Boyd tried a slider that clipped the outer half of the zone in the third matchup, but the third time was not the charm.<\/p>\n
The rookie made history, clubbing a 368-foot, two-run shot to right field to become the first player to hit three home runs in his major-league debut as the Cardinals beat the Cubs 8-4.<\/p>\n
\u201cI mean, he hit three different pitches for home runs,\u201d Cubs manager Craig Counsell said after the loss. \u201cHe had a great game. He beat us for sure.\u201d<\/p>\n
It was an incredibly historic feat in a ballpark that has seen its fair share of moments in its 112-year history.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s just unreal,\u201d B\u00e1ez told reporters after the game. \u201cFor me to not only get a hit but hit three home runs is just crazy.\u201d<\/p>\n
B\u00e1ez, who was called up from Triple-A Memphis before Saturday\u2019s matinee, wasn\u2019t an unknown commodity to Boyd or the Cubs. The 23-year-old clubbed 34 home runs and drove in 90 runs in 103 games with Memphis this season and is ranked as the 59th-best prospect in baseball, per MLB Pipeline.<\/p>\n
That\u2019s what made Boyd and the Cubs confident in their game plan. Boyd threw a first-pitch, 93.4-mph fastball on the outer third of the plate that B\u00e1ez hit 108.6 mph, becoming the first Cardinal to homer on the first pitch of his first major-league at-bat since Adam Wainwright in 2006. B\u00e1ez became the 11th Cardinal to homer in his first career at-bat and the first since Lane Thomas in 2019.<\/p>\n
![\"Cubs](\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/CTC-L-cubs-cardinals012.jpg\")
Cubs starter Matthew Boyd walks off the mound as Cardinals left fielder Joshua B\u00e1ez rounds the bases after hitting a two-run home run in the first inning Saturday, Aug. 15, 2026, at Wrigley Field. (Chris Sweda\/Chicago Tribune)<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s so much out there now that you have a good idea,\u201d Boyd said after the loss. \u201cYou can watch film on a guy. So, we had a good idea, I didn\u2019t execute, and hats off to him. Sometimes they\u2019re taken, (sometimes) they\u2019re hit for singles or doubles, and he capitalized. Missed with the first heater, and he was ready for it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Despite the first blast, the Cubs rallied, with designated hitter Michael Conforto hitting a three-run home run in the second to tie the game.<\/p>\n
Boyd wouldn\u2019t throw B\u00e1ez another heater in his next two at-bats against him. B\u00e1ez worked a full count in the fourth inning, fouling off a first-pitch changeup and taking another two pitches later for a ball. On the sixth pitch of the at-bat, Boyd went to the offspeed pitch a third time, and B\u00e1ez gave the Cardinals a 4-3 lead.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe had that battle, and we were trying to attack him with some different pitches,\u201d Boyd said. \u201cCould\u2019ve been better. Wasn\u2019t bad, could have been better, though, and he created some damage from it.\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"St.](\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/CTC-L-cubs-cardinals028.jpg\")
Cardinals left fielder Joshua B\u00e1ez hits a two-run home run in the sixth inning against the Cubs on Aug. 15, 2026, at Wrigley Field. (Chris Sweda\/Chicago Tribune)<\/p>\n
The 35-year-old missed with a looping, 72-mph curveball on the first pitch in their third matchup. Boyd tried to even the count with a back-door slider, but B\u00e1ez jumped on the pitch and hit it 99.8 mph to right for his third home run, ensuring a date with history at the Friendly Confines.<\/p>\n
\u201cMissed with the first heater, and he was ready for it,\u201d Boyd said. \u201cHad a changeup the second at-bat and probably could have been a little more away, and he put a good swing on it and then hit a backdoor slider on the last one. Sometimes it happens like that. Hats off to him, and that was the difference in the game.\u201d<\/p>\n
What will gnaw at Boyd more than the home runs will be the preceding plate appearances before the first and third home runs. Cardinals second baseman JJ Wetherholt worked a nine-pitch walk to start the game, then Boyd hit Iv\u00e1n Herrera to dig himself a deeper hole. After a ground-ball forceout, Boyd allowed the first home run to B\u00e1ez.<\/p>\n
Alec Burleson worked a six-pitch walk to start the sixth, setting up B\u00e1ez\u2019s final two-run home run. That added a pair of runs to the three home runs and made the day sting even more for the left-hander.<\/p>\n
\u201cObviously the two walks scored and having a runner on base, really, from those walks in both those circumstances makes it more damage, right?\u201d Boyd said. \u201cIt takes it from three solos to adding it on.\u201d<\/p>\n
Counsell kept Boyd in the game in the sixth inning, with the Cubs trailing by a run, to try to squeeze a few more outs out of him, and because he didn\u2019t believe the outing from Boyd had been spiraling out of control.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s one of those games where you make some mistakes,\u201d Counsell said. \u201cThe first home run I thought was maybe a mistake, the last two were \u2014 (B\u00e1ez) just hit some good pitches and you tip your cap. Sometimes that happens.\u201d<\/p>\n
Andy Martinez is a freelance reporter for the Chicago Tribune.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Chicago Cubs starter Matthew Boyd tried to fire a first-pitch fastball past St. Louis Cardinals left fielder Joshua…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":779815,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2403],"tags":[5,160,24,576,29990,2000,4,17495,673,67,4311,4310,738],"class_list":["post-779814","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-st-louis-cardinals","tag-baseball","tag-cardinals","tag-chicago-cubs","tag-craig-counsell","tag-joshua-baez","tag-matthew-boyd","tag-mlb","tag-mlb-record","tag-st-louis","tag-st-louis-cardinals","tag-stlouis","tag-stlouiscardinals","tag-wrigley-field"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@mlb\/117102532960908111","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/779814","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=779814"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/779814\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/779815"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=779814"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=779814"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=779814"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}