BOX SCORE

CHICAGO — The Cubs entered Sunday with a prime opportunity to pick up their fifth straight win and sweep one of baseball’s hottest teams.

Instead, a late-inning home run barrage from the Boston Red Sox sparked them to a 6-1, come-from-behind victory. The Cubs (59-40) squandered a chance to tie their longest winning streak of the season.  

Here are three takeaways from the game:

Late inning woes

The Cubs bullpen has been nails for much of 2025.

But struggles by two members of their relief corps contributed to Sunday’s difficult loss.

Clinging to a 1-0 lead in the seventh, Cubs manager Craig Counsell turned to Ryan Pressly. The veteran hadn’t allowed a run in eight straight outings and hadn’t permitted an earned run in 24 of his previous 25 outings (0.77 ERA). But Wilyer Abreu and the Red Sox were able to get to him.

Abreu hit the first of his two home runs in the frame – a two-run blast that gave the Red Sox the lead.

An inning later, Drew Pomeranz, who carried a 0.69 ERA in 30 appearances entering Sunday, started the frame with a walk, a single and a fielder’s choice. Red Sox manager Alex Cora turned to Alex Bregman to pinch-hit for Masataka Yoshida to have the platoon advantage – and it worked. The third baseman crushed a no-doubt, three-run home run to left field and put an exclamation point on Boston’s rally.

Relievers won’t be perfect every time, and given their track record this season, it’s fair to brush off the performances from Pressly and Pomeranz. The veterans have been solid all season long that it’s not unreasonable to expect them to bounce back.

Horton’s gem

The late innings spoiled a special performance

Cade Horton has been far from perfect in his rookie campaign. He’s had the ups and downs that first-year players endure when going up against the game’s best.

But when he’s gone head-to-head with an ace, he’s stepped up to the occasion, like he did on Sunday.

Horton went toe-to-toe with Red Sox left-hander Garrett Crochet, tossing 5.2 scoreless frames with four strikeouts. Last month, Horton threw 5.2 scoreless innings on June 13 against Paul Skenes and the Pittsburgh Pirates.

The Cubs’ 2022 first-round pick has shown the ability to rise to the occasion in big moments, and that’s a good development sign. He’ll still have some growing pains this season – as all rookies do – but it’s encouraging, nonetheless.

There will be plenty of rumors and questions about potential pitching acquisitions by the Cubs between now and the end of the month, but Horton’s continued development and talent should mean he’s still a key figure in the Cubs’ pitching staff moving forward.

Missed opportunities?

It’s hard to string together hits against Crochet. He entered Sunday having allowed eight or more hits in an outing just twice.

The Cubs tacked him for that many knocks in the finale but were able to muster just one run – an Ian Happ RBI single in the second inning.

It’s fair to wonder – did the Cubs squander chances to put up crooked numbers and complete a series sweep? Sure, you can argue that, but Crochet is a special arm in this game. Both times this season that he’s allowed more than eight hits, the Red Sox have won the game. In fact, the Red Sox are 5-1 when Crochet allows six or more knocks.

Crochet is really, really good.

The Cubs pushed the envelope; they gave up an out before Happ’s knock when Pete Crow-Armstrong was caught stealing that might have made that single a two-run hit. They generated a bases-loaded rally with two outs in the fifth, only for Crochet to induce an inning-ending groundout. Crow-Armstrong had a leadoff double in the sixth but the left-hander was stranded by sandwiching a pair of strikeouts around a ground out.

Crochet was an All-Star and is an American League Cy Young Award candidate for a reason. The Cubs might rue missed chances, but they could also take some solace in the fact that they created plenty, too.