Horton’s Unexpected Strategy Could Topple Skenes and Silence the Pirates – But Can He Pull It Off?

As the baseball season nears its final stretch with roughly ten games left on the docket, the tension swells—not just for the playoff hopefuls, but for anyone who’s been watching the Cubs claw towards that postseason berth. Sure, the Pirates have already waved the white flag, but the Cubs? That’s a story still being written, and honestly, it’s not about if they’ll make the playoffs—it’s about when and how they’ll punch that ticket. What’s fascinating here is the clash of narratives: a Cubs offense sputtering just when they need to ignite, facing off against the Pirates’ ace, Paul Skenes, who’s pitching like he’s on a mission from baseball destiny itself. Can Cade Horton, with his solid yet imperfect road performance, keep pace? Will the Cubs figure out their bats before the postseason clock runs out? These are the kind of questions that make this matchup more than just another game on the schedule—it’s a microcosm of a season balancing on the edge. Buckle up, because the drama’s just beginning. LEARN MORE

Cubs vs. Pirates, 6:40 ET

The finish line for the baseball season is within sight; we only have about 10 games remaining for each team. As usual, it has been a long season, but we are about to get toward the best part of the season as the playoffs begin. There are still some divisions left to be decided, and there are Wild Card spots that are not secured. However, for the most part, we know who will be in the playoffs unless someone completely collapses over the next week. We have the Cubs who have not secured a spot yet, but are close, and the Pirates, who have been eliminated. 

The Cubs are going to make the playoffs, it isn’t a matter of if, it is a matter of when they clinch their spot. They will not get the division unless they have a great week and the Brewers fall apart, and that seems rather unlikely considering the Brewers are arguably the best team in the league. Plus, the Brewers are still fighting to maintain the first overall seed in the playoffs. So, the Cubs are going to be a Wild Card team and should host a series to start the playoffs. The question for them is mostly about if their offense can get back on track. To start the season, they were awesome, but since July, their three main guys, Kyle Tucker, Pete Crow-Armstrong, and Seiya Suzuki have struggled significantly. Suzuki and Tucker are both injured at the moment, but since the 1st of July, the trio have combined for 18 homers. Since August, it is even worse, with the three getting just six. Crow-Armstrong hit his first homer of the month yesterday, and just his second since July 25th. The good news for him is that Cade Horton takes the hill tonight. He is 10-4 for the season with a 2.70 ERA and a 1.11 WHIP. He has been great for the Cubs this season, but has been slightly worse on the road, posting a 3.75 road ERA. He has allowed only five earned runs since August started and only nine since the beginning of July. He did face the Pirates once this season allowing just three hits in 5.2 innings. 

We don’t need to go too deep into the Pirates. Their season has been disappointing to say the least. I don’t think anyone really expected them to be a great team, but they never really had a nice stretch, either. Last year, they were at least competitive for a good portion of the year. This year they’ve been bad basically all season. The offense just can’t seem to score runs. They have some talent on the roster and in the lineup, but clearly not enough. I don’t know if they are going to be active enough in the offseason, but they need to figure something out and do it quickly. Today they send out the likely Cy Young winner, Paul Skenes. For the season he is just 10-9, but is first in ERA at 1.92, fourth in strikeouts with 203, and third in WHIP at 0.92. He hasn’t allowed a run this month, going 11 scoreless innings and allowing just two hits. He has faced the Cubs twice this year with the Pirates splitting the games. In the first, he allowed three earned runs all on solo homers. The second he only allowed four hits and no earned runs. 

Overall, Cubs hitters are batting just .213 against Skenes. This would lead you to think this game will definitely go under, but I’m not so sure about it. Skenes is clearly the better pitcher, but Horton is very good as well. I think we are going to have very few runs in the first five innings, but at 3.5 it doesn’t leave much room for error. I think that Horton will match up well against Skenes who won’t get more than six innings of work. I’ll back the Cubs to get the upset here and take this one.

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