Ten, again! Brown sets the tone as Cubs stretch win streak to double-digits

ARLINGTON – During the Cubs’ pregame pitchers’ meeting on Friday afternoon, pitching coach Tommy Hottovy held up a card detailing the reliever usage over the past several days. Coming off a drama-filled, tightly contested series with the Reds, and within a stretch of 23 games in 24 days, the group has been pushed to the max.

“It’s lit up red,” Hottovy said of the card. “And I said to them, ‘I’ve never been more proud of a group.’”

Baseball players love to lean on the “next man up” adage, but the Cubs’ staff has truly embodied the saying amid all this winning. The 7-1 win over the Rangers at Globe Life Field offered yet another example from the North Siders, who rattled off their 10th consecutive win after another scramble to solve the day’s pitching puzzle.

In the wake of veteran lefty Matthew Boyd being out six weeks following left knee surgery – a fluke injury that occurred while playing with his kids at home – the Cubs asked righty Ben Brown to move out of the bullpen and into a starting role. Brown answered the call with four no-hit innings to set the tone for Chicago’s 20th win in the past 23 games.

Within that 23-game span, the Cubs have actually pieced together a pair of 10-game winning streaks. This marks the first time since 1935 that the ballclub has had at least two 10-game runs in the same season. Per team historian Ed Hartig, that feat has only been done seven times in club history (also in 1910, 1906, 1886, 1885 and 1880).

Per Elias, the Cubs are the fifth team in MLB history with multiple distinct win streaks of at least games before their 40th decision of a season, joining the 1955 Dodgers, the 1941 Cardinals, the 1889 St. Louis Browns and the 1880 Chicago White Stockings.

Brown has excelled as a multi-inning arm in the relief corps, logging at least two innings in 10 of his 12 appearances and earning more trust along the way. With Boyd out, the Cubs plan on being smart about building Brown’s workload back up to ease him back into a starter’s routine. He certainly helped the cause with Friday’s performance, which lowered his ERA to 1.82 on the year.

Within his four innings of work, Brown’s only blemish was a two-out walk to Joc Pederson in the second inning. Beyond that, the righty struck out three and generated six outs via grounders. That allowed Brown to get through his four innings in 46 pitches, which in turn gave Chicago’s deep lineup time to get to work.

Ian Happ extended his career-best on-base streak to 29 games with an RBI single in the first inning against Rangers righty Kumar Rocker. In the fourth, Cubs slugger Seiya Suzuki launched a two-run homer off Rocker for his seventh shot of the season, padding the lead. The North Siders blew things open with four runs off Cal Quantrill between the sixth and seventh -- capped by a three-run double by Michael Busch.