Nico Hoerner helps Cubs knock off Angels

Field Level Media|published: Wed 1st April, 17:43 2026

Apr 1, 2026; Chicago, Illinois, USA; Chicago Cubs catcher Miguel Amaya (9) scores past Los Angeles Angels catcher Travis D'Arnaud (25) during the fourth inning at Wrigley Field. Mandatory Credit: Matt Marton-Imagn Images

Nico Hoerner went 3-for-5 with two doubles, a stolen base, a run scored and an RBI and Matt Shaw had two hits and two RBIs to lead the Chicago Cubs to a 6-2 victory over the visiting Los Angeles Angels in the rubber game of their three-game series on Wednesday afternoon.

Matthew Boyd (1-1) bounced back from a 10-4 Opening Day loss to Washington to pick up the win. Boyd allowed two runs (one earned) on two hits over 5 2/3 innings while striking out 10 and walking two.

Michael Busch had two hits and a run scored, Alex Bregman reached base three times with a hit and two walks and also drove in a run, and Carson Kelly scored twice for Chicago.

Zach Neto had two hits and a run for Los Angeles, which finished 3-4 on a season-opening seven-game road trip. The Angels managed just four hits on a windy 39-degree day, the fifth-coldest game in team history. Yusei Kikuchi (0-1) suffered the loss, allowing five runs on six hits in 5 1/3 innings. He walked four and struck out five in his first career appearance against the Cubs.

Chicago parlayed five hits and two walks into a 5-0 lead in the bottom of the third, sending 10 batters to the plate in the process.

Miguel Amaya led off with a walk and then came around from first to score on Hoerner's double up the alley in left-center. The Angels wanted to challenge a safe call at home plate but umpire Chris Guccione ruled first-year Los Angeles manager Kurt Suzuki didn't get the challenge in quickly enough.

Bregman then followed with an RBI single to make it 2-0. After the Cubs loaded the bases, Swanson drove in Ian Happ with a sacrifice fly and Shaw and Pete Crow-Armstrong added back-to-back RBI singles.

The Angels cut the lead to 5-2 in the sixth on an RBI single by Jo Adell, driving in Neto, who had singled and advanced to second on a walk to Mike Trout. Trout then scored when Jorge Soler's grounder went under Bregman's glove for an error.

The Cubs added an insurance run in the seventh courtesy off a rare fielding error by Trout, who dropped Kelly's routine fly ball to center. Kelly advanced to third on a single by Busch and scored one out later on a single by Shaw.

--Field Level Media