Cubs Provide Offensive Fireworks in Weekend Series Win Over the Cardinals
The Chicago Cubs and St. Louis Cardinals met for the second time over the weekend in less than a two-week span, but this time, it was in Chicago. Anyone familiar with Wrigley Field knows that once the weather heats up, that stadium can produce some fireworks. Fittingly enough, there were plenty of offensive fireworks from both sides over this Fourth of July weekend. Ultimately, the Cubs were able to come out on top in this series between bitter rivals winning two games to one. Here are my takeaways from an electric weekend at Wrigley Field.
Cubs’ Offense is World Series Caliber
This lineup is so dangerous. There are seemingly no weak spots for an opposing pitcher to get to when the bottom of the order is producing like they did in this series. Guys like Nico Hoerner, Carson Kelly, and Michael Busch were sensational this weekend producing runs near the bottom of the order. Not to mention, this three-headed monster at the top of the order of Kyle Tucker, Seiya Suzuki, and Pete Crow-Armstrong is proving to be one of the best hearts of order in baseball, and they proved that yet again against their arch-rivals. Crow-Armstrong and Suzuki hit back-to-back home runs on Friday afternoon’s 11-3. Crow-Armstrong added another solo shot in that same game in which the Cubs smashed a franchise-record eight home runs. Tucker and Suzuki played massive roles in Sunday night’s win as Tucker had a clutch double with the bases loaded, and Suzuki added another home run to his total, along with an RBI double. These three guys make this lineup an absolute nightmare for any opposing pitching staff.
The Need For High Leverage Bullpen Strikes Again
The common consensus on the Cubs as the trade deadline looms is that they will be in search of adding an experienced reliever that can be trusted to plug into the back end of this bullpen. That need was exposed once again in the lone loss of the weekend for Chicago. The Cubs had a 5-3 lead in the top of the eighth inning on Saturday before Brad Keller gave up five earned runs in the inning including a three-run moonshot to Yohel Pozo which ended up being the dagger. While the Cubs still won the series and should be feeling good, they probably feel like they let the Cardinals off the hook of being swept because of a blown lead by the bullpen. These are the kind of games the Cubs can expect to find themselves in once October comes around, and they will not want to experience a similar result. So with that said, go out and get a quality reliever.
