SAN FRANCISCO – It was not yet a Saturday night.
But splish, splash, Michael Busch’s home-run ball took a bath anyway.
Freed from the video-boarded-up confines of Wrigley Field, there was nothing standing in the way of the Cubs’ first baseman leaving the stadium.
Busch splashed down in McCovey Cove with a three-run homer in the Cubs’ 5-1 win over the Giants on Friday, just the fifth North Side batter ever to show off some aquatic exploits in this waterfront yard, joining Joc Pedersen (2021), Robel Garcia (2019), Ben Zobrist (2016) and Corey Patterson (2004).
“I tried to do it a couple times in BP and couldn’t really do it,” Busch said after the game. “But I’ll take the game over batting practice, for sure.”
The waterlogged roundtripper was the biggest hit in an all-around performance for the Cubs, who won consecutive games for the first time since they ended their 10-game losing streak with back-to-back victories in late May.
But bing, bang, this one was about the whole gang. Or rather, the whole game.
Timely hitting, great starting pitching and some impressive defensive plays made for the type of all-around performance that’s proved elusive during the Cubs’ rough month.
Busch’s blast was big – and buoyant – but the more impressive performance came from Javier Assad, who turned in a second straight scoreless outing in the Cubs’ latest fill-in starting effort amid a rash of injuries in the rotation.
After 6 1/3 run-free innings last time out, in relief of an injured Jameson Taillon, Assad kept the same Giants lineup quiet with six more scoreless innings Friday, allowing just three hits and a walk while striking out five.
“He pitched great,” manager Craig Counsell said. “A real boost. We’ve talked about guys getting opportunities, and certainly Javy, in a time when we really needed it, has delivered a couple big performances.”
Assad has only allowed one run since the start of May, with a 0.47 ERA across his last five appearances.
Certainly, the Cubs hope this is the turning point they’ve been looking for since dropping to 7-22 in a 29-game stretch with a loss to the Rockies on Wednesday. But excuse them for not getting ahead of themselves after a couple potential monkey-off-their-back moments on the most recent home stand proved mirages.
The last two days are perhaps the best the Cubs have looked in a while, recalling the consistency with which they won in the season’s first month and a half, when they rattled off a pair of 10-game win streaks.
They’ve talked often about how they’re much better than what they’ve shown in recent weeks. These two wins, while the smallest of sample sizes, shows they just might be telling the truth.
And before we go, let’s not just peg Busch as some stumbling slugger. He flashed some impressive leather Friday night, starting and finishing a nifty inning-ending double play and clipping Luis Arraez on the helmet with a diving tag at first base to nab a replay-assisted out.
Defense, the Cubs’ bread and butter, hasn’t gone anywhere during the team’s rough stretch the last month. But it’s an obvious part of their winning equation.
When they excel in all three phases, like they did Friday? Well, that’s more like it for a team with championship-level aspirations.