CHICAGO — The Cubs entered Thursday with an opportunity to pick up their first series sweep since taking three against the Colorado Rockies at the end of May.
They completed the sweep in dramatic, walk-off fashion, beating the Guardians 1-0 in ten innings at Wrigley Field.
The Cubs (52-35) will have a quick turnaround before they host their division rival, the St. Louis Cardinals on Independence Day at 1:20 p.m. on Friday.
Here are three takeaways from the game:
Walk it off
For nine innings the offense was spinning its tires in the mud.
The Cleveland pitching staff kept a strong offense at bay – they mustered three hits in the win. But in extra innings, Matt Shaw needed just one swing of his bat to have the fans forget all about night’s woes – and give them a sweep.
Shaw hit a sacrifice fly to center field that plated Nico Hoerner – who had advanced to third base on a groundout from Michael Busch – to win the game.
Shaw’s offense this season has been a talking point, it’s still very much a work in progress, but it’s the second walk-off of his career and shows the depth of this lineup and ability to garner production from anywhere.
Horton hears a gem
Cade Horton was blunt after his last outing, where he had allowed seven earned runs on eight hits in four innings.
“I got my ass kicked,” Horton said. “It was the first time I wasn’t able to slow the game down. I let my emotions get the best of me today and I have to learn from it and move on.
“I’ve been in this spot before and you have take it for a grain of salt and learn from it and move on.”
Boy, did he ever.
Horton bounced back in a big way, delivering the best outing of his young career and flashing why he was the Cubs’ top pitching prospect entering the year. The right-hander tossed seven shutout innings, allowing just five hits, a pair of walks and recorded five strikeouts.
That’s how you show you learned a lesson.
The Cubs, like other teams, are OK dealing with growing pains from young players. It’s part of the deal you make when it comes to development at the major-league level. But this situation is a bit unique – the Cubs rotation has been so devastated by injuries that the rookie was called up this season and thrust into the big-league rotation. Horton was the Cubs’ first-round pick in 2022, but injuries limited him to 34.1 innings last year.
Throw in the struggles of Colin Rea and Ben Brown, and the rough outings by Horton hurt. An outing like Thursday is a great performance and gives the team optimism that he can be a viable member of their starting group.
Reese’s defense
Horton was terrific, but an outing like Thursday isn’t completed just by the right-hander. The catcher – in Thursday’s case, Reese McGuire – plays a pivotal role in calling the game and planning for the opposing lineup.
He also contributed mightily with his arm, too.
McGuire nabbed two would-be base stealers on Thursday. The first came in the first inning and the other was massive – with one out and runners at the corners in the fifth, McGuire caught Bo Naylor for the second out. Horton induced a groundball from Brayan Rocchio to end the threat.
He also picked up the final out of the sixth inning when he corralled a pitch that bounced in front of him, rifled it to second and nabbed Kyle Manzardo to end the frame.
McGuire has been a solid contributor with his bat – he has five home runs and a .769 OPS in 16 games. But the game calling and defense will always be the priority for Cubs’ backstops and performances like Thursday’s are massive in that regard.