The sun came out over Wrigley Field Saturday afternoon, though it was still quite chilly, 41 degrees at game time.
The Cubs followed the bright sunshine in pleasing the 34,834 in attendance by getting a strong outing from Cade Horton and home runs from Miguel Amaya and Ian Happ and crushed the visiting Nationals 10-2.
Horton breezed through the first thee innings, retiring nine Nats in a row, three by strikeout, and threw just 28 pitches in doing so.
Meanwhile, the Cubs were taking a 4-0 lead in the second on old nemesis Miles Mikolas, in part because the Nats simply could not deal with the sun and wind at Wrigley. Nico Hoerner and Dansby Swanson drew one-out walks. Moises Ballesteros sent a grounder the opposite way and Nats shortstop Nasim Nuñez had no play — about the only way Moises gets an infield hit. Matt Shaw drove in the first Cubs run with this sac fly [VIDEO].
Amaya then blooped a ball into right that Nats fielders surrounded but could not catch, making it 2-0 [VIDEO].
The next hitter, Michael Busch, sent a towering fly ball to left, and again, Nats fielders could not make the play. It fell for a two-base error and two runs scored [VIDEO].
Horton served up a home run to James Wood leading off the fourth to make it 4-1, but the Cubs got that run right back in the bottom of the inning on a homer by Amaya, the Cubs’ first long ball of 2026 [VIDEO].
Check out the launch angle on that one! [VIDEO]
More on Amaya’s blast from BCB’s JohnW53:
Miguel Amaya became the 108th different Cub since 1876 to hit the team’s first homer of the year. He is the 81st who has done it once.
His homer was the 51st of 150 first-of-year homers hit at home (the Cubs hit no homers in 1877). It was the 86th solo homer and the 28th of the solos that increased a lead.
The Nats got one more run off Horton in the fifth to make it 5-2, but the Cubs got that run back in the bottom of the inning as well. Pete Crow-Armstrong walked with one oiut and stole second, his second swipe of the afternoon. Nico’s double scored him [VIDEO].
The Cubs put the game away in the sixth. Shaw led off with a single and one out later Busch walked. After Wood made a nice grab on a line drive by Bregman for the second out, Nats manage Blake Butera decided he had to, just had to, bring in a left-hander to turn Ian Happ around to bat righthanded.
Here is the first pitch to Happ from left-hander Ken Waldichuk [VIDEO].
This managing thing isn’t as easy as it looks, Blake.
PCA then laid down a perfect bunt for a hit, the second game in a row he’s done that. I would like to see more of this from PCA; he’s capable of doing it and in the right situation, it gives his offensive game one more weapon. A walk drawn by Hoerner and Swanson reaching on a fielder’s choice loaded the bases. Craig Counsell sent Carson Kelly up to bat for Ballesteros. He drew a walk, forcing in the Cubs’ 10th run [VIDEO].
Horton was removed after allowing a one-out single in the seventh, after having thrown 75 pitches (53 strikes). He received a loud ovation. Here’s more on Horton’s outing [VIDEO].
That was an ace-like outing for Horton. The 75-pitch limit means they’re still being careful with him, which is fine this early in the season. Good stuff. Horton was helped by his defense. Check out this great stop and throw by Swanson in the sixth [VIDEO].
Credit to Busch for a nice grab on that play, too.
Phil Maton, Caleb Thielbar and Jacob Webb finished up with 2.2 scoreless innings, allowing no hits (although three walks). Here’s the double play that ended the game [VIDEO].
The Cubs had two ABS challenges in this game, both successful, both by hitters, one by Shaw and one by Bregman.
Last note on this game, regarding the four-run innings by the Cubs, from BCB’s JohnW53:
The Cubs scored at least four runs in 44 innings last year, including 22 with exactly four, as they had today. They had two four-run innings in one game, for a total of 21 different games.
They won 19. The only losses were by 9-7 at Miami and by 9-4 at home vs. the Royals. They were 8-1 at home and 10-1 on the road.
With the good performances in this game, I believe it is an appropriate time for the first 2026 appearance of this photo:
The Cubs will go for the series win Sunday afternoon at Wrigley Field. Left-hander Shōta Imanaga will make his first 2026 start, and he’ll be opposed by Nationals right-hander Jake Irvin. Game time is again 1:20 p.m. CT, and we are assured it will be warmer (high of about 61). TV coverage will be via Marquee Sports Network.
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