Ian Happ homers as the Cubs beat the sloppy Giants 9-2

CHICAGO (AP) — Ian Happ homered and drove in three runs, helping Matthew Boyd and the Chicago Cubs beat the sloppy San Francisco Giants 9-2 on Monday night.

Carson Kelly also went deep, sparking Chicago's five-run sixth inning with a leadoff drive for his eighth homer. Happ added a sacrifice fly and Seiya Suzuki singled in two more runs in the decisive outburst.

Boyd (3-2) pitched six innings of two-run ball as the NL Central leaders won for the fourth time in five games. The left-hander struck out seven and walked none.

San Francisco shortstop Willy Adames and five-time Gold Glove third baseman Matt Chapman each committed two errors, contributing to six unearned runs for Chicago in the opener of a three-game set.

Luis Matos hit a tying two-run homer for the Giants in the fourth, but the Cubs responded with two runs in the bottom half.

Landen Roupp (2-3) struck out the first two batters before Pete Crow-Armstrong reached on an error on Chapman. Nico Hoerner then singled and swiped second ahead of Dansby Swanson's two-run single to left.

Swanson had three hits and scored twice. He is batting .462 (12 for 26) during a seven-game hitting streak.

Kyle Tucker's sixth-inning walk loaded the bases before Suzuki greeted Spencer Bivens with a grounder into left field, driving in Swanson and Nicky Lopez for a 9-2 lead.

Boyd has allowed three earned runs or fewer in each of his seven starts this season.

Justin Verlander (0-2, 4.38 ERA) starts for San Francisco on Tuesday, and Colin Rea (2-0, 1.46 ERA) pitches for Chicago.

AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb

Chicago Cubs' Dansby Swanson, right, celebrates with first base coach Jose Javier (65) after hitting a two-run single during the fourth inning of a baseball game against the San Francisco Giants in Chicago, Monday, May 5, 2025. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh)

Chicago Cubs' Nico Hoerner, right, celebrates with Nicky Lopez, left, after scoring on a two-run single by Dansby Swanson during the fourth inning of a baseball game against the San Francisco Giants. in Chicago, Monday, May 5, 2025. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh)

Chicago Cubs' Carson Kelly, left, celebrates with manager Craig Counsell, right, after hitting a solo home run during the sixth inning of a baseball game against the San Francisco Giants in Chicago, Monday, May 5, 2025. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh)

Chicago Cubs' Carson Kelly, right, celebrates as he rounds the bases after hitting a solo home run as San Francisco Giants third baseman Matt Chapman, left, reacts during the sixth inning of a baseball game in Chicago, Monday, May 5, 2025. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh)

ST. LOUIS (AP) — World champions Ilia Malinin and the ice dance duo of Madison Chock and Evan Bates will anchor one of the strongest U.S. Figure Skating teams in history when they head to Italy for the Milan Cortina Olympics in less than a month.

Malinin, fresh off his fourth straight national title, will be the prohibitive favorite to follow in the footsteps of Nathan Chen by delivering another men's gold medal for the American squad when he steps on the ice at the Milano Ice Skating Arena.

Chock and Bates, who won their record-setting seventh U.S. title Saturday night, also will be among the Olympic favorites, as will world champion Alysa Liu and women's teammate Amber Glenn, fresh off her third consecutive national title.

U.S. Figure Skating announced its full squad of 16 athletes for the Winter Games during a made-for-TV celebration Sunday.

"I'm just so excited for the Olympic spirit, the Olympic environment," Malinin said. “Hopefully go for that Olympic gold.”

Malinin will be joined on the men's side by Andrew Torgashev, the all-or-nothing 24-year-old from Coral Springs, Florida, and Maxim Naumov, the 24-year-old from Simsbury, Connecticut, who fulfilled the hopes of his late parents by making the Olympic team.

Vadim Naumov and Evgenia Shishkova were returning from a talent camp in Kansas when their American Airlines flight collided with a military helicopter and crashed into the icy Potomac River in January 2025. One of the last conversations they had with their son was about what it would take for him to follow in their footsteps by becoming an Olympian.

“We absolutely did it,” Naumov said. “Every day, year after year, we talked about the Olympics. It means so much in our family. It's what I've been thinking about since I was 5 years old, before I even know what to think. I can't put this into words.”

Chock and Bates helped the Americans win team gold at the Beijing Games four years ago, but they finished fourth — one spot out of the medals — in the ice dance competition. They have hardly finished anywhere but first in the years since, winning three consecutive world championships and the gold medal at three straight Grand Prix Finals.

U.S. silver medalists Emilea Zingas and Vadym Kolesnik also made the dance team, as did the Canadian-born Christina Carreira, who became eligible for the Olympics in November when her American citizenship came through, and Anthony Ponomarenko.

Liu was picked for her second Olympic team after briefly retiring following the Beijing Games. She had been burned out by years of practice and competing, but stepping away seemed to rejuvenate the 20-year-old from Clovis, California, and she returned to win the first world title by an American since Kimmie Meissner stood atop the podium two decades ago.

Now, the avant-garde Liu will be trying to help the U.S. win its first women's medal since Sasha Cohen in Turin in 2006, and perhaps the first gold medal since Sarah Hughes triumphed four years earlier at the Salt Lake City Games.

Her biggest competition, besides a powerful Japanese contingent, could come from her own teammates: Glenn, a first-time Olympian, has been nearly unbeatable the past two years, while 18-year-old Isabeau Levito is a former world silver medalist.

"This was my goal and my dream and it just feels so special that it came true,” said Levito, whose mother is originally from Milan.

The two pairs spots went to Ellie Kam and Danny O'Shea, the U.S. silver medalists, and the team of Emily Chan and Spencer Howe.

The top American pairs team, two-time reigning U.S. champions Alisa Efimova and Misha Mitrofanov, were hoping that the Finnish-born Efimova would get her citizenship approved in time to compete in Italy. But despite efforts by the Skating Club of Boston, where they train, and the help of their U.S. senators, she did not receive her passport by the selection deadline.

“The importance and magnitude of selecting an Olympic team is one of the most important milestones in an athlete's life,” U.S. Figure Skating CEO Matt Farrell said, "and it has such an impact, and while there are sometimes rules, there is also a human element to this that we really have to take into account as we make decisions and what's best going forward from a selection process.

“Sometimes these aren't easy," Farrell said, “and this is not the fun part.”

The fun is just beginning, though, for the 16 athletes picked for the powerful American team.

AP Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/milan-cortina-2026-winter-olympics

Amber Glenn competes during the women's free skating competition at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships, Friday, Jan. 9, 2026, in St. Louis. (AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough)

Alysa Liu skates during the "Making Team USA" performance at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships, Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026, in St. Louis. (AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough)

Maxim Naumov skates during the "Making Team USA" performance at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships, Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026, in St. Louis. (AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough)

Madison Chock and Evan Bates skate during the "Making the Team" performance at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships, Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026, in St. Louis. (AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough)

Gold medalist Ilia Malinin arrives for the metal ceremony after the men's free skate competition at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships, Saturday, Jan. 10, 2026, in St. Louis. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)