Change of strategy: Cubs belt 5 home runs, hang on to beat Padres
The Cubs were ready to begin a new chapter Tuesday.
No longer are they on a desperate search for pitching. Their run of adding a new pitcher to the active roster finally ended at seven consecutive days.
Instead, the Cubs took the easy way out and belted five home runs on another warm, windy night to beat San Diego 9-7 at Wrigley Field.
Dansby Swanson hit two of the home runs, while Pete Crow-Armstrong, Alex Bregman and Michael Busch smacked the others. Bregman's 3-run blast deep into the left-field bleachers put the Cubs in control with a 5-1 lead in the second inning. They led 9-3 until the Padres made it close with a 4-run eighth.
Crow-Armstrong's moon shot to right field in the sixth gave him 11 home runs for the month of June. That's the most by a Cubs player since short-lived North Sider Nick Castellanos had 11 in August 2019.
The conditions at Wrigley were a bit warmer and windier than Monday, when these teams combined to hit zero home runs. On Tuesday, the overall total was nine — as predicted by Cubs manager Craig Counsell, sort of.
“I said before the series yesterday to the hitters, this is going to be a crazy week at Wrigley,” Counsell said, referring mostly to the weather. “No game is ever won and no game is ever lost.
“That can make you a better team when you value every single moment and understand how valuable every moment of the game, every out, every pitch is.”
The Cubs are still the streakiest team in MLB. They were once 15 games over .500, only to drop back to dead even at 34-34 on June 10.
With Tuesday's victory, the Cubs returned to 10 games above .500. If not for getting blown away by Milwaukee's Jacob Misiorowski last Friday, the Cubs would be trying to complete their third 10-game win streak of the season on Wednesday afternoon against the Padres. They can still get to 9-1 by sweeping San Diego.
Matthew Boyd did his part to stabilize the decimated Cubs pitching staff. In his second start since recovering from arthroscopic knee surgery, Boyd threw five-plus innings and allowed a reasonable 3 runs.
Boyd left after giving up 2 hits to start the sixth inning. Javier Assad came on in relief and finished that frame with no damage, but gave up a pair of home runs in the eighth as the Padres pulled within 9-7. Former South Sider Gavin Sheets hit a 3-run homer in the eighth, while Fernando Tatis Jr. hit his second of the night. Tyler Ferguson, then Ryan Rolison finished it off for the home team.
Meanwhile, the Cubs are hoping to get pitcher Jameson Taillon back soon from a hamstring strain. The plan for him is to go on a rehab outing sometime this weekend, then maybe he'll be able to make a short start for the Cubs before the all-star break. Two other starters, Ben Brown and Edward Cabrera, are also on the injured list with a longer recovery timeline.
“I've responded really well to everything,” Taillon said. “The strength is there, the running has been going well for someone who's slow. I felt like all the throwing's been pretty good.
“I told Craig the other day after I threw a good bullpen, I was like, 'I'm probably about to start getting annoying.' We're playing well, we're swinging it well and I think we're turning a corner. You just want to be a part of it. Especially this time of the year. It's not early any more, it's time to go.”