Matthew Boyd allowed two runs over seven strong innings against his most recent former club as the Chicago Cubs beat the visiting Cleveland Guardians 5-2 on Tuesday night.
Carson Kelly ripped a two-run double during Chicago’s three-run second and finished with three RBIs.
Boyd (8-3) gave back two runs in the fourth inning, but the Cubs won for the fourth time in six games. The left-hander permitted five hits and a walk while striking out five for his sixth quality start in seven outings and his club-leading 12th in 2025.
Boyd, 34, went 2-2 with a 2.28 ERA in 11 regular-season and playoff starts for the 2024 Guardians in his return from elbow surgery.
Chicago’s Brad Keller pitched around a walk in the eighth, and Daniel Palencia tossed a 1-2-3 ninth for his ninth save.
Kelly highlighted the breakout second with his two-run double, and he added a sacrifice fly in the eighth. Chicago’s Seiya Suzuki hit a leadoff home run in the sixth inning, and Michael Busch added three hits with an RBI.
Carlos Santana had two hits for the Guardians, who have been outscored 32-8 during a five-game losing streak. Cleveland’s Gavin Williams (5-4) allowed four runs on seven hits and four walks over 5 2/3 innings. He fanned two.
Williams retired the side on seven pitches in the first, but the Cubs unloaded an inning later. Pete Crow-Armstrong, Dansby Swanson and Busch opened the frame with consecutive singles, the last of the RBI variety. Then Kelly lined a Williams sweeper into the left-center-field gap to score a pair.
Chicago let Williams off the hook from further damage in the frame when Kelly was thrown out while trying to score on a potential passed ball before Nico Hoerner and Matt Shaw were each picked off first base.
Cleveland got back in the game in the fourth. Santana opened with a double, and after Lane Thomas walked, scored on Nolan Jones’ single. Thomas came home via Angel Martinez’s sacrifice fly to right, cutting the deficit to 3-2.
Suzuki made it a two-run game when he skied a Williams pitch into the left field bleachers for his third homer in his past two games at Wrigley Field.
