Game Recap: Boyd dominates as Cubs blank Royals |
Dustin Riese
· · 8 hours ago
CHICAGO - When the 2025 season got underway, no one would've predicted that if the playoffs started today, Matthew Boyd would be the Chicago Cubs' (60-41) No. 1 starter. Signed to a two-year deal at a bargain price of $29 million, Boyd has been a godsend in the Cubs rotation as he currently sits at 11-3 on the season while posting one of the best ERAs in the game at 2.20.
His run of success continued on Tuesday as Boyd was looking to play stopper yet again against the Kansas City Royals (49-53). Not only did Boyd play stopper, but he flat out dominated the Royals, holding them to four hits over seven shutout innings as the Cubs took care of business 6-0. That extends his scoreless innings streak to 23 consecutive innings, as he is pitching as well as anyone in the game right now. When it comes to stopping this Cubs attack, all you have to do is trot out a left-hander, and the Royals did just that as 45-year-old journeyman Rich Hill was making his first start of the season as he was set to pitch for his 14th different organization. That is an MLB record for teams played for in a career, and despite his age and this being his first start of the season, the Cubs continued to struggle against lefties. Struggles aside, the Cubs did what they needed to do in this one, getting to Hill for three runs in five innings, although only one of those runs were earned as he wasn't given the best fielding performance today. After wasting a scoring opportunity in the first by putting two runners on, the Cubs continued to keep the pressure on in the second as Dansby Swanson started things off with a leadoff single before advancing to second on an error. That error proved costly as Swanson would reach third on another error later in the inning before coming home on the Matt Shaw infield single that put the Cubs on top for good, 1-0. Chicago would add to that lead later in the inning on a Nico Hoerner fielder's choice, making it a 2-0 game. Ideally, you would've loved to see the Cubs jump all over Hill, but with Boyd retiring the first 11 batters he faced, two runs were looking to be enough. It was in the fifth inning when things started to get dicey, and in reality, this was the only real scoring chance the Royals had all night. What began with a leadoff Kyle Isbel single was followed by a pair of one-out singles from Freddy Fermin and John Rave as the Royals had the bases loaded with one out. Needing a big hit to tie things up, it was the Cubs defense coming up huge as Swanson snared the Isbel liner up the middle before making the diving tag on Fermin to complete the inning-ending double play. That was one of those momentum swings you could feel through the entire stadium, and with Carson Kelly picking up a two-out single in the bottom of the fifth, Chicago was hoping to cash in. That they did as Pete Crow-Armstrong cranked one off the wall for a double, only to be thrown out trying to stretch it into a triple. Kelly did manage to score on the play as the Cubs pushed their lead to 3-0. Those would be the only runs Boyd would need in this one, as the left-hander allowed just one Jac Caglianone single the rest of the way to give the Cubs another seven-inning start with no runs allowed, as it would be up to the bullpen to keep things there. It does help when your offense can take the pressure off the pitching, as the Cubs got to Jonathan Bowlan in the seventh, loading the bases with no outs. Shaw and Hoerner started things with a pair of singles only to have a Kyle Tucker walk load them up. Seiya Suzuki kept the line moving for the Cubs' third single in four trips, pushing the lead to 4-0. Kelly followed suit with a sacrifice fly to make this a 5-0 game. Chicago managed to tack on one more run as part of that three-run seventh, as Tucker raced home on a delayed double steal to come away with a steal of home. From there, it was the Caleb Thielbar and Daniel Palencia duo as they closed things out late to cap off a nice bounce-back win by the Cubs 6-0. With the win, the Cubs have now improved to 33-18 at Wrigley Field, and keep the pressure on the Brewers to keep winning games in order to stay ahead of the Cubs. Leading the way for the Cubs was once again Shaw, as he paced the offense with two hits and an RBI, raising his average to .221. Hoerner and Swanson also had multi-hit games in the win as the Cubs collected nine hits total. The Cubs will now go for the series win tomorrow afternoon when they turn to Colin Rea against potential deadline target Seth Lugo.
