What We Learned from the Cubs Weekend Series Win Over the Pirates
The Chicago Cubs got back on track this weekend at Wrigley Field as they broke their two series losing streak with a 3-1 series win over the Pittsburgh Pirates. The Cubs returned home from a grueling road trip where they dropped consecutive series to the Tigers and Phillies, and they responded wonderfully to that adversity. This series was one of the more thrilling series that the Cubs have played all season, given that all four games were decided by just one run, and two of the games went to extra innings. As always with tightly contested series within the division, there is plenty to learn and take away from a team’s performance. So, let’s take a dive into what we learned from the Cubs this weekend.
Starting Pitching Continues to Impress
The Cubs’ rotation has been tested in a number of ways this season. Whether it has been the injury bug or some inconsistent performances causing some shuffling, there have been two guys who have been steady all year long to help stabilize this rotation. Those men are Jameson Taillon and Matthew Boyd. Taillon picked up the win on Thursday in the first game of the series, thanks to six and one-third innings pitched while only allowing four hits and two earned runs. Boyd was a winner on Saturday as he threw six dazzling innings, where he only surrendered one hit, which was a solo home run to Andrew McCutchen in the first inning of the game. Both of these performances ended up being crucial, given that both contests were low-scoring games decided by just one run. Boyd and Taillon now both have nine quality starts, which puts them tied for fifth in all of baseball in that statistic. This is a great sign for the Cubs and their fans as reinforcers should be coming soon to make this rotation even better, mainly in the form of Shota Imanaga set to return from injury in the coming weeks.
Cubs Proved They Can Win Close Games
Before this weekend’s series, the Cubs had only played in eight games decided by one run. That was the second-lowest mark in baseball. Now, there are bound to be people who will criticize this team for having to play four tight games against a lowly Pirates team that currently sits in last place in the National League Central. However, if this Cubs team wants to play in October and succeed, they are going to have to be comfortable with playing in close games, and most importantly, they have to know what it takes to win them. This weekend was a great step forward in that department as Chicago had to find many different ways to pull out wins, whether it was clutch bullpen pitching, smart baserunning, timely hitting, reliable defense, or any combination of the four. Playing in four straight one-run games and coming away with the win in three of them is an impressive feat, regardless of the opponent. The Cubs will look to continue their momentum when they welcome in the second-place Milwaukee Brewers for a three-game series starting on Tuesday.
