Matthew Boyd struggles in Cubs' 10-4 Opening Day loss to Nationals: 'It just fell apart on him'
A sunny and 70-degree day at Wrigley Field turned cloudy and cold.
The weather mirrored Cubs left-hander Matthew Boyd's performance. He struck out seven of the first 10 batters he faced before running into trouble in the fourth inning. He allowed a double and two singles, which allowed the first run of the inning to score. He walked Joey Weimer to load the bases before allowing a two-run single to CJ Abrams, giving the Nationals a two-run lead — Abrams was tagged out at second.
Boyd then induced a groundout for the second out of the inning, but allowed another run to score. Boyd allowed a single to Keibert Ruiz before right-hander Ben Brown replaced him.
Boyd allowed six runs on six hits with one walk and seven strikeouts in the team’s 10-4 Opening Day loss to a rebuilding Nationals team. Boyd’s velocity was up, and he generated 20 whiffs, four more than his single-game high in 2025, but he allowed an average exit velocity of 98.6 mph.
"It just fell apart on him, frankly," manager Craig Counsell said. "When he got in a big spot, he made some mistakes."
Abrams' two-run single in the fourth inning, with the bases loaded near the heart of the zone, was "the big swing of the game," according to Counsell.
The Nationals ambushed Boyd with an aggressive approach, and when they made hard contact, it often found grass or left the ballpark due to the windy conditions at Wrigley Field.
On a Cubs team with World Series aspirations, the one question mark was whether their starting staff had enough to not only last a full season but also thrive in October. While it's early in the season, Boyd didn't do much to assuage those concerns.
Boyd said he needed to make an adjustment faster in the fourth inning.
"Just generally speaking, my heater just started running away from me a little bit and just wasn't staying through it as much," Boyd said. "Bad inning, and it just led to the ball kind of staying on plane and getting some barrels."
Bats go quiet
The Cubs’ lineup was quiet outside of first baseman Michael Busch. Busch was 3-for-4 with two doubles and a walk. He became the first Cub to reach base four times on Opening Day since Anthony Rizzo in 2019.
Outside of Busch, the offense got on base but couldn't convert those scoring chances into runs.
They threatened in the seventh after an RBI single on a bunt by Pete Crow-Armstrong to put runners on first and second with one out. The rally stalled after second baseman Nico Hoerner grounded into a double play.
The Cubs were 4-for-19 with runners in scoring position.
"If you [that many run-scoring opportunities] in a game, that's pretty darn good," Counsell said. "The next hit was kind of missing; the next big hit."
Hoerner extended
Hoerner reached an agreement with the Cubs on a six-year contract extension, a source confirmed to the Sun-Times.
Hoerner was set to reach free agency after the 2026 season and is coming off his most productive offensive season in 2025 — he posted a career-high 114 OPS+. He’s grown into a leader in the clubhouse and joins shortstop Dansby Swanson and Crow-Armstrong as core players signed long-term.