Cubs roll up 18 runs as bottom of the order hitters continue to thrive
PITTSBURGH — A restaurant called Chickie's and Pete's is all over the concession area at PNC Park. Good place to get crab fries, apparently.
It also brings to mind the Cubs' August resurgence, which belongs mostly to Miggy and Pete — Amaya and Crow-Armstrong, respectively.
The bottom two hitters in the order continued to thrive Monday as the Cubs delivered their most prolific offensive performance of the season in an 18-8 victory over the Pirates.
The Cubs (66-66) are back to .500 and have gone 15-8 since July 31. They posted season highs in runs and hits (21) in this game, piled up 7 doubles and 8 stolen bases.
Amaya went 4-for-5 with 2 doubles and 4 RBI. He was hitting .186 on July 3, now he's up to .243 on the season. Since the all-star break, Amaya is hitting .311.
“He made a great adjustment,” manager Craig Counsell said. “That's why a season's a season. It's not a half-season, it's not 80 games. He's playing at a really high level offensively, and that makes a difference for us.”
Seven Cubs recorded multiple hits. Seiya Suzuki had 4 and Pete Crow-Armstrong 3, to go with 3 stolen bases. The Cubs hit just 2 home runs, but one was a grand slam by Dansby Swanson. The other was a solo shot from Isaac Paredes.
After the game Swanson talked about the dramatic upswing by Amaya and Crow-Armstrong. Over the past month, those two, plus Ian Happ, are the Cubs' leaders in OPS.
“Just seeing the transformation, the work, the questions they ask, how they're starting to process things,” Swanson said. “We were all young once trying to figure it out and this is really cool to see the lessons they've learned and how they've been able to incorporate them into their everyday routines. The competitiveness they're bringing us is huge.”
Starter Jameson Taillon (9-8) endured some long breaks between innings while the Cubs circled the bases but pitched into the seventh inning and earned the win against his former team.
“Some of those innings got pretty long,” he said. “I think there was a 50-pitch inning and multiple maybe 30-pitch innings. So it was just, how can I go down in the tunnel and maybe throw some plyo balls and stuff? What can I do to make sure I'm going to go out there and be sharp still?”
Counsell would not comment on a report the Cubs placed pitcher Drew Smyly on waivers. Smyly was in the locker room after the game.
Before the contest Pirates manager Derek Shelton casually dropped some major news: Pittsburgh shortstop Oneil Cruz will be moving to center field, a change that's expected to be permanent. It won't happen right away. Cruz was DH Monday and will spend a few days getting some extra defensive work in.