Cubs Bury Twins Early, Hoerner Goes Perfect in 6-2 Win

Nico Hoerner went 4-for-4 and Chicago scored five runs across the first three innings to put Minnesota away early. Kody Clemens hit two solo shots for the Twins, but it was never enough to threaten a Cubs team that had the game in hand by the third.

Chicago wasted no time. Michael Busch opened the scoring in the first with a 402-foot shot to right, and when Kody Clemens answered with a 371-foot homer to right center in the second to tie it, it looked briefly like Minnesota might have something. It didn't last. Later that same inning, Miguel Amaya doubled to left, scoring Hoerner and Swanson — that swing moved Chicago's win probability from 63% to 81%, and it was effectively the ballgame. The Cubs weren't done in the third: Hoerner singled to right to score Suzuki and push the lead to 4-1, then Pedro Ramirez hit a ground rule double to score Happ and make it 5-1. Five runs on the board before Minnesota could blink.

The pitching story belongs to Matthew Boyd. He went 6.0 innings, allowing just 3 hits and 1 earned run while striking out 4 and walking 1 — a composed, efficient outing that gave Chicago's bullpen a comfortable cushion to work with. On the other side, Taj Bradley ran into trouble early, surrendering 7 hits, 5 earned runs, and 3 walks over 5.0 innings. The damage was done before he could settle in, and that's the kind of start that makes a deficit feel permanent.

Clemens deserves credit for refusing to disappear — he added a second homer in the seventh, a 391-foot shot to right center, to make it 5-2 and give Minnesota a pulse. But Ramirez answered almost immediately with a single to right that scored Busch and pushed the lead back to four, sealing the final at 6-2. The story of the night was Hoerner, who looks like one of the most reliable contact hitters in the lineup right now — four at-bats, four hits, a run scored, and a hand in two separate rallies. Chicago appears to be a team that can manufacture runs from multiple spots in the order, and on this Saturday afternoon, that depth was the difference.