss put the Cubs a game ahead of L.A. for the third-best record in the National League.
The Cubs’ magic number to clinch a postseason spot was reduced to 10 with the victory, and with the win and the Padres losing to the Reds, the magic number to clinch the top wild-card spot dropped to 15.
The Cubs will go for the series win in Atlanta Wednesday evening. Jameson Taillon will be activated from the injured list to make the start for the Cubs, and they’ll have a tough opponent in Braves left-hander Chris Sale. Game time is again 6:15 p.m. CT and TV coverage will be via Marquee Sports Network.
