Boyd shines in Cubs loss to Nationals

Geoff Burke - USA Today Sports

Dustin Riese - Senior Writer - Wednesday, June 04 2025

WASHINGTON, DC - When you talk about a pitcher who dominates in a specific park, look no further than the Chicago Cubs (38-23) lefty Matthew Boyd, who loves to pitch in Nationals Park. In what was just his second career start in this building, Boyd has silenced the Washington Nationals (29-32) as they have had no answers for the left-hander.

Both of his starts saw him take a no-hitter through 5 2/3 innings, including his start tonight, as Boyd took a perfect game into the fifth before losing his no-hitter later that inning. Sometimes, it only takes one pitch to put a damper on a strong outing, or in this case, two mistakes by Boyd that led to two runs as the Nationals picked up the 2-0 shutout victory.

While Boyd is going to get most of the attention, and rightfully so when you look at how he started this game, it's hard to ignore the effort of MacKenzie Gore, who was equally as good as Boyd. Gore gave the Nationals seven shutout innings, allowing three hits and striking out seven as he lowered his ERA to 2.87. That included a string of 21 out of a possible 22 hitters retired to end his outing as Gore settled in and settled in a big way.

As good as Gore was, things didn't start that way, as the Cubs came out swinging. After Ian Happ led things off with a single, Chicago managed to load the bases as Seiya Suzuki and Carson Kelly added a pair of singles to set the Cubs up. It was the Kelly single that came back to haunt the Cubs, as they chose not to be as aggressive as one might think. The Cubs would later find out that the first inning would be their best scoring chance of the night as Gore responded by retiring the next three hitters to escape the jam without damage.

Apart from that, neither team was able to do much offensively, as Gore was on cruise control from the first inning on, while Boyd took a perfect game into the sixth. It was in the sixth when things began to unravel a bit for Boyd as he not only lost the perfect game on a one-out walk to Nasim Nunez but also lost his no-hitter on a Robert Hassell single a few pitches later. Had Boyd not been able to pick Nunez off, the Nationals would have been set up nicely, but instead, things remained 0-0 entering the seventh.

As mentioned, Boyd made two mistakes in this one, and realistically speaking, his first mistake wasn't a mistake but more so a great piece of hitting as Amed Rosario took a pitch that was more than a foot off the plate and drove it the opposite way for the homer to put the Nationals on top 1-0. It was at that moment that the harsh reality began to settle in: baseball can be a cruel game that can turn in an instant.

With the Cubs' offense going down in order in the eighth, Boyd trotted back to the mound to begin the eighth, and after allowing a leadoff single to Alex Call, the fatigue started to settle in. The biggest at-bat of the game came from Nunez two batters later as he fought off several pitches to stay alive before roping the 11th pitch of the at-bat past Matt Shaw at third as his RBI double put the Nationals in front 2-0.

That was the end of the road for Boyd, but with two runs allowed on four hits through 7 1/3, Boyd did more than enough to secure the win as the Cubs were down to their final three outs. If the Cubs wanted to win this game, or at the very least tie things up, they would have to do so against one of the game's best closers, Kyle Finnegan.

Mentioned as a possible Cubs target at the deadline, Finnegan showed firsthand how dominant he can be as he carved Pete Crow-Armstrong up on three pitches to begin the ninth. As has been the case all season, the Cubs are not one of those teams that will go down quietly, as Dansby Swanson and Michael Busch picked up a pair of singles to bring the tying run to the plate and two outs.

What was supposed to be Justin Turner turned into Kyle Tucker as he was announced as the pinch hitter. Tucker has been out the past two games with a jammed finger, but a massive hit here would cement his place as the player the Cubs need to build their team around. Unfortunately, it was Finnegan getting the job done as he got Tucker to ground out to end the game as the Cubs suffered their third shutout loss of the season, 2-0.