Bellinger with five RBIs lead Cubs to series win over Pirates |
PITTSBURGH - The 2023 MLB season has been nothing short of a roller coaster for the Chicago Cubs (69-61), but things are clearly looking up right now. After a fast start to open the season, the Cubs went into a two-month funk that saw them fall 11 games below .500 and sitting in last place.
Since then, and really since the all-star break, they have been one of the best teams in baseball, and with their 10-1 win against the Pittsburgh Pirates (58-73) at PNC Park, the Cubs are now a season-high eight games above .500. Anytime you hit your high-water mark this late in the season you are doing something right as that means you are playing your best baseball when it matters. While Justin Steele may be the best pitcher in the Cubs rotation, the most consistent and arguably the best pitcher in the past month has been the right-hander Javier Assad, who was added to the rotation in early August. Since then, Assad has not only been good but brilliant as he has taken over for Marcus Stroman and has looked just as good as Stroman did during the first two months. After tossing seven innings of one-run ball with seven strikeouts, Assad picked up another win and lowered his ERA to 2.96. Career-high 7 K day for 72! 🙌 pic.twitter.com/DlCeTauazw Some instant offense backed him as Cody Bellinger picked up an RBI single off Bailey Falter in the first to put the Cubs in front 1-0. Cody Bellinger is locked in 🔥 pic.twitter.com/KmZfYRSVWx For Bellinger he had a massive day as he paced the Cubs offense with three hits while driving in five. Three of those RBIs came off of Falter, who pitched into the fifth before being pulled after allowing six runs. Not to be outdone, the Pirates offense wasted no time responding to the Cubs first-inning run as the leadoff double from Ji Hwan Bae set the Pirates offense up in a good spot. Two batters later, it was Ke'Bryan Hayes coming through with an RBI groundout as things were back to even 1-1. That was the only run of the game for the Pirates, as Assad and the rest of the Cubs staff were dialed in from start to finish. Flater appeared to be settling in after his shaky first inning, but once the fourth inning rolled around, the Cubs offense started to make him pay as they scored five times in those two innings. Two of the runs came in the fourth when a one-out walk from Seiya Suzuki set things up before Jeimer Candelario left the building for what was the game-winning hit to put the Cubs in front 3-1. The Cub's offense continued to roll in the next inning as Nico Hoerner and Dansby Swanson picked up one-out singles before some two-out magic led to three additional runs. First was Bellinger coming through with a massive RBI double as the Cubs lead grew to 5-1. What @jordan_wicks99 said 🗣️ pic.twitter.com/6bweyKryrM Suzuki followed that up with a double of his own as the Cubs were comfortably in front 6-1 and smelt the beginning of another series win. Seiya Suzuki extends his hitting streak to a career-high 10 games! pic.twitter.com/TTy2Vqt1Mh Despite Assad running into some trouble early in the game, he not only did a great job working around those situations but got stronger as the game went on to retire 12 of the last 13 hitters he faced in succession to give the Cubs seven more strong innings before handing things over to the pen. To everyone's surprise, David Ross chose to go with Keegan Thompson for his first MLB appearance since mid-May when he was sent down to Iowa. No one will argue that this season has been a struggle for Thompson from start to finish, but he looked about as good as he can look on Sunday. Thompson took over for Assad and tossed the final two innings for the Cubs, yielding one hit and striking out five. That includes striking out the side in the eighth, as his return to 2022 form could be the key to the Cubs clinching a playoff berth this season. Still holding their 6-1 lead in the eighth, the suddenly hot Suzuki started the eighth inning with a leadoff double before coming home on the Candelario fielder's choice to extend the lead to 7-1. The Cubs offense wasn't done, as they had one more massive inning left to put the game further out of reach. Getting a leadoff single from Hoerner certainly helps, as does a one-out single from Happ, who has reached base every single game against the Pirates dating back to August of 2018. Bellinger kept the line moving for the Cubs as he followed those singles up with an RBI double to cap off his five RBI day with the Cubs leading 9-1. A season-high FIVE RBIs on the day for Belli! pic.twitter.com/wpkk5x0jZw Yan Gomes capped off the three-run ninth and the scoring for the Cubs as he added an RBI groundout to make things 10-1 before Thompson took care of the rest. Hoerner and Bellinger led the offense with three hits, with Suzuki adding two. The win sets the Cubs up with a massive three-game set with the Brewers on Monday, which could make or break their season the rest of the way. Most games with 2 or fewer ER in first 14 starts with Cubs (since 1913): Season-high 5-RBI day for Cody Bellinger 🔒 pic.twitter.com/DMhjZkNKlh
Javier Assad is tied with 3 other pitchers, including some guy named Zip Zabel... pic.twitter.com/ULc0rX0PDC
