Cubs 1, Orioles 0: Pitching, defense and... a sacrifice fly

The Cubs got all three of the things noted in today’s headline and won in a very, very fast game.

The Cubs and Orioles met on perhaps the nicest weather day of the entire summer to date at Wrigley Field. Unlimited sunshine, 72 degrees, wind blowing in at 12 miles per hour.

And then they played like they wanted to get out of there and enjoy the sunshine. The Cubs beat the Orioles 1-0 with some great pitching and defense. A sacrifice fly by Ian Happ in the second inning provided the only run of the afternoon.

The teams played in one hour, 49 minutes, which was the fastest nine-inning game at Wrigley Field since… last Sept. 27, when the Cubs and Reds also played a 1-0 game won by the Cubs. Before that there had been just two nine-inning games that fast at Wrigley since the 1970s — 1:49 on June 21, 2002 and 1:48 on May 24, 2001, and there was a long rain delay in the latter.

It was also the fastest game in MLB so far this year.

Cade Horton was a bit shaky in the first inning, issuing two walks, but got out of the inning on a pair of fly balls.

In the bottom of the second, Carson Kelly led off with a single and went to third on a double by Pete Crow-Armstrong.

Happ’s sac fly scored Kelly [VIDEO].

That ball was pretty shallow, but the throw was off line and Kelly scored easily.

After that, Horton settled down and allowed just three further baserunners, a single in the third and a walk and single in the fifth. The walk was erased on a double play and then Kelly threw out Jeremiah Jackson trying to steal. This was Jackson’s MLB debut and the single was his first hit.

After that it was all pitching. The Cubs couldn’t do anything with Trevor Rogers, who allowd just two further hits, a leadoff double by Matt Shaw in the sixth and another single by Kelly in the seventh. Rogers threw an eight-inning complete game on just 88 pitches. He’s the first visiting pitcher to throw an eight-inning CG at Wrigley since that Reds game last year, thrown by Nick Martinez. There was also one in 2023 by Jordan Lyles, then pitching for the Royals. Before that it hadn’t happened since 2010, Gavin Floyd for the White Sox in the near no-hitter by Ted Lilly.

Horton threw just 71 pitches in five innings before being lifted, which seemed a bit early. But Craig Counsell apparently wanted to protect his young starter, and the Cubs just got some bullpen reinforcements.

Here are Horton’s three strikeouts [VIDEO].

Here’s more on Horton’s outing [VIDEO].

And more from BCB’s JohnW53:

This was Horton’s fifth start of at least five innings without allowing a run. Only four National League pitchers had more than five going into today: Paul Skenes and Yoshinobu Yamamoto, with seven; and Matthew Boyd of the Cubs and Sonny Gray, with six. There were six who had five.