CHICAGO (AP) — Christian Vazquez homered, Spencer Arrighetti threw five scoreless innings and the Houston Astros topped the scuffling Chicago Cubs 4-2 on Friday.
Pete-Crow Armstrong hit his sixth home run of the season for the Cubs, who have dropped six straight and 10 of 12. They started this week’s homestand with a 15-game winning streak at Wrigley Field.
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Houston Astros infielder Christian Walker jumps for the throw as Chicago Cubs' Dansby Swanson runs to first base during the eighth inning of a baseball game on Friday, May 22, 2026, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Melissa Tamez)
Chicago Cubs' Miguel Amaya singles during the sixth inning of a baseball game against the Houston Astros on Friday, May 22, 2026, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Melissa Tamez)
Chicago Cubs' Seiya Suzuki makes a catch during the ninth inning of a baseball game against the Houston Astros on Friday, May 22, 2026, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Melissa Tamez)
Houston Astros' Christian Vazquez, left, celebrates with Isaac Paredes, right, after a baseball game against the Chicago Cubs on Friday, May 22, 2026, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Melissa Tamez)
Houston Astros' Zach Cole, left, Jake Meyers, middle, and Cam Smith, right, celebrate after a baseball game against the Chicago Cubs on Friday, May 22, 2026, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Melissa Tamez)
Arrighetti (6-1) won his second straight start after allowing two hits and four walks while striking out five. He issued a walk to start the third inning, then hit a pair of batters to load the bases, but worked out of the jam with a strikeout, infield popup and groundout.
Bryan King, the last of four Houston relievers, got the final four outs for his fifth save.
The Cubs also came up empty after loading the bases with two outs in the eighth. Chicago finished with just four hits and went 0 for 9 with runners in scoring position.
Vazquez led off the third with his fourth homer of the season and added an RBI single an inning later to make it 3-0. Zach Cole also drove in a run with a fielder's choice in the fourth and Brice Matthews added an RBI single in the fifth.
Jameson Taillon (2-4), who allowed his majors-worst 17th home run of the season to Vazquez, allowed all four Houston runs and lost his third straight start. He gave up eight hits and a walk and struck out five in 4 2/3 innings.
Houston’s Kai-Wei Teng (2-3, 2.61 ERA) faces fellow right-hander Colin Rea (4-2, 4.98) on Saturday.
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Houston Astros infielder Christian Walker jumps for the throw as Chicago Cubs' Dansby Swanson runs to first base during the eighth inning of a baseball game on Friday, May 22, 2026, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Melissa Tamez)
Chicago Cubs' Miguel Amaya singles during the sixth inning of a baseball game against the Houston Astros on Friday, May 22, 2026, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Melissa Tamez)
Chicago Cubs' Seiya Suzuki makes a catch during the ninth inning of a baseball game against the Houston Astros on Friday, May 22, 2026, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Melissa Tamez)
Houston Astros' Christian Vazquez, left, celebrates with Isaac Paredes, right, after a baseball game against the Chicago Cubs on Friday, May 22, 2026, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Melissa Tamez)
Houston Astros' Zach Cole, left, Jake Meyers, middle, and Cam Smith, right, celebrate after a baseball game against the Chicago Cubs on Friday, May 22, 2026, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Melissa Tamez)
If the Cleveland Cavaliers are going to dig out of another 2-0 playoff series deficit, they'll need Evan Mobley to be more aggressive.
Mobley had 10 points during the first quarter Thursday night against the New York Knicks. He added four points in the second quarter but was a nonfactor offensively in the second half, not taking a shot in the final two periods of the Cavaliers’ 109-93 loss.
The Cavaliers are hoping for better production out of their fifth-year forward on Saturday night when the Eastern Conference Finals shift to Cleveland for Game 3.
“That’s on all of us. We do have to get the ball in there more, I think we got away from our pick-and-roll a little bit more,” Cavaliers guard James Harden said about Mobley not getting a shot.
Mobley is averaging 16.7 points during the playoffs, which is third on the Cavaliers. He leads the team in rebounds (8.3 per game) and blocked shots with 31.
Even though Mobley has had big games during this postseason run, he hasn’t been a factor during critical moments in Cleveland’s losses.
During the Knicks’ 18-0 third-quarter run on Thursday night, the Cavs missed all seven shots, including four from beyond the arc.
“When I’m out there on the court, I’m just trying to make winning plays. Early on, the best decision was me shooting the open ones, and they kept leaving me open, so I kept shooting it, and they closed that gap and started driving it,” Mobley said after Thursday’s game. “They kept collapsing, so I kicked it to the open man. We just didn’t knock ’em all down. So I feel like we said the process was right. I could have been selfish on a few of them, but I think I made the right decision 95% of the time tonight. So you got to live with that and keep it moving.”
Mobley’s best play Thursday night came late in the first quarter, when he drove the baseline and finished with a reverse left-handed dunk.
He had 15 points, 14 rebounds, three assists and three blocked shots in Game 1, when the Knicks rallied from a 22-point deficit in the fourth quarter to win 115-104 in overtime. He also has at least two blocked shots in nine straight games, the second-longest streak in franchise postseason history.
Mobley isn’t the only Cavs big man who needs to turn it up. Jarrett Allen has a 57.1% accuracy rate from the foul line after making 70.9% during the regular season.
He isn’t the only one struggling with free throws. The Cavaliers are 38 of 55 (69.1%) from the line during the first two games.
Coach Kenny Atkinson said his team has to do a better job of executing pick-and-roll plays.
“Sometimes I feel like we can just go set the pick, stop waiting for a play, stop waiting for somebody to call us up, and just run the offense from ourselves, not necessarily taking the ball and bringing it up the court, but initiating the offense by just going and setting a screen out of the blue,” Allen said of the adjustments he and Mobley could make.
All-Star guard Donovan Mitchell’s health is in question after he appeared to lack burst on drives and lift on jump shots.
Cleveland is trying to become the second team to complete a comeback from a 2-0 deficit in a second postseason series. The Milwaukee Bucks did it in the second round and the NBA Finals in 2021 to win their first title in 50 years.
The Cavaliers are 6-1 at home during the postseason and a league-best 19-4 as the host team since Jan. 23.
“I mean, we’re in the same place as last round. So, the good thing is we’ve been here before,” Mobley said. “It’s nothing that we haven’t fought through and prevailed. We’ve just got to win these next two at home and keep it moving.”
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Cleveland Cavaliers center Evan Mobley dunks against the Detroit Pistons during the second half of Game 7 in a second-round NBA basketball playoffs series, Sunday, May 17, 2026, in Detroit. (AP Photo/Duane Burleson)
Cleveland Cavaliers' Evan Mobley, right, drives past New York Knicks' Karl-Anthony Towns during the first half of Game 1 in the Eastern Conference finals NBA basketball playoffs series, Tuesday, May 19, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)
