CHICAGO — The final pitch that Cubs rookie Cade Horton unleashed on Wednesday night veered up and away, eluding the bat of Atlanta’s Ha-Seong Kim. As the Wrigley Field faithful roared, Horton headed off the field with little reaction, displaying steadiness in demeanor equal to his recent run on the mound.
Horton worked five no-hit innings in the latest in a growing pile of excellent performances, but the Cubs’ bullpen was unable to finish what he started in a 5-1 loss to the Braves. The rookie pitcher has been working under pitch restrictions for the past few weeks, and manager Craig Counsell stuck to the program rather than give in to historic temptation.
Horton cracked a smile when asked if he fought to stay in the game.
“Jokingly,” Horton said. “I know at the end of the day, it’s not going to happen, and that’s all right. I feel like I’d much rather be healthy for the postseason than go out there for the sixth or seventh in early September.”
“It’s what we’re doing. That’s how we’re going to move forward with this,” Counsell said. “That innings number could get pretty high, so we’re going to make sure that he is properly taken care of and that’s not going to change.”
With Horton’s pitch count at 75 pitches through five innings — the righty had exceeded that total just once since the start of August (82 on Aug. 13) — Counsell handed the ball to Ben Brown. In the seventh, the bid for a combined no-hitter ended when Ozzie Albies ripped a single into right field just out of the reach of leaping second baseman Nico Hoerner.
“I was kind of glad to see him not come back out, honestly,” Braves manager Brian Snitker said. “We weren’t solving him.”
That helped ignite a four-run push for the Braves, who saw Kim swing the game their way with a three-run homer off lefty Drew Pomeranz. The Cubs’ bid for the first no-hitter in the Majors this season was quashed along the way. In fact, the Cubs authored the last no-no when Shota Imanaga began a combined effort nearly one year ago to the day (Sept. 4, 2024).
While Bryce Elder quieted the Cubs over seven innings, Horton racked up six strikeouts in his five no-hit frames, with his lone blemish a one-out, 10-pitch walk to Matt Olson in the first. In the fourth, the rookie’s effort was helped by shortstop Dansby Swanson, who made a diving catch to his right to snag a line drive off the bat of Drake Baldwin, Atlanta’s Rookie of the Year contender.
“It’s no surprise when he takes the ball for us and he’s able to do what he does,” Cubs catcher Reese McGuire said. “His confidence, with how young he is and being in this league, getting the experience, he’s impressing a lot of people here.”
Wednesday’s showing was nothing new for Horton.
Dating back to the start of July, all the 24-year-old rookie has done is turn in a tidy 1.23 ERA over a stretch of 11 starts. Horton has seen his season ERA drop from 4.80 to 2.78 during that timeframe, as his Rookie of the Year stock has climbed in the NL. Over that stretch, the righty has allowed only eight earned runs with 54 strikeouts and 18 walks in 58 2/3 innings.
“I feel like I’m supposed to go out there and do that. That’s my job,” Horton said. “But also, at the end of the day, it is really cool that I’ve put up those numbers. But I’ve got a start in six days and face the same lineup, so [it’s], ‘Go out there and do it again.’ It’s just never really getting complacent.”
Horton said the pitch limitations have also helped him focus on efficiency.
“It’s almost like it is a challenge,” Horton said.
On Aug. 6 against the Reds, the righty threw strikes at a rate of 83.6%, marking the highest percentage for an MLB starter this year (min. 50 pitches). On Aug. 23 against the Angels, Horton’s first 21 pitches of the game were strikes. Last time out in Colorado, he encountered steady traffic, but limited the damage to two runs in his first Coors Field experience.
“There’s just an attack mentality with quality pitches,” Counsell said. “It’s fun to watch, man. It’s been a really, really impressive start to a Major League career. He’s doing a heck of a job.”
