CHICAGO — Matt Shaw headed up the first-base line, his bat held skyward in his right hand as he watched the ball travel to deep center field. The Cubs rookie then flipped the bat away following his sacrifice fly, completed the run to first and then turned in time for Pete Crow-Armstrong to jump into him as the party got underway.
Shaw’s drive to the warning track off Guardians closer Emmanuel Clase was the final snapshot for a tightly contested 1-0 victory in 10 innings on Thursday night at Wrigley Field. Fellow Cubs rookie Cade Horton laid the foundation for the win — one that secured a three-game sweep of Cleveland — with the best outing of his young career.
“He deserves that moment,” Horton said of Shaw. “It was just super cool to watch him be able to go out there and close the game.”
How Horton started the game was just as important for the North Siders.
Flash back to Friday in Houston, where the 23-year-old Horton admittedly allowed things to speed up on him in the raucous environment at Daikin Park. The young righty allowed seven runs to the Astros, who launched two homers, drew four walks and chased Horton from the contest after just four innings.
In the wake of that game, Cubs manager Craig Counsell chatted with Horton about the lessons that could be learned from that moment. The National League Central-leading Cubs are aiming to play in the postseason and Horton now had a taste of what things can feel like on the October stage.
Horton’s job this week was to take that feedback, get back to work and turn the page in his start against Cleveland. The righty checked those boxes and logged a career-high seven innings, holding the Guardians off the scoreboard, scattering five hits and ending with five strikeouts to position Chicago for the win.
It was precisely the type of bounceback the Cubs hoped to see from the rookie pitcher.
“That’s what this is all about,” Counsell said. “It’s making adjustments. We talked about that before the game. It’s about leaving it behind you and staying in the present and not letting it carry over. And it’s learning from failure or things you don’t do well.
“When you’re clear-headed, I think you have the great ability to do it. And that’s what Cade showed tonight.”
Horton acknowledged that the last outing did linger with him for a bit.
“Outings like that, they sit for a little bit,” Horton said. “You can’t go back and change it. But what you can do is learn from it, so it’s just taking those things and learning from it and applying it to the next start.”
In the days between starts, Horton said he worked on some delivery adjustments to focus on pitching with more of a “north-south” approach this time around. He also faced a Cleveland lineup that featured five true lefty batters and three switch-hitters, giving him a chance to put his changeup to the test.
Horton led with his fastball (48 times), sitting at 95.5 mph on average and maxing out at 97.4 mph, per Statcast. The righty leaned on his changeup as his top secondary offering, firing it a career-high 22 times and generating eight whiffs with the pitch (out of 11 overall). That included a 1-2 change to José Ramírez that faded away from his bat for a strikeout in the sixth.
“It was going to be an important pitch tonight,” Counsell said. “And he used it well.”
Horton also received a nice assist from Cubs catcher Reese McGuire.
In the first inning, Horton issued a leadoff walk to Steven Kwan, who was then caught stealing by McGuire. In the fifth, Bo Naylor singled to put runners on the corners for Cleveland, but was then thrown out by McGuire when trying to steal second. Kyle Manzardo tried to hustle to second on a ball in the dirt in the sixth, but McGuire snared it swiftly and threw him out, too.
“Reese had a great game,” Counsell said. “The stolen base in the first inning — [Horton] threw five balls to start the game. To get an out right there and kind of reset — where you know you’ve got an out right away — was a big deal.”
That helped Horton settle in and calm the situation.
“I think the biggest thing was the mental side of the game,” Horton said. “And just slowing the game down and being in control and living pitch to pitch. I think that was the biggest difference tonight. Just controlling my emotions.”
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