blowout win

Kyle Tucker homered twice and drove in five runs as the surging Chicago Cubs routed the Angels 12-1 on Saturday night.

Reese McGuire added a grand slam and tied a career high with five RBIs to help the Cubs (75-55) win for the seventh time in nine games.

Cade Horton (8-4) gave up three hits over six scoreless innings and Ben Brown went the rest of the way for his first major league save.

Busting out of an extended slump, Tucker has three homers in two nights following a 25-game drought. The outburst has come after he was given three games off by manager Craig Counsell earlier in the week.

Jo Adell homered late for the Angels (61-68), who totaled eight hits while losing the first two games of the series.

Victor Mederos (0-2) and Carson Fulmer were charged with all 12 of the Cubs’ runs. The Angels fell to 2-6 since pulling off a three-game sweep of the Dodgers from Aug. 11-13.

McGuire’s grand slam in the fourth gave the Cubs a 6-0 lead and they made it 10-0 in the sixth when Tucker went deep for the second time. It was Tucker’s eighth multihomer game and first since May 2024 against the Angels with Houston.

Adell’s home run in the seventh, his 29th, ended Chicago’s shutout bid.

Key moment: With two outs in the third, Michael Busch tucked a double just inside the first-base line and past a diving Nolan Schanuel to get Tucker to the plate before his first homer of the game.

Key stat: Angels star Mike Trout went 0 for 3 with three strikeouts as his 22-game on-base streak came to an end.

Up next: Angels RHP Kyle Hendricks (6-8, 4.93 ERA) will face his former team Sunday in a matchup against Cubs RHP Jameson Taillon (8-6, 4.26).

José Soriano pitched 6⅔ strong innings and Logan O’Hoppe hit a pair of two-run shots to end a long home run drought and help the Angels beat the Houston Astros 9-1 on Saturday night.

Soriano (5-5) struck out 10 and allowed one run on three hits and three walks. He has allowed just two runs in his last three starts covering 20⅔ innings with 28 strikeouts. He hasn’t allowed a home run since April 22 — a span of 11 starts.

O’Hoppe hit his 15th homer and first since May 22 in the third inning to give the Angels a 6-0 lead. The catcher capped the scoring with his second of the game in the seventh.

Jo Adell reached with a one-out infield single off Astros rookie Brandon Walter (0-1) in the second and Luis Rengifo followed with his fourth home run for a 2-0 lead.

Nolan Schanuel was hit by a pitch and Mike Trout singled and scored from first on a double by Taylor Ward for a 4-0 lead.

Jose Altuve walked and scored on a two-out single by Christian Walker in the fourth for the Astros, but the Angels answered in their half when Zach Neto doubled with two outs and scored on Schanuel’s single for a 7-1 lead.

Walter allowed seven runs on nine hits in six innings in his fourth career start.

Key moment: The Angels never looked back after Rengifo homered in the second.

Key stat: Houston is 3-2 against the Angels this season and leads the overall series 133-85. That includes a 65-45 record at Angel Stadium.

Up next: Astros rookie RHP Ryan Gusto (4-3, 4.31 ERA) will start Sunday’s rubber game against Angels RHP Kyle Hendricks (5-6, 4.79).

SAN JOSÉ — The U.S. hopes a blowout win over the world’s 100th-ranked team can start to lessen the pessimism created by the Americans’ longest losing streak since 2007.

Malik Tillman scored twice and Diego Luna had a pair of assists in a 5-0 rout of Trinidad and Tobago on Sunday in the Americans’ CONCACAF Gold Cup opener.

“Really important I think to cut a little bit this — I don’t say negativity, but, yes … but it’s really important now to start the competition with a good feeling,” U.S. coach Mauricio Pochettino said.

Victory in the Group D opener ended a four-game losing streak and came after days of controversy over Christian Pulisic’s desire to rest during the Gold Cup and Pochettino not including the star in a pair of pre-tournament friendlies the attacker offered to play in.

Tillman scored in the 16th and 41st minutes for his first two international goals, both following giveaways by Alvin Jones, and Patrick Agyemang scored his fourth international goal in the 44th when Luna’s shot deflected off a foot.

“It was in our hands to show a reaction and I think we’ve done it today,” Tillman said. “We played a good game and it was nice to bounce back, have a good start to the tournament.”

Brenden Aaronson added his ninth goal in the 82nd and Haji Wright his fifth just 1 minute, 13 seconds later for the 16th-ranked Americans, who drew just 12,610 to PayPal Park.

“Malik is a talented player. It’s obvious that everyone can see,” Pochettino said. “October, November, when we met for the first time I think it was difficult to create this relationship that the player need(s) and the coach need(s) to trust and to trust each other. … I think now after a few weeks together I really start to understand him and he starts to understand us. And he’s very special, a very special talent and a very special kid.”

Luna, a 21-year-old who impressed Pochettino during his debut in January when he insisted he stay on the field with a broken nose, was playing not far from where he grew up and said he had gotten tickets for about 30 family and friends.

“Just an honor, right, to be able to dream about this day,” he said. “[To] start off a tournament like this back in my home city is awesome.”

Luna ran onto Jones’ back pass, dribbled down the left flank and crossed to Tillman for the second goal, then shot from just inside the penalty area for the goal that glanced off Tillman for a 3-0 lead.

“His performance was really good. He showed his character,” Pochettino said.

The Americans have won their group in 16 of 17 Gold Cups, along with a second-place finish behind Panama in 2011, and improved their group stage record to 41 wins, one loss and five draws. They play invited guest Saudi Arabia on Thursday at Austin, Texas, then close group play on June 22 against Haiti at Arlington, Texas.

Matt Freese was in goal in place of Matt Turner, who had started 14 consecutive competitive matches for the U.S. and 23 of 24 dating to the 2022 World Cup. The lone exception was a Gold Cup group stage game against St. Kitts and Nevis in 2023.

Pochettino said he wanted to create competition for Turner, who didn’t get into a Crystal Palace match after March 1. The coach said Turner told him he was disappointed with the decision but understood it and would compete to get playing time.