Kyle Tucker broke out in a big way, blasting two home runs and driving in five runs as the Chicago Cubs rolled to a 12-1 rout of the Los Angeles Angels on Saturday night.
Reese McGuire added a grand slam and matched a career high with five RBI, powering Chicago to its seventh win in nine games. The Cubs sit atop the National League wild-card standings and trail Milwaukee by six games in the National League Central.
Rookie right-hander Cade Horton (8-4) was sharp, tossing six scoreless innings and limiting the Angels to three hits. Ben Brown handled the final three frames to secure his first major league save.
Tucker, who had gone 25 games without a home run before Friday, has three in his last two games. The surge came after manager Craig Counsell gave him three games off earlier to reset.
Jo Adell provided the Angels’ lone highlight, hitting his 29th homer in the seventh inning to spoil Chicago’s shutout bid. Los Angeles mustered eight hits but failed to capitalize, dropping its second straight game after being swept by the Cubs’ offense.
Victor Mederos (0-2) and reliever Carson Fulmer were tagged for all 12 runs, as the Angels fell to 2-6 since sweeping the Dodgers from Aug. 11-13.
McGuire’s slam in the fourth blew the game open at 6-0, and Tucker capped the onslaught with his second homer in the sixth, making it 10-0. It was Tucker’s eighth career multi-homer game and his first since May 2024 — also against the Angels, back when he played for Houston.
Key Moment:
In the third inning, Michael Busch doubled inside the first-base line past a diving Nolan Schanuel, setting up Tucker’s first homer of the night.
Key Stat:
Mike Trout went 0-for-3 with three strikeouts, snapping his 22-game on-base streak.
Up Next:
Former Cub Kyle Hendricks (6-8, 4.93 ERA) gets the ball for the Angels on Sunday against Chicago’s Jameson Taillon (8-6, 4.26 ERA) in the series finale.
