Designated hitter Seiya Suzuki tattooed two line drives with exit velocities of over 105 mph Wednesday. Those two shots, which drove in runs at pivotal moments in the Cubs’ 6-1 victory against the Reds, illustrated the fine line between staying mired in a skid and breaking out of it.
The Cubs’ lineup has been in a rut lately, with its biggest contributors slumping at the same time. And as a result of that offensive dip, the team is four games behind the Brewers, who have the best record in the majors.
After Suzuki drove in the first two runs, the Cubs’ offense flashed its power potential to avoid a three-game sweep at Wrigley Field.
“You never know when a hot streak ends; you never know when a cold streak begins,” Cubs president of baseball operations Jed Hoyer said this week.
“I know that sounds [like a cliché], but it’s true, right? You think to yourself, ‘I know we’ll snap out of this; I know we’ll start hitting well.’ I don’t know when. It’s impossible to know.”
It’s too soon to tell if this offensive performance was the start of a trend or just a brief light in the darkness. After all, the Cubs put up 10 runs in the series finale against the Brewers last week, then scored only 12 runs over the next five games.
This game at least showed the kind of ripple effect that one breakout showing —Suzuki’s 2-for-2 day with two RBI and a walk — can have.
“Hitting is one of those things that’s contagious both ways,” catcher Carson Kelly said. “And when you get a big knock, you put a ball in the seats, it rejuvenates [everyone].
“So we’ve had some tough games recently, but we’ve still got a lot of games left. And today is a good example of how it can get going.”
Suzuki had been going through a rough patch at the plate. Manager Craig Counsell gave him a day off Tuesday after a stretch of five games with only two hits.
“He had four great at-bats today,” Counsell said. “So sometimes just a day of not having to go battle is helpful. And he locked it in.”
Suzuki singled in his first at-bat, the Cubs’ only hit of the first two innings against left-hander Andrew Abbott.
Then in the third, Nico Hoerner and Justin Turner kicked off the inning with singles to put runners on the corners for Suzuki. He scorched a line drive that Reds left fielder Jake Fraley made a diving play on to rob Suzuki of a hit. But the sacrifice fly broke the scoreless tie.
Suzuki drove in the Cubs’ next run by getting ahold of a slider and roping it just over the left-field fence in the sixth inning.
“I’m always looking at my balance when I’m in the box,” Suzuki said. “And recently it was a little off, but today it felt good.”
The floodgates opened from there. The Cubs scored four runs in the seventh and eighth innings combined. Dansby Swanson and Ian Happ also homered.
“When you’re grinding a little bit, those solo homers are just a huge boost,” Happ said of Suzuki’s influence. “And a guy coming through in a spot, driving in a run, those kinds of things just really lift the club. So Seiya, after getting that day yesterday, coming in, having great at-bats all day, it was awesome to see.”
