Chicago Cubs Score and Recap (8/24/25): Cubs 4, Angels 3 – Cubs Pass Professor’s Exam, Complete Sweep

The Cubs tried for a sweep of the Angels while facing old friend Kyle Hendricks on a beautiful Sunday afternoon at the Big A. Chicago built a lead in the middle innings and held on late for a one-run victory to break out the brooms.

Taylor Ward put Los Angeles out in front with a 1st inning solo home run off Jameson Taillon. Matt Shaw doubled against Hendricks and came in to score on an RBI single by Kyle Tucker to tie it in the 3rd.

The North Siders took the lead on a run-scoring double off the bat of Nico Hoerner in the 4th. The Angels removed the Professor with the bases loaded and one out in the 5th. Andrew Chafin then came on in relief and surrendered a sacrifice fly to Pete Crow-Armstrong and an RBI single to Carson Kelly to increase the Cubs advantage to 4-1.

Los Angeles picked up a pair of runs against Andrew Kittredge in the 6th when Ward doubled home one and Dansby Swanson made a rare error at shortstop that cut to deficit to 4-3. Things got tense in the 9th inning when closer Daniel Palencia allowed a single and a walk with one out, but he then struck out the next two hitters to earn the save. (Box score)

Key Moment

Palencia did not have his best stuff but he battled through it to punch out Christian Moore and Bryce Teodosio to end the game.

Why the Cubs Won

They were productive early on offense and the bullpen held just enough to earn the victory.

Stats That Matter

• Taillon pitched decently but had to leave the game with groin tightness: 5 IP, 1 R, 3 H, 3 K, 0 BB.
• Shaw had two more hits and continues to make outstanding defensive plays every day.
• Nico also had two knocks and has been incredibly consistent all season.

Bottom Line

After all of the handwringing the past month and a half, the Cubs are now a season-high 21 games over the .500 mark. They are at least making the Brewers sweat a little bit, climbing within five games of first in the NL Central. Most importantly, they are starting to play better baseball which is what everyone really needed to see from the North Siders.

On Deck

Chicago has the day off Monday before starting a series in San Francisco Tuesday night at 8:45pm CT. Matthew Boyd gets the start against the veteran Justin Verlander in a game televised on Marquee with a radio feed on 670 The Score.