The one hit was an Andrew McCutchen homer that would have left only three ballparks. Boyd has turned in four straight quality starts, and he’s 10 for 14 in that category. In three of the four misses, he pitched five or 5 1/3 innings and allowed zero or two runs. Basically, he’s had one bad outing all year, giving up four runs in four innings on May 23, and the Cubs won that game anyway. He’ll face the Mariners next weekend.

Boyd has a 25% strikeout rate this season, but he actually went a K tonight. Fortunately, most of the contact against him was pretty weak; just seven of the Phillies’ 22 balls in play were hit hard. We wouldn’t want Boyd giving up this much contact often, but it worked out fine in this one, and he’ll carry a 2.89 ERA into his next start at home versus the Pirates.

Boyd completed seven innings for the first time since Apr. 2021. He’s been terrific in opening up 5-3 with a 3.01 ERA this season. He even has a 3.38 ERA in the three losses. As successful as they’ve been otherwise, it’s rather baffling that the Cubs are just 6-6 in his starts. He’s due to pitch in Philadelphia next time out.

Boyd made light work of the lowly Rockies to help the Cubs finish off their sweep. His fastball and changeup played well off one another and combined to force 10 swings-and-misses en route to tying his season-high with eight strikeouts. He now has a fantastic 3.08 ERA as one of the most surprisingly good starting pitchers in the league. His next start is scheduled to come against the Nationals.