CHICAGO (AP) — Nico Hoerner had four hits to tie a career high, Matthew Boyd gave up three hits and one run in six sharp innings to win his fourth straight start, and the Chicago Cubs beat the Minnesota Twins 6-2 on Saturday.
Michael Busch homered, and Miguel Amaya and Pedro Ramirez had two RBIs each to help Chicago win for the third time in four games. Hoerner had an RBI and scored a run.
Kody Clemens hit a pair of solo homers for the Twins, whose
three-game winning streak came to an end.
Boyd (6-1) struck out four and walked one in his fifth outing since returning from knee surgery.
Jacob Webb allowed three hits to start the ninth, but the Cubs got a quirky double play after Brooks Lee's liner to the gap glanced off Pete Crow-Armstrong's glove for a single. Relay throws cut down Josh Bell between third and home, and caught Lee off first. Webb fanned Clemens for the final out.
Busch’s first-inning solo shot put Chicago ahead 1-0. The ball was recovered in the right-field bleachers by Anthony Rizzo, who took part in a pregame ceremony to commemorate the Cubs 2016 World Series championship.
Twins starter Taj Bradley (9-4) allowed five runs on seven hits in five innings, striking out six and walking three. The right-hander had given up just eight runs over his previous five starts.
Klemens went deep in the second to tie it. Amaya’s double to the left field corner in the bottom half of the second put Chicago back ahead 3-1.
The Cubs upped it to 5-1 in the third.
Clemens homered again in the seventh to make it 5-2. Ramirez added an RBI single in the bottom half.
Before the game, the Cubs dedicated an arching, 31-foot wide “Champions Gate” on the west side of Wrigley Field.
Twins RHP Zebby Matthews (4-6, 4.57 ERA) faces Cubs LHP Shota Imanaga (5-8, 4.17) on Sunday.
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