Left fielder Ian Happ was careful not to overstate the impact of the Cubs’ offensive surge Saturday.
‘‘It’s baseball,’’ Happ told the Sun-Times after the game. ‘‘It’s tough; every day is hard. You put up nine [runs] one day, it’s not like, ‘All right, we clicked it, everything’s good, we’re going to put up nine every day.’ ’’
Sure enough, the Cubs scored only two runs Sunday.
The Cubs have been oscillating between offensive boons and ruts in the last week in their effort to break out of their collective slump. In six games against the National League Central rival Reds and Cardinals, however, the dips outnumbered the rises, and they lost consecutive series.
The Cubs still are 17 games above .500 (67-50), thanks to a strong start to the season. And there have been reasons for optimism, however fleeting, in the last week. On Saturday, the Cubs got back to the roots of their offensive success earlier in the season: stealing bases, taking the extra base and getting hits with runners in scoring position.
‘‘Across the board, that felt very much like us,’’ Happ said. ‘‘That was a contagious day.’’
All those factors might have bought the Cubs patience from their fans during this stretch — if it weren’t for the Brewers, that is.
Eight weeks ago, the Cubs were in control of the division and held a 6½-game lead over the Brewers. Since then, they have treaded water with a 22-22 record. The Brewers, on the other hand, have gone 35-9, putting the finishing touches on the best 60-game stretch in franchise history.
The rivals have traded places, with the Brewers (74-44) — who have the best record in the majors — sitting atop the NL Central with a six-game cushion.
Cubs players and coaches have maintained the best thing they can do about it is to worry about themselves. Scoreboard-watching at this time of year doesn’t help performance.
This Brewers’ run is hard to ignore, however, especially when the standings and scores are displayed on video boards and TVs around every ballpark.
‘‘If you don’t see the scoreboard in a major-league stadium, there’s something wrong with you,’’ manager Craig Counsell quipped recently.
It was a variation on an answer he had given before to a question that has become increasingly popular as the Brewers’ hot streak has refused to end: Are you seeing what the Brewers are doing?
It’s not just that they’re winning, either. The increasingly ridiculous ways in which they’ve claimed victory of late have become a national story.
Not only are the Brewers getting the most out of their talent, but they’ve literally had the ball bounce their way.
Their sweep of the Mets this past weekend featured a go-ahead hit-by-pitch with the bases loaded, a rare error by shortstop Francisco Lindor that allowed two runs to score, a bloop ground-rule double, a home run made possible by a pitch-clock violation and a tying single off first baseman Pete Alonso’s glove.
Even though the moral of the Cubs’ 3-2 loss Sunday to the Cardinals was that they needed more offense to back a solid pitching performance, it was tempting to compare their luck — or lack of it — to that of the Brewers.
With one out in the ninth inning, speedy Jon Berti pinch-ran for Happ at first, representing the tying run. He was called out trying to steal, which the Cubs quickly challenged. The call stood on replay review, but it wasn’t confirmed.
‘‘It was obviously really close,’’ Counsell said after the game. ‘‘And that’s where you’ve got to get the call on the field to go in your favor at the start.’’
Nico Hoerner and Dansby Swanson hit back-to-back singles after that play, but the Cubs fell short of tying the score.
Those kinds of breaks tend to even out over the course of a season. And the Brewers can’t be expected to continue winning nearly 80% of their games, as they have in the last eight weeks.
Still, if the Cubs are going to catch them, they must put together their own surge soon.
