TORONTO – The Cubs offense was ready to pounce coming out of their first off day in over two weeks, scoring early in their 6-2 win over the Blue Jays on Friday.
“A great start for us against a good pitcher,” Cubs second baseman Nico Hoerner said. “Solid, contact throughout the game for us. And felt really good.”
Nico Hoerner, hitting in the No. 2 slot, gave the Cubs an early lead with a solo homer off Blue Jays starter José Berríos. Ian Happ followed him with a line drive single into right field. Then, Cody Bellinger launched a two-run homer into the Cubs bullpen beyond the right field wall.
They tacked on three more runs in the fourth inning, this time without the long ball. The bottom half of the order started the rally this time. After Dansby Swanson reached on an error, Jeimer Candelario and Seiya Suzki hit back-to-back base knocks. Suzuki’s double down the left-field line bounced into the corner and drove in two runs. Then, the lineup turned over, and Mike Tauchman contributed an RBI single.
With their win and the Marlins’ loss to the Yankees, the Cubs climbed back up into the last National League Wild Card spot.
“Obviously we wanted to win the series in New York,” Hoerner said of the three-game set against the Mets this week that the Cubs lost 2-1. “ We want to win all of them. But I feel like we took it just for what it was. We didn’t win a series, and then you move on to the next one. And that’s really all there is. And we’ve got a pretty mature group for that.
“I feel like we’re pretty well equipped for whatever the next month and a half, two months of the regular season has in [store for us], just in what we experienced with the deadline, having some games that felt like they were a little turned up as far as urgency and intensity.”
This second half has stood in contrast to the last couple years, when the Cubs traded away major-league talent at the deadline. Out of a playoff race, development also played into on-field decisions.
“I don’t ever make out a lineup to not win, hopefully that’s obvious,” Ross said before the game. “Right now, there’s guys that are going to lack some at-bats and lack some innings in moments, and you ride the guys that are doing well.”
That has also meant some tough conversations. Veteran Tucker Barnhart hasn’t caught a whole game since Aug. 1. Right fielder Seiya Suzuki took a break from the lineup with right-handed opposing pitchers on the mound until he got back into a rhythm at the plate. Lefty Drew Smyly moved to the bullpen when the Cubs had the off days to move around their rotation. And during the Cubs’ stretch of 16 straight games, the Cubs’ high-leverage relievers took on heavy workloads.
“Just trying to put the right winning formula out on the field every single day,” Ross said. “There’s no mandates of, this guy’s got to play or that guys’ got to play. It’s like, let’s go win baseball games. So, that’s a refreshing time to be in this push. Those guys put themselves in that position and earned that. It’s nice to be a part of that.”
Stroman throws bullpen
Cubs right-hander Marcus Stroman (right hip inflammation) threw a bullpen in Toronto before the game Friday. Pitching coach Tommy Hottovy said this week that they planned to make Friday’s session more start-like and a heavier workload than Stroman’s bullpen earlier in the week.