Cubs put together another complete performance, extend streak to 8

CHICAGO -- The Cubs spent the first couple weeks of the season trying to find their rhythm on multiple fronts. There were outages throughout the lineup, injuries piling up and testing the depth of the roster, and a repeated refrain that things would turn around.

Eight consecutive wins later, the Cubs look like the postseason-caliber team everyone expected.

On Wednesday night, the North Siders rolled to a 7-2 victory over the Phillies behind a widespread offensive attack and the return of veteran lefty Matthew Boyd. The end result was an eight-game winning streak that marks the Cubs’ longest run in April since an 11-game streak in 1970.

“When you go on these win streaks,” Boyd said, “it’s a product of just everybody doing their thing. It’s special. It’s a lot of fun right now. And it’s taken all of us.”

The eight-game run is the longest for the Cubs under manager Craig Counsell and the first time Chicago has rattled off that many in a row since another eight-win stretch from July 21-29, 2023. During this streak, the North Siders have outscored their opponents, 58-20, while getting contributions from up and down the roster.

The pitching staff has spun a 2.22 ERA overall during the last eight wins, while the offense has hit .318/.399/.514 as a unit with 7.3 runs scored per game.

“Y’all are watching it,” Cubs center fielder Pete Crow-Armstrong said. “It feels really, really good showing up to the ballpark knowing that everybody’s going to have a part in winning a baseball game.”

Let’s dive into three aspects of Chicago’s win streak:

1. Boyd rejoins rolling rotation
The Cubs lost Boyd to the 15-day injured list after his previous outing on April 1 due to a left biceps issue. Two days later, a right elbow injury that required major surgery took Cade Horton out of the mix for the rest of the season. It was a pair of early blows that could have sent the rotation into a spiral.

Entering Wednesday, the Cubs’ rotation – with Colin Rea and Javier Assad stepping in to help – had turned in a 3.21 ERA since April 4, ranking fifth in the Majors in that span. If Rea’s six-inning appearance on April 14 is swapped in for Riley Martin’s one-inning outing as an opener, the starters have a 2.25 ERA across the eight-game winning streak.

“Look, it’s been the key to this little run that we’ve had,” Counsell said. “The length. The quality. Those are both really meaningful. The length, as much as anything. That’s a big deal, man.”

Boyd was admittedly rusty with his command in his return, but the veteran gave the Cubs 84 pitches in 4 2/3 innings and limited the Phillies to two runs. The Cubs’ Opening Day starter issued zero walks and struck out five in a solid foundational outing as he builds back up after the layoff.

“The boys picked it up, picked me up there,” Boyd said. “It’s going to take all of us to get to where we want to go. The luxury of just having five starters all through a year, that’s amazing, but it doesn’t happen much anymore, right? It takes all of us."

2. Lineup’s stars starting to show up
Alex Bregman churned out three hits – including a triple in the third inning that struck the edge of the basket atop the brick wall in left-center field – in Wednesday’s win. Michael Busch, who led the Cubs with 34 homers last year, belted his first shot of the season.

Slugging right fielder Seiya Suzuki connected for a two-run blast in the fifth inning, following his first homer of the year one night earlier. Crow-Armstrong delivered an RBI double (second inning) and RBI single (eighth).

That is a group of hitters who have been working to find their footing.

“That’s what makes you a good offense,” Counsell said. “You’re not going to have all nine guys kind of rolling at the same time. A good offense, if you’ve got enough good hitters in there, you expect a group of them at times to be seeing it well and swinging it well.

“And tonight, some of the guys that maybe are off to a little bit of the slower starts, had big nights. That’s how I think a good offense should work and a good lineup. And that’s what leads to run consistency, hopefully.”

3. Brown coming up big for ‘pen
In the wake of a long list of injuries impacting the bullpen, righty Ben Brown has stepped up in a big way as a multi-inning arm for the North Siders.

Behind Boyd on Wednesday night, Brown struck out five with no walks over 2 1/3 dominant frames. That served as a bridge to the last two frames for the relief corps, and marked the righty’s MLB-leading eighth two-plus inning relief appearance. Brown has a 2.37 ERA in his 19 innings.

“That’s sometimes a little underappreciated,” Counsell said of Brown’s multi-inning efforts. “He’s been very important as kind of a glue to the bullpen right now. Very important.”