Joe Musgrove stars as Padres beat lowly Cubs 6-4
CHICAGO (AP) — Joe Musgrove pitched seven effective innings in his third straight win, and the San Diego Padres handed the Chicago Cubs their 10th consecutive loss with a 6-4 victory on Thursday.
Musgrove (8-0) permitted two runs and five hits, struck out a season-high nine and walked one. The 6-foot-5 right-hander has allowed two earned runs or fewer in each of his 12 starts this year.
San Diego improved to 7-2 in its last nine games with its first four-game series sweep of Chicago since Aug. 16-19, 2010, at Wrigley Field. The Padres' 41-24 record matches their best 65-game start since 1998, when the club won the NL West and advanced to the World Series.
The Cubs have been outscored 90-28 during their longest slide since they lost 12 consecutive games from Aug. 5-16, 2021. They have held leads in seven of the 10 straight losses.
Cubs rookie Christopher Morel led off the first with his second homer in as many games, but Matt Swarmer (1-2) was knocked out in the fourth inning.
