Steele, late hitting leads Cubs past Giants |
CHICAGO - The magic number for the Chicago Cubs (35-39) is four, as in scoring four runs or more in a game. When that happens, this team is about as good as they come, as they have posted a 28-14 record when they score at least four runs in a game. That goes to show you how much they have been struggling offensively, as they are just 7-25 when they score less than three runs.
In a match-up between two of the NL Cy Young Finalists last season, the Cubs were locked into another tightly contested battle with the San Francisco Giants (36-38) as this had the feel of another one of those low scoring games. That was until the Cubs broke through for a three-run eighth inning to take the lead and used that lead to pick up a 5-2 win at Wrigley Field Tuesday night. At some point, we need to stop looking at wins and losses when discussing starting pitchers and instead look at the body of work. Justin Steele is a prime example of that, as the 16-game winner from a season ago has yet to post a win in 2024 and has now gone 16 straight decisions without a win despite an ERA under 1.5 in his last six starts. Steele had the best start of his career against the Giants last August, and early on, it looked as if he was about to do something like that again as he finished his day allowing just two runs on four hits in 6 2/3 innings. He walked two and struck out eight as he had to settle for another no-decision effort. Part of the reason for that was Logan Webb's pitching, as he continues to be the Giants Ace. Runner-up to Blake Snell in the Cy Young voting last season, Webb wasn't at his best when it came to his command, but he did manage to go pitch for pitch with Steele to the point where he got through seven innings, allowing two runs and striking out five to lower his ERA to 2.99. Both of the runs Webb allowed came in the second inning which Ian Happ started off right with a well-struck single to right as he continues to see the ball well. That single was followed by a Dansby Swanson homer to put the Cubs in front 2-0. This season has been a nightmare for Swanson, as he was 0-16 heading into that homer. Those would be the only runs the Cubs could muster off of Webb, but given how well Steele was pitching, two runs would be plenty. Chicago had a chance to add to their lead in the third with a pair of singles only to come away empty, but with the score still sitting at 2-0 and entering the fifth, things were looking up for this team. That was until Steele suddenly lost his command on the mound as walks to Jorge Soler and Mike Yastrzemski set the Giants offense up in the fifth and had the Cubs in danger of letting their lead get away. That set the stage for Curt Casali, who promptly capitalized on that situation with an RBI double to left, and just like that, the Giants pulled even 2-2. What was frustrating about that hit was seeing Casali deliver it, as he was part of the Iowa Cubs for the first two months of the season. Given Yan Gomes and Miguel Amaya's struggles this season, the Cubs would love to have Casali around. Steele could've crumbled right there, but he managed to get out of the fifth without any more damage and wouldn't allow a run the rest of the way as the Giants failed to score any more runs in the game. Even with the Giants offense stalling out, the Cubs had their own issues as they loaded the bases in the fifth and a chance to chase Webb only to come away empty as things remained tied entering the seventh with both bullpens set to take over. This is the one area the Cubs have struggled in all season long, but you can't say that about Tyson Miller, who continues to impress with every chance he gets. Traded from Seattle to Chicago in April, Miller has allowed just one earned run in his 15 innings in Chicago, and with 1 1/3 scoreless innings on Tuesday, he put himself in a position to pick up the win. For that to happen, the Cubs offense needed to come through late and with Michael Busch leading off the bottom of the eighth with a double, the Cubs were in a position to do just that. Busch has been on fire lately and is 12-31 in his last 10 as he continues to make the adjustments needed. His double was followed by a pair of singles from Cody Bellinger and Seiya Suzuki as the Bellinger single pushed home the go-ahead and winning run with the Cubs up 3-2. Ian Happ added to that lead and made it four straight singles off of Tyler Rodgers as the Cubs pushed their lead to 4-2. Following a two-out walk from David Bote to load the bases, the Cubs tacked on their final run of the night as the Christopher Morel single brought home the Cubs third run of the inning to stretch the lead to 5-2 with three outs to go. With 16 blown saves this season, trying to close out games has been an issue for this team, but don't tell that to Keegan Thompson, who was a man on a mission Tuesday night. Looking to lock down his first save of the season, Thompson passed the test with flying colors as he struck out the side to pick up the save in the Cubs 5-2 win. Busch, Bellinger, and Happ paced the offense with two hits each, and the offense appears to be turning things around. The Cubs will go for the series win on Wednesday afternoon when they turn to Kyle Hendricks against TBD. Hendricks is making his first start in over a month, but he is riding a scoreless streak of 8 2/3 innings of relief. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5ku68TrGFlU
