{"id":214661,"date":"2025-09-10T05:01:09","date_gmt":"2025-09-10T05:01:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/214661\/"},"modified":"2025-09-10T05:01:09","modified_gmt":"2025-09-10T05:01:09","slug":"chicago-cubs-rookie-cade-horton-delivers-again-in-6-1-victory","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/214661\/","title":{"rendered":"Chicago Cubs rookie Cade Horton delivers again in 6-1 victory"},"content":{"rendered":"

ATLANTA \u2014 Given Cade Horton\u2019s performance<\/a> and the Chicago Cubs\u2019 current playoff standing, it\u2019s just a question of which wild-card series game the rookie will start, not whether he should get the ball.<\/p>\n

Facing the Atlanta Braves for the second time in a week<\/a>, Horton surrendered only one run and four hits without walking a batter in 6 1\/3 innings Tuesday night in the Cubs\u2019 6-1 victory at Truist Park. Horton has been on a roll in his 10 starts since the All-Star break, posting a 0.84 ERA in that span.<\/p>\n

The Cubs (82-63) didn\u2019t want Horton to put too much thought into trying to change things just because he opposed the Braves in consecutive starts. The approach simply focused on attacking them with his best pitches and relying on his plus stuff.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was more of the same, it was just a really, really good outing, really efficient, he\u2019s just pounding the strike zone,\u201d manager Craig Counsell said. \u201cHe\u2019s just comfortable attacking inside the strike zone and forcing guys to swing, and they don\u2019t necessarily get great contact. So it\u2019s really good stuff.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s stepping up at a really big time for us.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jurickson Profar\u2019s two-out single in the third produced Atlanta\u2019s lone run and cut the Cubs\u2019 lead to 2-1. The small margin for error in a close game, with the Cubs riding a three-game losing streak, didn\u2019t faze Horton. When he found himself in rare trouble in the fifth inning after Jake Fraley and Ronald Acu\u00f1a Jr.\u2019s back-to-back one-out singles put runners on the corners, he got Nacho Alvarez Jr. to pop out on a sweeper below the zone and a fly out from Profar to end the inning.<\/p>\n

\n

Chicago Cubs right fielder Kyle Tucker\u2019s lingering calf issue lands him on the 10-day injured list<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Horton\u2019s 6 1\/3 innings tied for his second-longest start of the year, while his 87 pitches were his most since throwing 94 on July 9 at Minnesota.<\/p>\n

With three weeks left in the regular season, Horton is garnering more attention for the National League Cy Young Award. The 24-year-old lowered his season ERA to 2.70 through 21 outings, part of his compelling case. After Tuesday\u2019s performance, Counsell said Horton is \u201cabsolutely deserving\u201d of the honor and that there is \u201cno question\u201d he\u2019s earned that type of recognition.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s really cool, but it\u2019s not the end of the world,\u201d Horton said. \u201cI\u2019d rather win a World Series than win Rookie of the Year. And so just continuing to block out that stuff and find ways to go out there every fifth day and give our team a chance to win.\u201d<\/p>\n

If the Cubs keep Horton on his current five-game schedule and not skip any of his turns, he\u2019s slated to make three more regular-season starts and would be lined up on normal rest to start Game 2 of the National League Wild Card on Oct. 1.<\/p>\n

The Cubs need to find and maintain offensive consistency<\/a> if they\u2019re going to make a run in the postseason. After wasting two bases-loaded opportunities Tuesday, they finally came through in that spot in the eighth thanks to Dansby Swanson\u2019s walk and Matt Shaw\u2019s subsequent two-run single that brought another run home on a fielding error at third by Alvarez.<\/p>\n

\"PetePete Crow-Armstrong of the Chicago Cubs beats the throw to Ozzie Albies of the Atlanta Braves for a stolen base in the fifth inning of a game against the Atlanta Braves at Truist Park on Sept. 9, 2025, in Atlanta. (Edward M. Pio Roda\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n

Importantly, with Kyle Tucker landing on the 10-day injured list<\/a> with a left calf strain, Pete Crow-Armstrong reached base three times. His sacrifice fly in the first and RBI single in the third off Braves starter Spencer Strider gave the Cubs an early lead. Crow-Armstrong also walked, was hit by a pitch and recorded two steals for his first multi-steal game since June 3.<\/p>\n

Entering Tuesday, Crow-Armstrong had tallied only three steals since the start of August.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s what I\u2019m able to do when I get on base,\u201d Crow-Armstrong said. \u201cI enjoy the long innings and all that stuff, and I look forward to getting on base. And I feel like lately I haven\u2019t done that a lot, so I have a lot of energy to put towards that.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"ATLANTA \u2014 Given Cade Horton\u2019s performance and the Chicago Cubs\u2019 current playoff standing, it\u2019s just a question of…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":214662,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5124],"tags":[1280,5437,960,1271,5386,1818,5605,1277],"class_list":{"0":"post-214661","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-chicago","8":"tag-atlanta-braves","9":"tag-cade-horton","10":"tag-chicago","11":"tag-chicago-cubs","12":"tag-il","13":"tag-illinois","14":"tag-kyle-tucker","15":"tag-pete-crow-armstrong"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115178247637329974","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/214661","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=214661"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/214661\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/214662"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=214661"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=214661"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=214661"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}