CLEVELAND – Edward Cabrera bounced off the mound in the fifth inning on Sunday afternoon, pounding his glove and shouting after striking out Gabriel Arias. In that moment, the Cubs starter had preserved his no-hitter, continuing his strong opening statement as the newest member of Chicago’s rotation.
Cabrera did not factor into the final decision, but his effort set the tone for a 1-0 victory over the Guardians in Game 1 of Sunday’s doubleheader at Progressive Field. On a difficult day to generate offense for both clubs, Cabrera locked horns with Cleveland’s Slade Cecconi and helped the North Siders to a combined one-hit shutout.
After spinning six scoreless innings in his Cubs debut on Monday, Cabrera followed with another solid performance against the Guardians. The big right-hander worked into the sixth inning, limiting Cleveland’s lineup to one hit and sidestepping the potential harm of five walks issued.
“Everyone has seen this guy pitch,” Cubs catcher Miguel Amaya said of Cabrera. “The season that he had last year was very solid. Bringing that to this team, it’s pretty helpful for us. Like he’s said before, he feels like he’s the best when he’s up there. And that’s how he looks.”
Through two outings, Cabrera has allowed just two hits to the 41 batters he has faced, striking out nine over 11 2/3 innings in that span.
“I want to thank God for the two outings that I’ve had,” Cabrera said via team translator Fredy Quevedo Jr. “That’s all I have to say.”
The Guardians’ lone breakthrough came in the sixth inning, when CJ Kayfus led off by pulling a Cabrera curveball high over right field. Cubs right fielder Michael Conforto initially took a couple steps in before sprinting back, as a strong wind helped carry the ball to the warning track for a leadoff double.
That wound up being the only hit by Cleveland against Cabrera and relievers Caleb Thielbar, Hoby Milner and Daniel Palencia. It marked the 25th one-hit shutout in a 1-0 win for the Cubs on record, and the first since May 29, 2023.
Following a sacrifice bunt from Steven Kwan to move Kayfus to third base, Cabrera induced a chopper off the bat of Chase DeLauter. Cubs second baseman Nico Hoerner jumped to snare the ball and made a quick throw to Amaya. Kayfus was cut down at the plate, helping set up an escape act for the Cubs.
“Fast runner on third base. They’re running on contact and that ball had a big hop,” Amaya said. “Nico made an amazing play. It’s not easy to throw it in the right spot, so I was just ready to catch it wherever he threw it. Thank God it was in the lane of the runner.”
Amaya made a lunging tag on Kayfus to cut down the runner at the plate, helping set up an escape act for the Cubs.
“It feels good to have a defense like the one we have out there,” Cabrera said. “We have a great defense and I trust all the guys. And when I say I trust all the guys, I mean all the guys. It’s a great defense. It feels really, really good.”
Cabrera issued back-to-back walks to José Ramírez and Kyle Manzardo to load the bases with two outs, prompting manager Craig Counsell to turn to the bullpen. Thielbar took over and induced an infield popout off the bat of Bo Naylor to avoid damage.
In the eighth inning, Conforto led off with a walk against Guardians reliever Connor Brogdon and was then replaced by pinch-runner Dylan Carlson. With a need to get something rolling, Matt Shaw then used a bunt to move Carlson into scoring position. That set the stage for Amaya’s run-scoring single to put the Cubs ahead.
Amaya credited Cabrera’s effort for keeping Chicago in a position to score.
“If they keep those games close, we’re going to make those adjustments,” Amaya said of the rotation. “We’re going to put the ball in play. Days like today – very cold, wind blowing in – that inning we got on base, bunt, and then somebody drove it in. That’s the kind of play we’re going to keep doing. And when the bats start getting hot, the slug's going to come.”