DENVER — It’s too early to say whether Seiya Suzuki slammed the Cubs out of their early-summer freefall.
But boy, did this team need a hit like that one.
The team’s struggles with runners in scoring position have received plenty of attention during what’s become a monthlong losing stretch, but its lack of power has been just as glaring.
Though they got a solo homer in each of the first two games of their series in mile-high Colorado, the typically hitter-friendly conditions did little to goose the Cubs’ sputtering bats.
Until the fourth inning Thursday, that is, when Suzuki came through with the knock his team has so frequently failed to deliver over the past several weeks, sending a grand slam out to left field to flip a 1-0 deficit into a 4-1 lead.
Seiya Suzuki’s 10th homer of the season is GRAND ‼️ pic.twitter.com/2QLwOtN6PN
— MLB (@MLB) June 11, 2026
The Cubs rode onto a 9-3 win — one that also featured Alex Bregman and Carson Kelly leaving the yard in the team’s first three-homer game since late April — to avoid being swept by the Rockies.
“As a team, in those opportunities, we haven’t gotten that one hit,” Suzuki said through an interpreter. “Today, we can use that as a breakthrough.”
Only a couple hours earlier, manager Craig Counsell lamented his team’s lack of power. Coming into Thursday, the Cubs owned a .332 slugging percentage that ranked as baseball’s lowest since May 9, the day after they completed the second of their two 10-game win streaks this season.
Suzuki’s slam and some long-awaited pop from the team’s big free-agent addition served as a nice remedy.
But will it be more than just a temporary one?
Just recently, the Cubs experienced some false monkey-off-their-backs moments with walk-off wins at Wrigley Field that preceded more losing.
Inside a victorious postgame locker room Thursday, no one was ready to claim this win as a season-saver.
“We have maybe three guys playing to their potential. So we’ve got a lot of work to do, and we’ve got to be better,” Bregman said. “We’re way better of a ballclub than we’ve shown. We’ve got to look in the mirror and figure out a way to get it done on the field.
“We’ve got to play better. Today was a good step in the right direction.”
Even if one win doesn’t start a turnaround, the Cubs remain confident one is coming eventually.
Why? With this roster, they believe it has to.
“We have very good offensive players. They’ve shown that this year,” Counsell said before the game. “The length [of the losing stretch], yeah, it’s surprising, absolutely. And it’s challenging. We’re all trying to do our best to put it in the right direction. We haven’t been able to come up with solutions so far.
“We have very talented, good players, and that absolutely creates optimism.”
The “it’s a long season” argument doesn’t sit well with frustrated fans who want improved results and want them now. But there is plenty of time left in baseball’s marathon for the Cubs to get back on track.
Losing in May and June hasn’t changed this team’s expectations for what they’ll be doing in October.
The problem, as has been the case in recent years, is that getting back on track doesn’t necessarily mean catching the Brewers. The Cubs woke up in the Mile High City a seeming mile from first place Thursday, eight games back after falling to .500 the night before.
Baseball’s expanded postseason means the Cubs’ playoff and championship dreams are in no way dashed, should they make the turnaround they believe they can.
But will the Brewers let them back in the division race? Or will it be “wild card or bust” for a team that was thinking “World Series or bust” a month ago?
“We’ve got a lot of very established players that have done great things in this league,” second baseman Nico Hoerner told the Sun-Times, “but the game doesn’t care about that. It’s all about the next pitch and what you’re onto next.
“I don’t think the confidence in our group has changed at all.”
