PITTSBURGH — Cubs manager David Ross claims to keep only a “peripheral eye” on the National League Central standings at this time of the season.
Not that it would take close watching to notice that the Pirates (34-37) — the early story of the division in 2023 — suddenly are plummeting faster than, well, a typical Pirates team. After losing 8-0 to the Cubs in the opener of a three-game series at PNC Park, they’ve dropped seven straight and are ahead of the Cubs (34-38) in third place by a mere half-game.
Maybe nobody’s ever really out of it in this ho-hum division, where the Cubs trail the first-place Brewers by just three games heading into Tuesday. But the difference between the Cubs and most of the Central — save for the surging Reds — is that Ross’ lineup is producing. And if they take full advantage of that for as long as it lasts, as they have during an 8-2 stretch that included a clutch 5-1 homestand, critics can forget about burying this imperfect Cubs team.
It’s not going to take close to perfect, after all, to win the Central. And the Cubs seem to have gotten past the hardest part of the season — the 14-29 slog that preceded this recent turnaround.
“I hope so,” Ross said. “I don’t know if I feel that way. I think what I know to be true is there’s bumps in the road throughout a season, and when those come, [you have to] kind of weather the storm in those moments.”
Cubs put up numbers in bunches on the aforementioned homestand, which included a three-game sweep of the Pirates. Christopher Morel tattooed everything that moved, hitting .409 with three homers and 10 RBI. Mike Tauchman hit .350 with five walks, absolutely living on base. Dansby Swanson batted .360 and hit safely in each game. Ian Happ drove in 10 runs and scored six. Nico Hoerner and Nick Madrigal each batted .308, with Hoerner continuing to make all kinds of good trouble on the basepaths.
In the opener against the Pirates, the Cubs didn’t have to hammer young Osvaldo Bido — who was making his second career start — to get to him. Instead, they stayed back on pitches and repeatedly took him right up the middle. As a good offensive team does? That’s the idea, anyway.
In the second inning, after Swanson lined out leading off, Cody Bellinger, Yan Gomes Tauchman and Hoerner all singled in between the second baseman and the shortstop, paving the way for a 3-0 lead.
“We were fouling those balls off early in the season,” Ross said, “and just missing our pitches. … I just feel like we’re not missing our pitch right now. Guys are doing a really nice job of staying true to their at-bats and taking a little more intent playing it to the big part of the field.”
It didn’t hurt that a sudden rain shower showed up that sent fans throughout the stadium scurrying for cover and appeared to make Bido, facing the Cubs for the second straight time, uncomfortable on the mound. Bido’s walk of Miles Mastrobuoni — who hasn’t hit a thing all season — in the middle of the rally was as big a key as any of the base hits.
It also didn’t hurt that Cubs starter Drew Smyly was facing the imploding Pirates for the second time in less than a week. At Wrigley, Smyly got a win despite allowing five earned runs in six innings. At PNC, he didn’t give up a run but wasn’t any better to watch, walking five in five innings, surrendering three hits and needing to escape a pair of bases-loaded jams.
Frustrated Pirates fans booed when each of those rallies fell short, and a few other times for good measure. They see the writing on the wall.
The Cubs, on the other hand, are gathering some momentum. With ace Marcus Stroman pitching the middle game of the set — and Kyle Hendricks behind him — a fourth consecutive series win seems awfully likely.
It’s nowhere close to perfect, but for the moment it’s good enough.