BOX SCORE

CHICAGO — High socks, a record-setting rookie and an immaculate inning.

That’s the concoction the Cubs (66-48) needed Wednesday afternoon to turn their luck around and avoid a sweep at the hands of the Cincinnati Reds (60-55).

A 6-1 victory saw the bats get going and ensured the Cubs’ record of not being swept in a three-game series this season remains intact.

Here are three things we learned in the finale at Wrigley Field:

Ace-in-training

Cade Horton made his 14th MLB start, and even from the outside looking in, it seems he’s grown leaps and bounds since he first took the ball on that May night in New York. 

The Cubs rookie right-hander was up-and-down in his first few appearances, the worst of which culminated in a seven-run outing against the Houston Astros on June 29. At that point, his ERA stood at 4.80.

Horton vowed to improve after that — but he’s done far more than simply “improve.” Entering Wednesday, the 23-year-old was riding a 17.2-inning scoreless streak. 

Through the fourth inning, he had run that streak to 21.2 — and set a record for the most consecutive scoreless innings by a Cubs rookie since 1920, surpassing Kerry Wood’s mark.

Horton finished his day with another scoreless gem, exiting after 5.2 innings and extending that streak to 23.1 frames. He threw 67 pitches, struck out six and issued zero walks while allowing just two hits.

Horton is on a workload limit — he threw just 34.1 innings last season between Double-A and Triple-A because of a shoulder injury — but it doesn’t make the trajectory he’s on any less exciting for the team’s future.

Horton now has lowered his ERA to 3.18 in 79.1 innings pitched, with 59 strikeouts and a 1.22 WHIP. 

The Seiya spark 

Seiya Suzuki entered Wednesday’s contest slugging .135 over his last 15 games. 

If any stat tells the story of the kind of slump the Cubs’ heart of the order has faced of late, it’s that one. 

The good thing for Suzuki was that he saw the ball really well Wednesday — and he hit it hard. 

Suzuki’s first-inning single clocked a 109.4-mph exit velocity. His RBI sacrifice fly in the third came off the bat at 105.3 mph. In the seventh, he finally got the pitch he was looking for — and he smoked it. Suzuki hit a laser of a home run (his 27th of the year) to the left field porch, clocking 110.4 mph on the gun. 

It was Suzuki’s first homer since July 18.

However, Suzuki’s patience at the plate is paying off — he has taken more walks (5) than he has strikeouts (3) in his last five games. That ratio is one he’d love to keep up: In July, he walked just 12 times compared to 30 punch-outs.

Zero to immaculate hero 

New Cubs reliever Andrew Kittredge entered the game Tuesday when the score was tied 1-1. 

One-third of an inning later, the Reds led by four and the Cubs were well on their way to a series loss. 

As Kittredge walked off the mound, the Cubs not yet out of the inning, a chorus of boos erupted — perhaps not at Kittredge himself, but at the boiling frustration that fans felt at seeing the Cubs’ NL Central deficit continue to grow.

Kittredge came back out to face the music Wednesday, and he responded in the most perfect way. 

Nine pitches, nine strikes, three outs. It was the coveted immaculate inning, of which Kittredge became the first Cub to achieve since Hayden Wesneski did it on Sept. 22, 2022, against the Pittsburgh Pirates. It also was the sixth immaculate inning in franchise history.

The Cubs will have a day off Thursday before heading to St. Louis to face the Cardinals in a divisional matchup. 

Friday’s series opener will feature Matthew Boyd (11-4, 2.34 ERA) on the mound for the Cubs, while Chicago hitters will face Cardinals righty Michael McGreevy (3-2, 5.08 ERA). Coverage begins at 6 p.m. CT on Marquee Sports Network.