The Chicago Cubs’ underwhelming offensive production the last two-plus months did not have the Philadelphia Phillies and the major leagues’ best pitching staff overlooking their lineup.
When the Phillies prepared to face the Cubs this week, they brought a specific determination to Wrigley Field.
“Don’t wake anybody up,” Phillies manager Rob Thomson said Wednesday. “There’s a lot of power over there in that offense. It’s going to come at some point, hopefully not in the next two days.”
The Phillies, owners of the best record in baseball, kept the Cubs in check the first two games. And conditions didn’t appear ideal Thursday afternoon for the Cubs offense to have a rare breakthrough performance. Phillies starter Christopher Sánchez entered the game having allowed only one home run in 16 starts, and their pitching staff collectively hadn’t given up double-digit runs since the second game of the season.
But Ian Happ nearly single-handedly ensured the Cubs would avoid being swept for the first time this season in a series of three-plus games. Happ tallied a career-high six RBIs by slugging a three-run homer from each side of the plate to lead the Cubs to a 10-2 victory.
Veteran right-hander Jameson Taillon spun another quality start, holding the Phillies to two runs and four hits in seven innings. Taillon, who lowered his ERA to 2.99, didn’t issue a walk and struck out seven.
It’s the first time the Cubs (40-48) scored at least 10 runs since April 16. They put up five runs in the fourth to erase the Phillies’ 2-0 lead.
“It puts a smile on everybody’s face for sure,” manager Craig Counsell said. “The big inning, then even after Ian’s first home run, we put together another rally. … We kept going with the offense today and added on and made for an easy win.”
Happ homered from both sides of the plate for the second time in his career, only the ninth time in franchise history that a Cubs switch hitter has accomplished the feat, per team historian Ed Hartig.
- Augie Galan (June 25, 1937)
- Ellis Burton (Aug. 1, 1963, and Sept. 7, 1964)
- Mark Bellhorn (June 30 and Aug. 29, 2002)
- Dioner Navarro (May 29, 2013)
- Happ (May 7, 2018, and Thursday)
- Victor Caratini (July 3, 2019)
“To get an opportunity to do that in a game and to do it is pretty special,” Happ said. “You don’t think about it in the moment, but after you reflect a little bit, that’s a cool one for me.”
Happ took Sánchez deep in the fourth for the first homer the lefty surrendered in his last 71 innings. Happ followed with a homer off right-hander Seranthony Domínguez in the fifth and added a double in the seventh for his third extra-base hit.
Over his last 35 games, Happ’s 36 RBIs trail only the New York Yankees’ Aaron Judge (44) for the big-league lead. It’s the type of production the Cubs desperately need more consistently from the middle of the lineup.
Seiya Suzuki (two hits, two walks, three runs) and Cody Bellinger (single, walk, RBI, two runs) continue to trend in the right direction. Bellinger has collected a hit in 20 of his last 24 games, hitting .319 with a .379 on-base percentage during that stretch, while Suzuki has seven extra-base hits in his last 18 games after totaling seven in the preceding 26 games.
“That’s what puts the big numbers on the board, right?” Counsell said. “The single-run innings, you’re looking for them, but the big number comes from the home run, comes from the extra-base hit, and we got those today.”
All the feel-good vibes from the blowout victory won’t mean much if the Cubs can’t harness Thursday’s all-around performance to start a winning streak — or at least start stacking series wins. The Cubs have lost 13 of their last 15 series but have an opportunity to enter the All-Star break on a high note, ending the homestand against the Los Angeles Angels before traveling to Baltimore and St. Louis.
It wouldn’t be the first time the Cubs delivered a great win only to come out the next day with inconsistent, sloppy play. They know the time is now to play better if they have any chance of persuading the front office to add to the roster and not move key pieces before the July 30 trade deadline.
Their track record suggests Thursday will go down as another brief uptick amid otherwise stagnant production. They have not earned external belief that a 10-run outburst is a sign things are turning in a positive direction.
“It’s a nice win, but good teams do it often and come back tomorrow and play another good game and then you start stacking good days,” Taillon said. “So, yeah, these days feel really good. Everyone should feel good about it tonight, and then you wake up and come to the park and it’s like, everyone’s got a job to do again. Hopefully we can start making that a more consistent thing.”
