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Cubs’ Cade Horton showing no signs of slowing down after one-hit gem

7 months ago β€’ Zoe Grossman

Cade Horton may very well have ice water running through his veins.

The Cubs rookie delivered another dominant outing in a one-hit, one-run gem on Wednesday night β€” a performance manager Craig Counsell called “maybe the best” of Horton’s young career.

[Cubs takeaways: What we learned in much-needed win against Blue Jays]

Even as Horton entered the game riding an unprecedented scoreless streak at 23.1 innings β€” which he extended to 28.1 innings before his night was over β€” it was just business as usual for the 23-year-old right-hander.

“I felt like I was calm β€” just in control. I really focused on slowing (my) heart rate down and shrinking the moment,” Horton told reporters in Toronto after his performance lifted the Cubs to a 4-1 win over the Blue Jays. “I just wanted to attack and be fearless in the strike zone.”

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Horton did just that against a Toronto offense known for pesky at-bats this season. He didn’t care that he was facing the team with the lowest strikeout percentage (17.1%) in MLB. Instead, he struck out a career-high eight batters as the Blue Jays had no answer for his relentless accuracy.

“I mean, this is the hardest team to strike out in baseball,” Counsell told reporters. “What (Horton) did to a very good lineup is just a continuation of what we’ve seen this past month. He was awesome.”

Just as Counsell said, Wednesday’s performance didn’t come out of nowhere for Horton. Before reliever Andrew Kittredge allowed a run when he inherited Horton’s baserunners in the fifth, the rookie was on the cusp of securing a fifth straight scoreless start.

All five of those starts have come after the All-Star break for Horton. Even after surrendering a run on Wednesday, Horton still etched himself in franchise history as he became just the second Cubs starter since 1945 to allow one or fewer runs across a five-game span. In those games, he has a 0.32 ERA β€” and it’s lowered his season ERA to 3.07 in his first 15 MLB starts.

Those are the kinds of numbers that have begun to land Horton in National League Rookie of the Year conversations and have cemented him as a force to be reckoned with in the Cubs’ starting rotation.

But for Horton himself, what matters is what comes next. That would be his next start circled on the calendar, because that’s where he knows he can keep improving.

“There are different things I need to work on next week,” Horton said. “Just continue building β€” I feel like I’m never gonna be satisfied. (I want to) keep finding ways to get better and helping this team win.”