Cubs club five homers in 6-0 rout of Red Sox

Gabrielle Starr, Boston Herald on Jul 19, 2025

Published in Baseball

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The Red Sox didn’t take advantage of Rob Refsnyder’s first-pitch leadoff double, and the Chicago Cubs made them regret it.

In front of a roaring crowd at Wrigley Field on Saturday night, the home team clubbed five homers in a 6-0 drubbing, and took the series from their Boston visitors.

Michael Busch and Kyle Tucker opened the bottom of the first with back-to-back home runs; Busch’s was on Brayan Bello’s very first pitch. Vidal Bruján’s sacrifice fly in the second made Saturday the Red Sox righty’s first start with more than two runs allowed (earned or otherwise) since June 27, only his second such performance in seven starts since June 15.

Bello didn’t yield again, though he didn’t manage a 1-2-3 inning until his sixth and final frame. He worked around Pete Crow-Armstrong’s two-out single and stolen base in the third, Nico Hoerner’s one-out single in the fourth and Busch’s leadoff single in the fifth.

The Red Sox righty exited after six, charged with three earned runs on six hits, one walk and four strikeouts. He threw 92 pitches, 54 for strikes, and induced 11 swings-and-misses.

Against reliever Chris Murphy, the Cubs fared better. The wind was blowing toward the outfield, and they rode it to the finish line. Matt Shaw, pinch-hitting for Bruján with one out in the seventh, homered to left. Murphy, on the mound again for the eighth, was greeted by back-to-back home runs from Crow-Armstrong and Ian Happ.

All the while, the Red Sox went quickly and quietly.

Refsnyder’s first-inning knock proved to be one of their only opportunities against Shota Imanaga and the Cubs Saturday night. The Red Sox, usually so capable against lefties, found themselves twisting into pretzels trying to do anything with his 96 pitches (64 strikes). He induced 15 swings-and-misses and struck out five in seven scoreless innings.

The Red Sox went 0 for 5 with runners in scoring position and left seven men on base.

Imanaga had to work around five hits and a walk, but Connor Wong bailed him out of the only two significant jams. Masataka Yoshida and Abraham Toro lined a pair of two-out singles in the second, and the Red Sox catcher flew out to Tucker in shallow right. A near-identical situation presented itself in the seventh, when Yoshida and Toro again singled with two outs. This time, however, they stood on first and third and watched Wong fly out on the first pitch, 163 feet to second baseman Hoerner.

Adding insult to injury, the Cubs used several Red Sox castoffs in the contest. Reese McGuire caught for Imanaga. Brad Keller relieved the Cubs starter in the top of the eighth and struck out the side, including Jarren Duran and Wilyer Abreu, who pinch hit for Refsnyder and Gonzalez, respectively.

When it seemed like it couldn’t get any more frustrating, Ryan Brasier took the mound to close his former club out.

The 37-year-old 2018 World Series champion entered Saturday’s contest with a career-best 1.10 ERA over 17 outings. The Red Sox are familiar with this type of post-Boston success, with Brasier, specifically, and countless other old friends who suddenly become un-hittable in another uniform. When they unloaded Brasier and his 7.29 ERA during the 2023 season, he posted a sterling 0.70 mark with the Dodgers the rest of the way, even dominating at Fenway soon after the trade.

Brasier struck out Roman Anthony and Trevor Story, then worked around Ceddanne Rafaela’s single by getting Yoshida to ground out.

The first series of the second half goes to the Cubs. The Red Sox have scored one run over 18 innings this weekend.

The Cubs were always going to be a far more formidable opponent than the Nationals and Rockies, against whom the Red Sox collected the first six victories of their 10-game win streak before the All-Star break.

But this sort of midsummer malaise isn’t new. Last year, the Red Sox entered the break on a high note, in possession of one of the American League’s three wild cards, then opened the second half of the season by getting swept by the Dodgers in Los Angeles.