BALTIMORE — As he slogged through April’s struggles, Ian Happ believed it would only be a matter of time before his offensive performance turned.
Over the past month, Happ’s sizzling stretch has fueled the Chicago Cubs’ offense, and Tuesday night he joined rare company. Happ’s three-run home run in the fourth inning off Orioles starter Dean Kremer landed on Eutaw Street, where brass baseball plaques are embedded on the walkway to mark home runs that cleared the right-field fence.
The long ball broke the game open and gave right-hander Jameson Taillon all the run support he needed en route to the Cubs’ 9-2 win over the Orioles.
Happ’s home run onto Eutaw Street was the fifth hit there this season and second by a visiting player. He is the second Cub to accomplish the feat, joining Jason Heyward (July 14, 2017).
“It’s a pretty cool tradition in baseball,” Happ said. “To be a part of that small group is really special.”
Since June 2, Happ owns a .290 average, a .415 on-base percentage and a 1.014 OPS with eight home runs and 31 RBIs. That consistency — along with Michael Busch’s continued steadiness, featuring a first-pitch home run in the first inning — is giving the lineup multiple hitters who are locked in.
“It makes it easier on the whole offense,” Happ said. “Having runners on, guys driving in runs and had plenty of chances to do it. Today was a perfect example that we had a bunch of guys getting on base all over the place, guys beating out double play balls to extend innings, just little things like that keep giving us a chance to score runs.”
Miles Mastrobuoni’s defense at third base again had a big role in a Cubs win. Shifted in the hole between third and shortstop with lefty Anthony Santander at the plate with runners on the corners and nobody out in the third inning, Mastrobuoni made a diving stop to his left and threw from his knees to second base to begin a double play.
Some defensive
s from Mastro and Happ! pic.twitter.com/wLWr2zu0G9
— Chicago Cubs (@Cubs) July 9, 2024
While the Orioles scored a run on the sequence, it helped Taillon get out of the inning without further damage after he retired the next hitter. Manager Craig Counsell called it a “huge” play and “a real game changer.” Taillon credited Mastrobuoni for stopping the bleeding and preventing the Orioles from tallying three consecutive hits on ground balls, “which can be a little backbreaking.”
Mastrobuoni’s reliability at third base came up big in Friday’s win versus the Los Angeles Angels and helped Justin Steele record his first complete game. In describing his defensive performance lately, Mastrobuoni said he’s just trying to do his job.
“I’m giving them everything I’ve got so long as you do that every single day, I trust my ability to just go out there, be athletic and let everything take care of itself,” Mastrobuoni told the Tribune.
The victory represents one of the Cubs’ best all-around games since the beginning of May when the offense began its months-long funk. Although they went 4-for-17 with runners in scoring position and left 12 on base, their 14 hits tied a season high and the Cubs found ways to tack on runs after taking a 2-0 lead into the bottom of the second. They put up two more in the third behind Seiya Suzuki’s RBI single and Dansby Swanson’s force out with the bases loaded that brought home a run.
Six different Cubs drove in a run and five reached base at least twice, led by Busch (4-for-6), Happ (2-for-4, walk) and Mastrobuoni (2-for-3, two walks).
“We’ve got a lot of baseball left and we’ve just got to keep moving in that direction,” Mastrobuoni said. “I’ve said this plenty of times, I’ll take this team against anybody in this league. We’ve just got to keep doing those things, having team at-bats. Guys are starting to swing it, get hot. … You mix that with good defense and we’re a tough team to stop.”
The pitching staff did its job to keep a dangerous Orioles lineup in check for the rest of the game. Taillon and three relievers — Tyson Miller, Mark Leiter Jr. and Hunter Bigge in his MLB debut — combined to not allow a run after the third inning with only one batter reaching base in the last five innings.
The Cubs (43-49) have won four of their last five games as they begin an important week heading into the All-Star break. They must start making their move up the National League wild-card standings to compel the front office to add to the roster rather than move players before the July 30 trade deadline. With two more games against Baltimore and four over the weekend in St. Louis, the Cubs have an opportunity to get closer to .500.
“Each game’s going to matter, we haven’t done ourselves many favors,” Taillon said. “That being said none of that matters. All that matters now is tomorrow. Today is already over with, we need to show up tomorrow ready to go against a really good team. We need to win games, but at the same time, it’s just one day at a time.
“I know that can be hard to do for everybody, but you’ve got to focus on each day and hopefully by the end of the year, we can look up and be happy with where we’re at.”