Cubs fans stopped in the middle of Wrigley Field walkways to do the twist. “Sweet Home Chicago” blared. For a night, or at least an hour or two, the offensive lull of the last couple of weeks was forgotten.
The Cubs avoided a sweep with a 10-4 victory Wednesday against the Cardinals. It served as a silver lining in a series loss to the last-place team in the National League Central.
“Up and down the lineup, it felt like all the things we were waiting to happen offensively happened,” manager David Ross said.
The Cubs have lost three of their last four series against teams that are at or below .500. But this series loss to the division rival Cardinals was the biggest missed opportunity.
The new balanced schedule has every team playing each other at least one series, and it shaved in-division games from 19 against each opponent to 13.
“Before, when it came to making up ground or whatever, you knew you had head-to-head contests,” president of baseball operations Jed Hoyer said. “And you have a lot fewer of those now, and I do think it matters.”
The Cubs were fortunate enough to meet the Cardinals, the preseason division favorites, as they were on a downward spiral. But in the first two games of the series, themes from the Cubs’ rough stretch prevailed.
“We just haven’t been able to get the big hit,” Hoyer said before the game. “And I think the biggest frustration of all is whenever you’re playing all those close games, it means someone gave up a run at some point, but, ultimately, our pitching has been fantastic. Our run prevention has been fantastic.”
In the first two weeks of the season, the Cubs led the majors in batting average with runners in scoring position (.365). The last two weeks, they’ve been second-worst (.182), topping only the Twins (.178), whom they play this weekend.
“I think everyone down there knows it’s going to turn, but that doesn’t mean there’s not frustration about when it’s going to,” Hoyer said. “Probably the best way to say it is that I do take a lot of comfort in the underlying stuff. But, ultimately, we’ve got to start scoring runs at the right times, and we’ve got to start winning games.”
This was a start.
It began with an RBI double from Seiya Suzuki and a two-run homer from Patrick Wisdom in the third inning. And then the Cubs just kept piling on.
Yan Gomes, in his first game back from the seven-day concussion injured list, contributed a two-run homer of his own. Dansby Swanson hit two doubles and drove in two runs. Christopher Morel had an RBI double and an RBI single in back-to-back innings.
“To end the homestand with a win like that, especially against the Cards, I think it’s big for us and our momentum and our morale,” Wisdom said. “Even though we have a great clubhouse in there, it’s just nice to go out there on the field and score a bunch of runs.”
The Cubs scored in double digits for the first time since April 21 against the Dodgers. And, at least for a night, they looked like the team that started the season on a hot streak.
