ATLANTA — Given Cade Horton’s performance and the Chicago Cubs’ current playoff standing, it’s just a question of which wild-card series game the rookie will start, not whether he should get the ball.
Facing the Atlanta Braves for the second time in a week, Horton surrendered only one run and four hits without walking a batter in 6 1/3 innings Tuesday night in the Cubs’ 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.
The Cubs (82-63) didn’t 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.
“It was more of the same, it was just a really, really good outing, really efficient, he’s just pounding the strike zone,” manager Craig Counsell said. “He’s just comfortable attacking inside the strike zone and forcing guys to swing, and they don’t necessarily get great contact. So it’s really good stuff.
“He’s stepping up at a really big time for us.”
Jurickson Profar’s two-out single in the third produced Atlanta’s lone run and cut the Cubs’ lead to 2-1. The small margin for error in a close game, with the Cubs riding a three-game losing streak, didn’t faze Horton. When he found himself in rare trouble in the fifth inning after Jake Fraley and Ronald Acuña Jr.’s 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.
Chicago Cubs right fielder Kyle Tucker’s lingering calf issue lands him on the 10-day injured list
Horton’s 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.
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’s performance, Counsell said Horton is “absolutely deserving” of the honor and that there is “no question” he’s earned that type of recognition.
“It’s really cool, but it’s not the end of the world,” Horton said. “I’d 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.”
If the Cubs keep Horton on his current five-game schedule and not skip any of his turns, he’s 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.
The Cubs need to find and maintain offensive consistency if they’re 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’s walk and Matt Shaw’s subsequent two-run single that brought another run home on a fielding error at third by Alvarez.
Importantly, with Kyle Tucker landing on the 10-day injured list 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.
Entering Tuesday, Crow-Armstrong had tallied only three steals since the start of August.
“That’s what I’m able to do when I get on base,” Crow-Armstrong said. “I enjoy the long innings and all that stuff, and I look forward to getting on base. And I feel like lately I haven’t done that a lot, so I have a lot of energy to put towards that.”
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