Michael Busch’s Power Proves To Be Difference As Cubs Defeat Blue Jays

More and more it seems how Michael Busch goes the Cubs go. There was more evidence to review after Wednesday’s game as Busch set the tone with a solo home run in the third inning to give the Cubs a 1-0 lead in the third inning. He later pushed Chicago to a 3-1 lead in the eighth inning on a sacrifice fly.

A review of the games in August seems to back it up. In the Cubs’ six losses this month the first baseman is 2-for-22 from the plate. When the Cubs win — including Wednesday’s victory — he is 4-for-15. On the surface, it’s not much different. But the slug is. He’s hit a double and two home runs in five Cubs wins. He doesn’t have a single extra-base hit in the six losses.

So, in August, when Busch slugs, the Cubs tend to win. When he doesn’t, the Cubs tend to lose. So, naturally, Chicago needs him to slug as much as possible as the rest of the offense tries to get back on track.

Miguel Amaya’s Awful Luck

On Tuesday, the Chicago Cubs activated Miguel Amaya rom the injured list, giving Carson Kelly some much needed depth behind him at catcher. Amaya didn’t start on Tuesday, but the Cubs slid him into the starting lineup on Wednesday. The hope was to get back to using the pair as a tandem.

It didn’t last a game. In the eighth inning he was legging out a ground ball to shortstop and trying to beat the throw to first base. Amaya appeared to catch his leg on the bag and flew into the air. He came crashing to the ground and clearly had done something to one of his legs. Amaya appears to have sprained his ankled and will head back to the injured list.

Reese McGuire came into replace Amaya for the rest of the game should slide into the backup spot once again. It was not clear right after the game how badly Amaya was hurt. But, given the violence of how he fell, it may be some time before the Cubs see him on the field again.

Horton Keeps Dealing

Javier Assad is back. Jameson Taillon likely rejoins the rotation next week after his latest rehab game with Iowa. When he returns, someone will need to make room in the rotation for him. That pitcher should not be Cade Horton.

The rookie continued his solid work for the Cubs on Wednesday as he pitched 5.2 innings, allowing one hit, one earned run and two walks. The Blue Jays’ lineup has been red hot. They set a franchise record last week in Colorado for most runs scored in a three-game series. So, holding the group to one hit is hard work. Horton also struck out eight hitters.

Horton isn’t giving Chicago as much length as it might like, but the results are there. In his last three starts he has allowed just five hits and one earned run in 16.1 innings. He’s walked five and struck out 17. Look at his last seven starts and he is 3-1 with a 1.13 ERA, with 34 strikeouts and 13 walks in 40 innings. In other words, this is what a budding former first-round pick looks like.