Chicago Cubs Score and Recap (8/8/26): Royals 6, Cubs 3 – Holmes Can’t Handle the Jac Attack

The Cubs and Royals got together for the second game of their series on another beautiful night at Kauffman Stadium. The road squad had another newly acquired starting pitcher make his debut on Saturday, but unlike Friday, it would be much more of a struggle as the home team won to even things up.

Clay Holmes retired the first two hitters he faced before Jac Caglianone connected on a solo homer that gave Kansas City a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the 1st. The Chicago right-hander had more trouble in the 2nd when he gave up a two-run single to Josh Rojas to bring the score to 3-0.

Caglianone continued his big night with an RBI double in the bottom of the 3rd as the Royals increased the margin to 4-0. The North Siders finally got to Seth Lugo in the 4th when Carson Kelly brought home a pair on a double to cut the deficit in half.

Ian Happ mercifully broke a long hitless streak with a solo homer to bring the Cubs within 4-3 in the top of the 6th. Caglianone was not going to let his team be denied on Saturday, however, blasting a two-run homer off of Colin Rea to increase the advantage to 6-3 in the 7th. Kansas City deployed old friend Nate Pearson to close out the victory in the 9th. (Box score)

Key Moment

Seiya Suzuki struck out against John Schreiber in the top of the 7th with two on and two outs and Chicago trailing 4-3.

Why the Cubs Lost

Not a great starting pitching effort, and one of the opposing hitters had the game of hid life.

Stats That Matter

• Holmes might have had some rust after missing two months with a broken leg: 4 IP, 4 R, 6 H, 1 K, and 2 BB.
• Happ also had a double after his home run.
• Tyrone Taylor reached base two times.

Bottom Line

It’s not easy to sweep anyone on the road, even a bad team like the Royals. One player went off and wrecked the game for the Cubs. They need to dust themselves off and win the series on Sunday.

On Deck

The aforementioned rubber match is Sunday afternoon at 1:10pm CT. Matthew Boyd is on the mound against Randy Dobnak in a game available on Marquee with a radio feed on The Score.