ANAHEIM, Calif. — Kyle Tucker homered twice and drove in five runs as the surging Chicago Cubs routed the Los Angeles Angels 12-1 on Saturday night.
Reese McGuire added a grand slam and tied a career high with five RBIs to help the Cubs win for the seventh time in nine games. They hold the top National League wild-card spot and are six games behind the first-place Milwaukee Brewers in the NL Central.
Cade Horton (8-4) gave up three hits over six scoreless innings, and Ben Brown went the rest of the way for his first major-league save.
Busting out of an extended slump, Tucker has three homers in two nights after a 25-game drought. The outburst has come after manager Craig Counsell gave him three games off earlier in the week.
Jo Adell homered late for the Angels, who totaled eight hits while losing the first two games of the series.
Victor Mederos (0-2) and Carson Fulmer were charged with all 12 Cubs runs. The Angels fell to 2-6 since pulling off a three-game sweep of the Los Angeles Dodgers from Aug. 11-13.
McGuire’s grand slam in the fourth gave the Cubs a 6-0 lead, and they made it 10-0 in the sixth when Tucker went deep for the second time. It was Tucker’s eighth multihomer game and first since May 2024 against the Angels with the Houston Astros.
Adell’s home run in the seventh, his 29th, ended the Cubs shutout bid.
Key moment
With two outs in the third, Michael Busch tucked a double just inside the first-base line and past a diving Nolan Schanuel to get Tucker to the plate before his first home run.
Key stat
Angels star Mike Trout went 0-for-3 with three strikeouts as his 22-game on-base streak came to an end.
Up next
Angels RHP Kyle Hendricks (6-8, 4.93 ERA) will face his former team Sunday in a matchup against Cubs RHP Jameson Taillon (8-6, 4.26).