Game Recap: Horton outduels Skenes in battle of elite arms

Charles LeClaire - USA Today Sports

Dustin Riese · Senior Writer · 3 hours ago

PITTSBURGH - There have been tons of great pitching matches this season, but very few can compare to what the Chicago Cubs (87-64) and the Pittsburgh Pirates (65-87) threw out at PNC Park on Tuesday. On one side, you had the odds-on favorite to win rookie of the year (Cade Horton), sporting an MLB-best 0.93 ERA since the All-Star break.

On the other side, you had arguably the best or, at the very least, one of the best pitchers in the game and a potential Cy Young winner (Paul Skenes) and his 2.03 ERA. Something had to give, and that something was Skenes as Horton outpitched the Pirates' Ace in what ended up being a 4-1 Cubs victory to trim their magic number down to one to clinch a playoff spot.

There have been a lot of firsts for Skenes over the past two seasons, and for the most part, those firsts have all been good. Tuesday marked one of the few firsts that he had a negative against as the Cubs forced him to throw a career high for pitches in an inning, as he needed 33 pitches to get through the first.

A lot of that had to do with the Cubs' aggressive, yet patient approach at the plate as Michael Busch started things off with another leadoff homer to bring his total to 29 for the season. Things only got worse from there for Skenes as a one-out walk to Ian Happ was followed by another Moises Ballesteros hit as the Cubs were threatening. On the verge of getting out of the first with limited damage, it was Pete Crow-Armstrong coming up clutch as he went the opposite way for a single to push the Cubs' lead to 2-0.

Like Skenes, Horton had his issues in the first, as he too was forced to throw a ton of pitches. A lot of that had to do with the Pirates' ability to fight off tough pitches as Spencer Horwitz picked up a one-out single only to be standing on first with two down. Then came the massive O'Neil Cruz triple to cut the Cubs' deficit in half at 2-1 before Horton got through the first without further damage.

Not only was that the lone run he would allow, but it was the only run the Pirates would score the rest of the night as the Pirates were held to two hits over the game's final eight innings. Already with two runs across, it was the top of the Cubs order giving Skenes fits again with Busch starting things off in the second with a one-out double.

Busch would advance to third on a Nico Hoerner single, which proved to be costly for the Pirates as Happ followed that up with a sacrifice fly to center to make this a 3-1 game. As bad as things were for Skenes in the early innings, he managed to limit most of the damage and wound up striking out six across 3 2/3 innings, allowing just those three runs.

Given how well Horton has performed since the all-star break, the Pirates knew runs would be tough to come by, which is why the bottom of the third was so frustrating for them. Henry Davis started the inning off with a seeing-eye single down the right field line, while a one-out walk to Horwitz put two runners on. As he has done so often since July 1, Horton managed to escape a jam without further damage as he retired the final seven batters he faced to give the Cubs five strong innings to put himself in a position to win another game.

With Evan Sisk now on to pitch for Skenes, the left-hander managed to close out the fourth without any damage before the top of the order got things rolling again in the fifth as a leadoff walk to Ballesteros got things started before a Carson Kelly double put two runners on with no outs.

Although not a homer, Crow-Armstrong did tack on the Cubs' fourth and final run, delivering another sacrifice fly to push the lead to 4-1. Then came the sixth inning with Justin Lawrence on the mound as the Cubs once again had the Pirates on the ropes and a chance to break things wide open.

What started with a leadoff single from Matt Shaw in the No. 9 spot was answered by another Busch double as the Cubs had two runners in scoring position and no outs. Lawrence would intentionally walk Happ later in the inning to load the bases, only to come away with no runs scoring as the Pirates remained within striking distance.

They wouldn't get any closer as the quartet of Drew Pomeranz, Andrew Kittredge, Caleb Thielbar, and Brad Keller took care of the rest, allowing just one hit in four scoreless innings of relief, walking none and striking out six to give the Cubs another win. With the win, the Cubs' magic Number to clinch a playoff spot stands at one as they can make it official with one more win tomorrow.