BASEBALL: Nico Hoerner helps Cubs knock off Angels

Nico Hoerner went 3-for-5 with two doubles, a stolen base, a run scored, and an RBI, while Matt Shaw added two hits and two RBIs to lead the Chicago Cubs to a 6-2 victory over the visiting Los Angeles Angels in the rubber game of their three-game series on Wednesday afternoon.

Matthew Boyd (1-1) bounced back from a 10-4 Opening Day loss to Washington to earn the win. Boyd allowed two runs (one earned) on two hits over 5 2/3 innings while striking out 10 and walking two.

For Chicago, Michael Busch had two hits and a run scored, Alex Bregman reached base three times with a hit and two walks and drove in a run, and Carson Kelly scored twice.

Zach Neto had two hits and a run for Los Angeles, which finished 3-4 on a season-opening seven-game road trip. The Angels managed just four hits on a windy 39-degree day, marking the fifth-coldest game in team history. Yusei Kikuchi (0-1) took the loss, giving up five runs on six hits in 5 1/3 innings, walking four and striking out five in his first career appearance against the Cubs.

The Cubs jumped to a 5-0 lead in the bottom of the third, sending 10 batters to the plate. Miguel Amaya led off with a walk and later scored on Hoerner's double down the left-center field line. The Angels attempted to challenge a safe call at home plate, but umpire Chris Guccione ruled first-year Los Angeles manager Kurt Suzuki missed the challenge window.

Bregman followed with an RBI single to make it 2-0. After Chicago loaded the bases, Dansby Swanson drove in Ian Happ with a sacrifice fly, and Shaw and Pete Crow-Armstrong added back-to-back RBI singles.

Los Angeles cut the lead to 5-2 in the sixth on an RBI single by Jo Adell, driving in Neto, who had reached second on a walk to Mike Trout. Trout then scored when Jorge Soler’s grounder went under Bregman’s glove for an error.

The Cubs added an insurance run in the seventh off a rare fielding error by Trout, who dropped Kelly’s routine fly ball to center. Kelly advanced to third on a single by Busch and scored one out later on Shaw’s single.

—Field Level Media/Reuters