Chicago Cubs Score and Recap (8/1/26): Cubs 5, Yankees 2 – Peterson, Hoerner Lead Way

The Cubs and Yankees played the second game of their series at Wrigley Field Saturday night. Both sides got excellent efforts from their starting pitchers but it was the home squad that came out ahead in the battle of bullpens that followed.

Chicago took the lead in the bottom of the 1st without the benefit of a hit when Pete Crow-Armstrong drew a walk and came around to score on a pair of wild pitches by Max Fried. David Peterson did an outstanding job of keeping New York off the scoreboard into the 5th inning, when José Caballero hit a game-tying single following a rare error by Michael Busch that kept the frame going.

Peterson made it all the way to the top of the 7th, but he left on a down note when Spencer Jones hit a go-ahead solo home run to end the left-hander’s night. The North Siders responded immediately in the bottom of the frame when Nico Hoerner took Fernando Cruz deep to even the score.

The Cubs were not finished in that inning, however, as PCA hit a triple to put his team in front. Seiya Suzuki singled to bring him home and make it 4-2. They would add an insurance run in the 8th on an RBI single by Busch, then Caleb Thielbar closed out the Yankees in the 9th to seal the 5-2 victory. (Box score)

Key Moment

Jacob Webb retired pinch-hitter Ben Rice when he represented the tying run in the top of the 8th inning. The Yankees would not get the tying run to the plate again Saturday.

Why the Cubs Won

A quality start and one big inning were enough to put them over the top in this one.

Stats That Matter

• Peterson continues to be very good since coming over from the Mets: 6.1 IP, 2 R, 1 ER, 5 H, 5 K, and 0 BB.
• Alex Bregman had a single and a pair of walks.
• Hoerner also had a single and has suddenly found some power.

Bottom Line

The Cubs have to be thrilled with the contribution from Peterson since the trade. Injuries have made the starting rotation unstable, to say the least, so getting a solid performance every five days from him has been huge. PCA seems to do something every single day to help his team win; it’s definitely MVP-worthy.

On Deck

The rubber match of the series is Sunday afternoon at 1:20pm CT. Colin Rea goes up against Gerrit Cole in a game televised on Marquee with a radio feed on The Score.