The Cubs aren’t out of their offensive rut.
But they were back in the win column Saturday, leaning on a sterling outing from lefty Shota Imanaga, who continued the strong work of the starting rotation as runs have been relatively scarce for the North Siders.
Imanaga twirled seven innings of one-run ball, helping to deliver a 3-1 win over the Pirates.
It’s part of a trend for Cubs’ starters, who have posted a 2.80 ERA over the team’s last 28 games.
With the bats in a quiet stretch that’s maddened fans watching the Brewers extend their NL Central lead to near double digits, the pitching staff is taking a turn shouldering the load, much like a high-octane lineup did during the season’s first half.
“Early in the season, they absolutely picked us up so many times. It’s our turn to return the favor,” righty reliever Brad Keller said. “We’ve got a good team in here, and it’s a lot of fun when it all clicks. Sure, we’re going through a little bit of a rut. But we’ve got to continue to go out there and do our job, and we’ll push through it, for sure.”
“As a pitcher, my job is always the same,” Imanaga said through an interpreter. “It doesn’t matter if it’s a 10-run lead or we’re down by 10, if it’s a tie game, I go out on the mound and have the same confidence. ‘Get that first hitter out and do your job.’”
Lately, the Cubs have only been able to dream of a 10-run lead.
This lineup could use a breakout. Even in celebrating a win Saturday, the Cubs mustered just three runs, snapping a 1-all tie in the eighth inning when slumping right fielder Kyle Tucker singled, stole second base and scored on a base hit from slumping designated hitter Seiya Suzuki.
In 14 games this month, the Cubs have been held to three runs or fewer 10 times.
“We had a lot of fun today, even if there were some innings where we thought we probably should have done a little bit more damage,” Tucker said. “We try to keep going and have fun with it and get back to playing our good ol’ Cubbie baseball.”
“When the lineup’s been struggling a little bit,” Suzuki said through an interpreter, “these games are a great opportunity to create momentum. The hope is we’ll keep it going.”
They’ll need to if they’re going to catch the Brewers.
A critical opportunity to gain ground comes next week, when the Brewers visit Wrigley Field for a five-game series.
Despite the “W” flag flying over Waveland and Sheffield on Saturday evening, there’s a lot for these Cubs to figure out.
Pitching performances like Imanaga’s – and what the staff has consistently delivered over the last month – will help. But the bats will need to wake up, something the Cubs are convinced will happen, even while signs of frustration, like Tucker chucking his bat to the ground after striking out Saturday, are hard to miss.
“This is a good baseball team that’s proven itself,” manager Craig Counsell said before the game. “We haven’t scored some runs in a little bit of a stretch here. We will, because this is a good offense. That makes me optimistic, and it makes me know that we will score runs. We will be a good offense.”
Tucker’s stumble out of the All-Star break – he’s batting .198 in the second half – has been the defining individual slump of a team-wide outage.
But he sees bright days ahead, too, even as Wrigleyville waits for an offensive breakout to arrive.
“We still have a really good team, regardless of how the last couple weeks have gone,” Tucker said. “We’re still in the playoff hunt right now and in the [playoff picture] currently. We don’t change our course just because you might lose a few games here and there. Our goal is to grind out the season and get to the playoffs and win from there.”