Cubs Smash Angels 12–1 as Horton Shines and Tucker, McGuire Power Historic Night

Rookie Cade Horton continues NL ROY push while Kyle Tucker and Reese McGuire power the offense.

Kyle Tucker and Reese McGuire combined for 10 RBI at Angel Stadium.

ANAHEIM — The Cubs finally got some breathing room early and made it look easy in Anaheim, routing the Angels 12–1 behind a breakout night from their bats and another Rookie of the Year performance from Cade Horton.

Horton’s Dominance:

• Picked up his 8th win with 6 scoreless innings, 3 hits and 7 Ks.

• Shook off a scare after taking a 102 mph comebacker off his foot in the third.

• Since his “I got my ass kicked” outing vs Houston (7 ER in 4 IP), he’s locked in: 1.12 ERA (6 ER/48.2 IP).

• Horton noted a mentality shift since Houston: “I think I learned a lot from that outing. I felt like I didn’t have a lot of conviction in my outing then. I just started to trust my stuff and attack and not be afraid of the results.”

• Most scoreless starts of 5+ innings in MLB since July 1 (6).

• Mixed in the changeup more, generating ground balls and chase swings.

• Ended Mike Trout’s 22-game on-base streak, striking him out three times.

• Angels had a chance to claw back in the fifth with two on and one out—Horton fanned Logan O’Hoppe and Bryce Teodosio flew out ending the threat.

Offensive Explosion:

• Cubs are now 54–12 when scoring first, jumping out early and never looking back.

• Reese McGuire: 1-2/first career grand slam in the top of the 4th gave the Cubs a 6–0 lead. 5 RBI (ties career high) and one-third of his 21 hits this season are home runs (7).

• Kyle Tucker: 3-5/back-to-back HR games after hitting just one since July 19. Went deep twice, including a 3-run shot in the top of the 6th (8th career multi-HR game, first since May 2024 w/ Houston). Finished with 5 RBI.

• Counsell on Tucker - “I think from my perspective, mentally he needed some days. It wasn’t a physical thing, it wasn’t a mechanical thing. At that point mentally,as a player you just need some days where you’re watching the game and you don’t have to worry about performing.”

• Dansby Swanson: 1-3/RBI double in the top of the 6th.

• Michael Busch: 2-5/RBI single in the top of the 7th.

• Cubs put up a season-high 10 two-out RBIs.

Historic Note:Tucker + McGuire are the first Cubs teammates with 5 RBI each in a game since Sammy Sosa & Henry Rodríguez in May 2000.

Horton has been Mr. Consistency, Tucker may be heating up at the right time and McGuire picked the perfect night to plant his flag in the ground.