WASHINGTON, D.C. — No matter how many runs the Chicago Cubs have put up during their road trip, they continue to do the little things that have often shown up this season.
A great double play turned by third baseman Isaac Paredes with the bases loaded and nobody out in the second inning Sunday helped limit the damage to one run by the Washington Nationals, and the Cubs’ offense took care of the rest, at times taking advantage of shoddy defense. The Cubs cruised to a 14-1 victory to sweep Washington for a season-high, sixth-straight win.
The Cubs (71-66) finished the road trip 8-1 and have won 12 of their last 15 games.
“It’s like a tale of two seasons,” said shortstop Dansby Swanson, who collected four of their 18 hits.
With the Cubs taking care of business against three teams below .500, there are three takeaways from their stellar trip.
1. Cubs are at least giving themselves a shot.
Sure, the odds are seriously against the Cubs reaching the postseason.
Even after dropping only one game during their three-city trip and going on this offensive run over the last two weeks, the Cubs’ odds to secure a wild-card spot sits at 6.8%, according to FanGraphs, behind the current holder of the last spot, Atlanta (75.5%), and the only other team chasing ahead of them, the New York Mets (28.7%).
But getting to September is all about having at least a shot to capture magic over the final four weeks of the regular season. What felt so unlikely this summer instead becomes a possibility worth hoping for. After an 18-8 August following an underwhelming performance from May through July, the Cubs’ upcoming games still matter as they return home to face the Pittsburgh Pirates and the New York Yankees.
“It’s awesome for everyone to be able to experience,” Swanson said. “Obviously, there are guys in this room that have experienced it before, some guys that haven’t, and just the fun and exciting time that it can be, and we’ve obviously given ourselves a chance to do that.”
2. The lineup shows why it can be so dangerous.
Expecting the Cubs to continue scoring at this recent output is unrealistic. But they have certainly been putting on a show.
Over their last 10 games, the Cubs have scored 99 runs, something they have done just once in a 10-game span during a season since 1901 when they produced 104 runs from May 28 to June 7, 1930. Amid this stretch, the Cubs have tallied 33 doubles, one triple and 14 home runs with contributions from throughout the lineup. In Sunday’s win, six Cubs recorded a multi-hit game and eight drove in at least one run.
“Early in the year, y’all are saying that we stink and can’t score runs and all that kind of stuff and everyone’s putting so much pressure to be able to score runs and produce,” Swanson said. “And then right now, it feels like the opposite. Everyone’s just free and confident, and whether it’s themselves or the guy that’s on deck or the guy that’s in the batter’s box. So it’s been a lot of fun, and we’ve definitely been enjoying that.”
With the emergence of offensive consistency from Pete Crow-Armstrong and catcher Miguel Amaya at the bottom of the order and Swanson coming through more frequently, the Cubs aren’t so top-heavy and relying on the same six hitters to produce for the offense to be successful.
“What they’ve done over the month of August has been a difference-maker for sure,” manager Craig Counsell said of Crow-Armstrong and Amaya. “The other guys have done their part, absolutely, been consistent. But what those two guys have done has really changed and I think it’s changed our offense.”
3. Jordan Wicks gives the Cubs a fresh arm for the stretch.
For the first time in 2 1/2 months, left-hander Jordan Wicks was back on a big-league mound Sunday.
Wicks gave the Cubs what they needed, limiting Washington to one run and four hits over five innings in his return from an oblique strain. He got the start instead of the originally scheduled starter Jameson Taillon. The Cubs wanted Taillon and Justin Steele to get an extra day of rest at this point in the season, and they will start the first two games this week against Pittsburgh.
Beyond Wicks feeling good and helping the Cubs win, one of the key elements of his return is giving the Cubs a fresh starter for September. Wicks entered Sunday having thrown just 28 innings for the Cubs over seven games (six starts). He will need to stay healthy, having already spent time on the injured list twice for two different ailments, but his return gives Counsell and the Cubs some options with how to best deploy their starters.
“It’s been exciting watching them, I’ve been tuned into pretty much every game while I’ve been gone,” Wicks said. “And so just to see the way that we’re swinging the bats and flying around the field and doing all that sort of stuff is a lot of fun to see, and it’s even more fun in person.”
