Chicago Cubs Score and Recap (9/23/25): Mets 9, Cubs 7 – Horton Leaves Early in Fifth Consecutive Loss

The Cubs’ September slide continued with their fifth consecutive loss Tuesday night. Chicago had a comfortable lead, but the bullpen, forced on in the 4th inning when starter Cade Horton was pulled, completely imploded, allowing the road team to emerge victorious.

Francisco Lindor took Horton deep to begin the game and give New York a 1-0 advantage in the top of the 1st inning. The North Siders responded in the bottom of the frame when Carlos Santana hit a high fly ball that bounded off the right field wall past Juan Soto, leading to a two-run double that made the score 2-1.

The Cubs knocked Mets starter David Peterson out of the game in the bottom of the 2nd with an RBI single by Nico Hoerner and a two-run double by Ian Happ. A throwing error by second baseman Jeff McNeil chased home another tally to increase the lead to 6-1 in the 4th.

A rare error by normally sure-handed Dansby Swanson opened the door for a huge New York rally in the 5th. Pete Alonso doubled off of Michael Soroka to make it 6-3. Taylor Rogers came on in relief of Soroka and immediately surrendered a game-tying three-run homer to Brandon Nimmo.

Lindor hit an RBI single against Drew Pomeranz that put the Mets in front 7-6 in the 6th. Chicago answered back with a run-scoring hit by Seiya Suzuki against Taylor’s twin brother, Tyler Rogers, that evened the game in the 7th.

Catcher Francisco Alvarez delivered the final blow when he hit a two-run homer off of Caleb Thielbar in the top of the 8th. New York did not mess around, using closer Edwin Díaz for the final two innings to save the 9-7 win. (Box score)

Key Moment

Horton was in a fine position with only 29 pitches through three innings before his back tightened up. That forced the Cubs to use the more vulnerable part of the bullpen, and it did not go well.

Why the Cubs Lost

The offense finally shows up and the pitching staff flames out, pretty much the way things have gone lately.

Stats That Matter

• Horton’s removal was precautionary, according to the team; hopefully, that’s true.
• Hoerner had three hits and scored four runs.

Bottom Line

The Cubs picked a pretty bad time to play their worst baseball of the season, just a week before the playoffs. They are in real danger of losing home-field advantage and facing the very unpleasant task of having to win a series in San Diego. Not sure if there’s any way to fix it, but if Craig Counsell and company don’t figure something out, it’s going to be a very short stay in the postseason for Chicago.

On Deck

Game two of the series is Wednesday night at 7:05pm CT. Matthew Boyd makes the start against Jonah Tong in a matchup televised exclusively on ESPN with a radio feed on 670 The Score.