Cubs, Mets turn to stellar starters for rubber game of series

The Chicago Cubs were thrilled with right-hander Cade Horton's major league debut and an offense which got just enough big hits.

The New York Mets lamented the numerous missed chances, resulting in a rare home loss.

A pair of early division leaders conclude a three-game set with an early start when the Cubs visit the Mets on Sunday.

The Mets had on Friday hit four homers and held the Cubs to five hits -- none in six at-bats with runners in scoring position -- in a 7-2 win. On Saturday, the Cubs earned a 6-5 win when they were 4-for-8 with runners in scoring position. They never trailed and avoided a season-high fourth straight loss.

The Cubs went 4-for-23 with runners in scoring position in their previous three games before showing an aggressive approach and taking a 4-0 lead through four innings.

Seiya Suzuki hit an RBI single and scored on Michael Busch's single for his second straight multi-hit game. Busch had gone 1-for-17 in his previous six games. Dansby Swanson had an RBI single and his fourth homer in his past 11 games and catcher Miguel Amaya hit a two-run single.

Horton pitched four innings and allowed three runs on four hits and no walks with five strikeouts. The seventh overall pick of the 2022 MLB Draft out of Oklahoma, Horton threw 77 pitches, 49 for strikes.

"He did a nice job," Cubs manager Craig Counsell said. "He got 12 outs and the rest of the bullpen made some huge pitches. I thought Miguel Amaya did a heckuva job tonight. It's not easy going through a bunch of pitchers, handling a major league debut. He did a great job."

Chicago evened the series as Horton made his debut after Brad Keller opened. Brett Baty hit a three-run homer off Horton and a two-run homer off Julian Merryweather. The Mets, however, saw Francisco Lindor, Juan Soto, Pete Alonso and Brandon Nimmo finish a combined 3-for-17 with six strikeouts.

"I'll take my chances every night, as long as we continue to put guys on base," said New York manager Carlos Mendoza, whose team is hitting .225 with runners in scoring position and .252 overall. "More times than not, those guys will come through."

The Mets are trying to avoid dropping their second straight series at home. New York is 14-4 at home but lost two of three to the Arizona Diamondbacks last week.

Chicago left-hander Matthew Boyd (3-2, 2.75 ERA) seeks his 50th career victory on Sunday, when he would hope to hand a lead to closer Ryan Pressly, who had Saturday off.

Boyd has allowed two runs or fewer in five starts, including Monday's 9-2 win over the San Francisco Giants when he allowed two runs on five hits and tied a season high with seven strikeouts in six innings.

Boyd's only previous start against the Mets occurred on Aug. 6, 2016, while with the Detroit Tigers. He allowed three runs in five innings and earned a 6-5 win.

Griffin Canning (5-1, 2.50) will attempt to become the second six-game winner in the National League along with Arizona's Brandon Pfaadt. Canning has won his last five starts by posting a 2.39 ERA; he allowed one run on six hits in five innings Monday for a 5-4 decision in Arizona.

The right-hander is two shy of matching his career-high total for wins and one shy of matching his total from last season with the Los Angeles Angels, when he went 6-13.

Canning's only previous start against the Cubs occurred July 5, 2024, when he allowed four runs on six hits in 4 1/3 innings to take the loss at Wrigley Field.

--Field Level Media