CHICAGO β That's more like it.
Two days after getting blown out 10-4 on Opening Day, the Cubs flipped the script on Saturday afternoon at Wrigley Field, routing the Washington Nationals 10-2 behind a dominant start from Cade Horton and home runs from Ian Happ and Miguel Amaya. The series is tied at one game apiece heading into Sunday's finale.
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| WSH | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 1 |
| CHC | 0 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 0 | X | 10 | 9 | 0 |
Horton's Return
The story of the day was Cade Horton. The 2025 NL Rookie of the Year runner-up hadn't pitched in a regular-season game since September 23, when he left a start against the Mets with back tightness that turned out to be a cracked right rib. He missed the Cubs' entire postseason run. On Saturday, he looked like the guy who went 11-4 with a 2.67 ERA last year β and then some.
Horton retired the first nine batters he faced before James Wood broke through with a solo homer to left in the fourth. That was essentially the only damage. He worked 6.1 innings on just 75 pitches (53 strikes), allowing two runs on four hits with four strikeouts and a walk. He was ground-ball heavy β 10 grounders to just one fly ball β and never let the Nationals string anything together. Phil Maton, Caleb Thielbar, and Jacob Webb finished the job with 2.2 combined hitless innings.
The Offense Showed Up Early
The Cubs jumped on Miles Mikolas β making his first start for Washington after signing a $2.25 million deal with the Nationals in February β in the second inning. Matt Shaw's sacrifice fly opened the scoring, Miguel Amaya blooped an RBI single to right, and then a Nasim NuΓ±ez fielding error on Michael Busch's popup allowed two more unearned runs to score. Just like that, it was 4-0 and the Cubs were in control.
Amaya answered Wood's fourth-inning homer immediately, launching the first Cubs home run of the 2026 season β a solo shot that pushed the lead back to four. Nico Hoerner, one day after signing his six-year extension, doubled home a run in the fifth to make it 6-2. Then the sixth inning blew the door open: Happ crushed a three-run homer to left-center off reliever Ken Waldichuk, and Carson Kelly drew a bases-loaded walk to cap a four-run frame and put it at 10-2.
Happ and Amaya Leading the Way
Happ finished 1-for-5 but his three-run shot was the kind of swing that changes the energy of a game. Amaya was the offensive star β 2-for-4 with two runs scored, two RBI, and the homer. Pete Crow-Armstrong continued his strong start with a 2-for-4 day, two stolen bases, and two runs scored, pushing his early-season average to .444. Hoerner added an RBI double and a stolen base of his own. Busch reached base twice and scored a run. The only quiet bat in the lineup was Alex Bregman, who went 0-for-5 and is now 1-for-9 through two games.
Up Next
The Cubs go for the series win Sunday at Wrigley. Shota Imanaga takes the mound against Washington right-hander Jake Irvin. First pitch is at 1:20 p.m. CT on Marquee Sports Network.