One blowout win is a nice change of pace. Two in a row might just mean something.
If the Cubs make the playoffs in two weeks and enjoy an extended postseason run, they might look back on their last two games as when the offense finally clicked into place.
The Cubs trounced the Pirates 14-1 on Saturday, having now scored 31 runs in the two games since team president Theo Epstein called their play “uninspired” and “unacceptable.”
His words may have been exactly what the Cubs needed to hear.
“This is the kind of baseball we want to play,” said starting pitcher Kyle Hendricks, who picked up the win after allowing one run in six innings. “We like setting the tone, getting out ahead early and piling on. To see that come to fruition, to see it happen in real life — we’ve just got to stick with it.”
The win moved the Cubs three games behind the first-place Cardinals in the National League Central and 1½ games behind the Nationals for the top wild-card spot.
Whether the latest offensive outburst is a direct response to Epstein’s comments is unclear. But Anthony Rizzo said the team was very much aware of Epstein’s criticism.
“You see them. You hear them. We’re told about them,” he said. “Obviously, we want to be clinching two, three days ago like the Dodgers did. It’s just not the way it’s gone this year. But we go out every day and bust it and give it our all.”
Epstein would surely agree that the last few games have been both inspired and acceptable.
The Cubs scored in every inning from the second through the seventh Saturday and have scored at least three runs in an inning six times in two days. They hit four home runs Saturday to add to the five they blasted Friday.
“It’s been fun,” said Rizzo, who went 2-for-3 in the leadoff spot. “We need this. We need to hit like this.”
The Cubs have hit 237 homers this season, surpassing the franchise record of 235 in 2004.
Nick Castellanos hit a three-run double in the second inning to give the Cubs the lead. He hit another double in the fourth to give him the MLB lead with 52 this season.
Kris Bryant hit his 136th career home run, tying Ernie Banks for the most homers by a Cub in his first five seasons. Ben Zobrist hit his first homer of the year, Nico Hoerner hit his second in as many games and Victor Caratini added a solo shot in the seventh.
The big question now is whether the Cubs can sustain this level of offensive production, or at least one close to it. They entered the weekend series with a plus-eight run differential in August and September and have followed many of their second-half runs with several losses in a row.
“I don’t think 14 or 17 runs a game [is sustainable], but I think the approach, the working counts, the stuff like that are,” Bryant said. “And sparks like Ben and Nico, it’s been really kind of what we needed. I just hope we can ride it all the way to the end of October and November.”
