The Chicago Cubs aim to salvage a split of their road trip Thursday afternoon when they play the decisive game of a three-game series with the Toronto Blue Jays.
After Toronto took the opener 5-1 on Tuesday, Chicago prevailed 4-1 on Wednesday. That puts the Cubs at 2-3 on their six-game trip and 11-12 since the All-Star break.
The Cubs are scheduled to start left-hander Matthew Boyd (11-5, 2.45 ERA), who will be looking for his first win against his original major league team. Boyd is 0-3 with a 4.46 ERA in seven career starts against the Blue Jays, but he has not faced them since 2021.
Toronto right-hander Max Scherzer (2-2, 4.21 ERA) is slated to face the Cubs for the first time since 2022. He is 5-2 with a 2.82 ERA in 11 career starts against Chicago.
The Cubs emerged from their win with an injury to catcher Miguel Amaya, who took a nasty spill crossing first base on an infield single. He was removed from the field on a cart.
Cubs manager Craig Counsell said that Amaya had a sprained left ankle and will need a stint on the injured list. X-rays were negative. Amaya was activated from the IL on Tuesday after he had been out since late May with a strained left oblique, and he was in his first game back when he got hurt again.
“It’s swollen up pretty good already,” Counsell said postgame of Amaya’s ankle. “Bad luck, unfortunately, and we’re going to miss him.”
When Amaya returned from the IL, the Cubs elected to carry three catchers in case there was an injury to one of them. Reese McGuire, who took over on Wednesday, and Carson Kelly will be Counsell’s options unless the club adds another catcher to take Amaya’s roster spot.
Matt Busch hit a solo homer and a sacrifice fly for the Cubs on Wednesday while Matt Shaw hit his eighth homer since the All-Star break.
The Blue Jays had only two hits in the loss but did score a run in the sixth to end Cade Horton’s scoreless streak at 28 1/3 innings. Horton struck out a career-high eight and allowed one hit in 5 2/3 innings.
“This is the hardest team to strike out in baseball,” Counsell said. “And so, what he did to a very good lineup is just a continuation of what we have seen over this past month. He was awesome. We’ve had some superlatives with him on each start, and this was maybe the best one.”
Horton gave credit to Amaya’s work behind the plate.
“I think we had a really good game plan,” Horton said. “And you hate to see what happened to him. Just adding him to our lineup and having him behind there — he’s a special player, great teammate.”
Vladimir Guerrero Jr. hit an RBI double for Toronto and is batting .376/.447/.683 with seven homers and 19 RBIs in 25 games since the All-Star break.
The Blue Jays could have George Springer back soon after he cleared concussion protocol. He has been out since July 28, when a fastball brushed his shoulder and hit his batting helmet. He is scheduled to begin a rehabilitation assignment with Triple-A Buffalo on Thursday.
“I had days where I felt good and days where I did not,” Springer said. “Probably three or four days ago, I had my first great day. It’s about small victories. Over the past three or four days, I feel like I have had a lot of small victories, and had another one today. I get to go and start the (minor league rehab) process, and we’ll see what happens.”
–Field Level Media
