BOX SCORE

CHICAGO — An emphatic shutout behind Matthew Boyd on Tuesday night looked to get the ball rolling for the Cubs in this series.

Then Kansas City Royals star Seth Lugo came to shut it all down in the finale.

Four two-run homers were all the Royals (50-53) needed to take both an 8-4 win and the series over the Cubs (60-42) at Wrigley Field.

A couple late homers for the Cubs off the Royals’ bullpen — including Pete Crow-Armstrong’s 27th of the season — proved too little, too late as the damage was long done by Kansas City hitters.

Here are three things we learned from the rubber match:

Shake off the jitters 

The top of the first inning went all the wrong ways for the Cubs.

On just the third pitch of the game, Seiya Suzuki misplayed a routine fly ball on the warning track of the right field corner, and Royals leadoff man Adam Frazier ended up on second base because of the error.

With Kyle Tucker sitting out because of the foul ball he took off his knee Tuesday, Suzuki was taking up his teammate’s duties in right. Though he’s shown flashes of being solid in the field this year, it’s already the third error he’s made which ties his total from 2024.

Then, with one out in the inning and a man on third for Kansas City, Vinnie Pasquantino crushed Colin Rea’s fastball up in the zone 406 feet to give the Royals early 2-0 lead with Lugo yet to throw a pitch.

Mayday, Rea

Rea entered his start Wednesday looking incredibly solid in July.

The 35-year-old right hander allowed just one earned run in each of his starts against the St. Louis Cardinals, Minnesota Twins and Boston Red Sox this month as the Cubs won all of those games.

But Wednesday was not nearly as efficient as Rea probably hoped. Suzuki’s error and Pasquantino’s two-run shot commenced the damage in the first inning, and Salvador Perez continued it in the third when he rocketed a two-run homer of his own to the left field bleachers.

Rea settled down over the next few innings, but that pesky Pasquantino didn’t. The Royals first baseman ripped a 109.3-mph double into the gap in his second at-bat. In his third time seeing Rea, he added insult to injury with yet another two-run homer.

Rea has allowed four or more earned runs in six of his 17 starts this season. He finished the day after five innings of work, allowing six runs (five earned) on six hits while striking out three.

Shaw claws back

The All-Star break did wonders for Matt Shaw.

The Cubs’ rookie third baseman, who began July in a 1-for-27 slump (.037), came out of hibernation swinging — literally.

Shaw’s solo shot in the bottom of the seventh inning didn’t put much of a dent in the Royals’ lead, but it was his third homer since the break. That’s more than he had (two) in his previous 63 games.

Shaw hit .500 (9-for-18) over the six-game homestand with three homers, six RBI, 18 total bases and just one strikeout.

The 23-year-old inflated his slash line on the year to .222/.292/.338 (.630 OPS), with five home runs and 21 RBI.

Following a day off Thursday, the Cubs will embark on a crosstown adventure to face the White Sox at Rate Field.

Shota Imanaga (7-3, 2.40 ERA) will take the ball for the Cubs on Friday opposite White Sox breakout righty Adrian Houser (5-2, 1.89 ERA).

Coverage begins Friday at 5:30 p.m. CT on Marquee Sports Network.