Cubs Got About 30 Minutes to Enjoy First W in Nearly 2 Weeks

Act like you’ve been there before. That’s what they say when someone puts a little sauce on a celebration of something they’ve done more than a few times in the past. But for Craig Counsell and the Cubs, a 10-game losing streak was uncharted territory. It wasn’t just that they were losing; it was how they were losing. They looked like the worst team in baseball for the better part of two weeks, and everything was going wrong.

That finally changed on Wednesday evening in Pittsburgh as they routinely cashed in with runners in scoring position. They even hit two home runs, making it their first multi-homer game since May 17 against the White Sox. Their 10 runs were one more than they’d scored in the previous six games combined, and five of those nine came in Sunday’s loss to the Astros.

Finally snapping their anemic skid was more a matter of relief than anything, so there really wasn’t much to celebrate. Not when they’re still far closer to last than first and now have a date with Paul Skenes to close out the series.

“It was a good team win,” Counsell deadpanned afterwards. “We needed it. The guys in the room needed it. A lot of guys had big hits, which has been a real struggle for us. You can’t put too much into one game, but we can celebrate for 25 minutes and then get ready for tomorrow’s game.”

The hope is that the baseball gods now see fit to even the playing field after a collective slump enveloped most of the lineup. Pete Crow-Armstrong has been crushing baseballs lately, and more of them are falling for hits. The same is true for Alex Bregman, who now has three multihit games in a row after starting the season with a long run of bad luck. Then there’s Ian Happ, who has come through with runners in scoring position each of the last two nights after looking nigh unplayable for a long stretch.

There are still plenty of concerns with this team, namely a pitching staff that can’t be trusted to keep the ball in the yard. The relief corps is starting to get right, however, and a series of four bullpen arms held the Pirates scoreless with two hits over the final four frames last night. But if the Cubs are going to find even a happy medium that sees them winning at least three of every five games, the starters have to be better.

Cubs starters have allowed 50 home runs on a league-worst 14.7% homer-per-fly ball rate, often putting them in the hole right away. As a team, they’ve given up 78 dongs while hitting only 63, putting them 26th in MLB with a -15 differential. The primary culprit is Jameson Taillon, who allowed two more round-trippers last night to bring his MLB-worst total to 19 on the season.

No other pitcher is within six of his mark, and his career-worst 7.9% walk rate means the big flies he gives up tend to hurt worse. He did manage to escape with a no-decision after the offense hung a big crooked number after he’d departed, but performances like that just leave too little margin for error. Still, a win is a win.

“Those 10 losses in a row are still raw,” Taillon said. “But it feels good to get this one. It had reached the point where we needed to put a foot down, and we did.”

It’s funny to me that Taillon unintentionally channeled Dean Wormer from Animal House, especially since I was about to post a GIF of Chip Diller telling the crowd to remain calm and that all is well. Speaking of which, that comedy classic is the subject of this week’s Rewatchables podcast. And with that in mind, I think we’re aligned in saying, “Thank you, sir, may I have another?”

While rattling off a bunch more wins in a row would be nice, I’d be perfectly happy with the Cubs just playing more consistent baseball moving forward. That will result in more wins than losses and should put them in a position to add at the deadline.