Cade Horton extends scoreless innings streak as the Cubs beat the Reds to avoid a series sweep

CHICAGO — Two batters into his Wednesday start, Chicago Cubs right-hander Cade Horton watched the Cincinnati Reds’ Spencer Steer pop up his 83 mph sweeper for what should have been an easy out.

Instead, third baseman Matt Shaw whiffed on the attempted catch and the ball fell to the ground, allowing Steer to reach second base. A first-inning error, but one that Horton, Shaw and the Cubs quickly put behind them.

The Cubs used 11 hits and impressive pitching from Horton and reliever Andrew Kittredge to avoid being swept by the Cincinnati Reds, winning 6-1 at Wrigley Field on Wednesday.

“We just played a complete game, that’s what sticks out,” manager Craig Counsell said. “We played good offense against a tough starting pitcher,” in Andrew Abbott, who gave up seven hits in 6 2/3 innings of work.

Counsell said before the game that he wanted “more of the same” from Horton and for the rookie pitcher to “be himself.” The right-hander seemed pretty comfortable against the Reds.

Horton held the Reds scoreless in his start, bringing his MLB-best active scoreless innings streak to 23 1/3. In those innings, he’s thrown 16 strikeouts, including six on Wednesday. Counsell credits Horton’s poise as he continues to work toward full capacity.

“There’s a discipline to Cade about what’s important to him, but that also means what’s not important to him,” Counsell said. “If you’re stubborn about the things that matter to you, that’s how you (become) clear-headed and you don’t let outside things get in your way. That’s what Cade’s good at.”

President of baseball operations Jed Hoyer said Tuesday the Cubs have spent a lot of time discussing a plan for Horton’s workload for the final seven weeks of the regular season. Horton was limited to 34 1/3 total innings in the minors last year because of a season-ending shoulder strain. The 23-year-old has never thrown more than 88 1/3 innings in a season and after Wednesday’s outing sits at 117 1/3 total innings in 2025, including 79 1/3 with the big-league team.

“There is no direct science as far as exactly what numbers,” Hoyer said. “We’ve obviously tried to monitor his strength and his health throughout, and we’ll be careful. But there’s not a bright line. So much of it is evaluating him start to start and making sure he’s feeling good.”

Horton is satisfied with his progress thus far. He’s been able to keep batters from making contact and he wants to continue the trend as his time ramps up. He pitched 5 2/3 innings on Wednesday and left to roaring applause from Cubs fans.

“Everything’s feeling good, but at the same time, this is the most innings I’ve thrown in a year,” Horton said. “Obviously you want to keep that in check, (I’m) just continuing to do my job when it’s asked and when it’s done. Being ready for the next time out is the biggest thing.”

Kittredge bounced back from a rough four-run appearance Tuesday to throw the Cubs’ first immaculate inning since 2022 and the third in MLB this year. Cincinnati’s Austin Hays, Gavin Lux and Tyler Stephenson all struck out swinging in the seventh.

All-Star right fielder Kyle Tucker was given the day off Wednesday. He has struggled at the plate in his last seven games, slashing .217/.357/.261 with no home runs and eight strikeouts. Counsell said that it was “nothing physical” but rather giving the right fielder a chance to regroup.

“He’s got very high expectations of himself and when he doesn’t meet them, he’s frustrated,” Counsell said. “So this is just a mental break. I’m super confident that he’s going to get it back going and he’s going to have a great last 50 games.”

Seiya Suzuki replaced Tucker at the third spot in the batting order. The designated hitter had two hits, a sacrifice fly in the third and a 379-foot home run in the sixth, his 27th of the season. Shortstop Dansby Swanson joined the home run party in the seventh, hitting his 18th of the year, and Ian Happ followed in the eighth with his 16th.

“I think today as a whole was really good,” Suzuki said through an interpreter. “We lost two in a row, so winning that against a same-division team I think (will) build momentum moving forward.”

Tucker brushed off the question of his right ring finger still bothering him from a June injury, saying that he and the team would figure it out in the final two months. He is comfortable with the pitches he’s going for, but it is about making contact.

“I mean, it’s fine. It’s my job to go out and perform regardless of how I feel,” Tucker said. “I still feel like I’m swinging at pitches I want and taking the pitches that I don’t.”

There’s also the Milwaukee-sized elephant in the room. The Cubs led the National League Central by one game at the All-Star break, but now find themselves trailing the scorching Brewers. Tucker’s aware of their division placement, but knows the only way to change that is to start their own winning streaks.

“We got 50 or whatever games left, (so we’re just) trying to focus on today and move on to tomorrow,” Tucker said.

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