The Cubs have spent the season scoring runs in bunches.
But they scored only nine runs in four days against the Pirates at Wrigley Field.
They still took the series, in which all four games were decided by one run, winning three times, including the finale Sunday, a 3-2 victory in 10 innings.
“That was a grinder of a series,” said outfielder Ian Happ, who delivered the walk-off single. “To come out on top of that, win that game, was huge.”
The Cubs, who’ve spent almost the whole season on top of the National League Central and among the majors’ highest-scoring teams, seemed especially happy to take this series against the last-place Pirates.
Bats can be streaky. The Cubs’ lineup could cool off. But the wins this weekend — neither team eclipsed three runs in any game– — showed that they’ve mastered many of the other ways to win.
No slugging? No problem.
“Going in, we kind of expected a series like this, expected low scoring,” manager Craig Counsell said. “That means you have to make plays . . . on defense, you have to make pitches, you have to throw strikes and you have to run the bases well. Those things get highlighted and emphasized in series like this, conditions like this and sometimes when you’re not swinging the bat, maybe, as well as you have.
“You have to have other ways to win.”
Counsell cited the Pirates’ pitching — despite their 29-44 record, they have the sixth-lowest starters’ ERA in the majors at 3.51 — and the slow-to-arrive summer as reasons the Cubs were projecting a low-scoring series in mid-June.
Though the Cubs have been a run-scoring force overall, they’ve repeatedly talked about having to outfox the Wrigley weather and find other ways to win games besides simply mashing the ball.
“The run-scoring environment this year at Wrigley hasn’t been great,” Happ said. “We’ve had a few days, but for the most part, [no]. You saw four or five balls hit today that are doubles or homers in other places. It pulls the outfielders in a little bit and makes the outfield really small. You have to find ways to win that baseball game.”
That means quality pitching, and the Cubs got that this weekend, even if it came against a miserable offensive team. In addition to four strong starts, the bullpen was nearly perfect, allowing only one earned run in 14 innings.
It means good baserunning, something the Cubs have prided themselves on. Just look at the double steal Vidal Brujan and Kyle Tucker pulled off ahead of Happ’s single in the 10th.
And, of course, it means playing good defense. Second baseman Nico Hoerner made a highlight-reel snag on a line drive to assure a scoreless top of the 10th. Earlier, center fielder Pete Crow-Armstrong tracked down several deep fly balls, covering a ton of ground.
In general, these Cubs are doing the little things and doing them well, which makes the difference, putting them on top even when their powerful bats are silenced to the tune of 2.3 runs over a four-game stretch.
It’s a valuable skill as they eye success in October.
“[Counsell] just has the expectation of us doing the little things right,” starting pitcher Colin Rea said, “and that would be the same for the players on this team, too, holding each other accountable for those things when you step through those doors.”
“Trying to be good in all those moments and focused on every moment,” Counsell said, “is something this team is good at and enjoys doing.”