CHICAGO -- In the aftermath of a blowout victory, it could seem odd to point to a moment only a few minutes into the first inning as a turning point. Then again, there is always the chance that a game would have taken a different path.
In the opening frame of the Cubs' 13-4 win over the Braves on Saturday, Chicago starter Trevor Williams picked off Ronald Acuña Jr. after a leadoff walk. It cost Atlanta a dynamic baserunner and stifled a potential rally.
"That game could've went the other way really fast," Cubs manager David Ross said. "That pickoff turned it around."
With reigning National League MVP Freddie Freeman in the box with a 2-0 count, Williams quickly stepped off and fired a throw to Anthony Rizzo. The first baseman swiftly tagged Acuña's right leg as the Braves' star reached for the base.
Initially, Acuña was deemed safe, but Ross asked for a moment to allow Brad Mills -- the Cubs' assistant director of run prevention, and replay coordinator -- to review the replays. Mills quickly relayed that Ross should challenge the safe call.
"[Mills had] the guts to say, 'Challenge it,' early on in a game," Ross said. "That's a tough one that hamstrings me throughout the game if he's wrong. It was definitely close."
When the Cubs challenged the play, Williams had more confidence in the outcome.
"We're only going to take a look at it if we feel strongly enough that that was going to be an out," Williams said. "So I was confident."
Freeman followed with a single to left field, which would have put runners on the corners with no outs. Instead, he reached with one away, and Williams proceeded to strike out the next to batters.
The Cubs' offense then pounded out six runs in the first three innings en route to a rout. In the wake of six homers, nine extra-base hits, 13 runs and 14 hits by Chicago's lineup, that first-inning pickoff was easy to overlook.
"Looking back on it," Williams said, "it really had the potential of changing the game here or there."
Contreras doing his 'homework' at plate
Cubs catcher Willson Contreras noted about a week ago that he made some changes with his posture in the batter's box. He felt he was trying to swing too hard and getting away from a simplified approach.
As his offensive production has spiked since that adjustment, and with some more data collected about how opposing arms are attacking him, Contreras is now looking for the right moments to pounce.
"I think my main focus right now is doing my homework," Contreras said, "studying the pitches, studying the sequences and finding some weaknesses on the pitcher. My mindset is not to try to do too much."
Contreras went 1-for-14 to start the season over his first six games, but he entered Sunday night hitting .400 (10-for-25) with a 1.363 OPS in his last seven contests. That included a two-homer outburst in Saturday's win.
"Whenever I try to do too much, I start rolling over. I start chasing pitches out of the zone," Contreras said. "When I find myself doing less and keeping it simple, I'm driving the ball better to right-center and left-center. So my main focus is to stay short to the ball and get my pitch and drive it."
Ross puts value in lineup stability
Throughout the offensive struggles of the first two-plus weeks of this season, Ross has maintained a relatively stable batting order. Sunday's lineup had been used six times in 14 games, and a variation of the same order (swapping Eric Sogard for David Bote) had been utilized for four games.
"There's always that time where you may have to tinker with things," Ross said. "But I don't know that two weeks in is quite the time yet, for me at least. I think it's a value [to have stability]. I think players appreciate that normalcy.
"But, I know our group will also adjust on the fly if we need to, and I would be ahead of that and communicate that to these guys if that's coming."
Worth noting
Catcher Tony Wolters cleared waivers and has been sent outright to the Cubs' alternate training site in South Bend, Ind. Wolters was designated for assignment on Wednesday when catcher Austin Romine was activated from the injured list.
Quotable
"I'm sure it was a big weight off the shoulders, just to throw a bunch of knocks and some balls in the gap and over the fence. I haven't noticed these guys pressing in the clubhouse. The music's still loud, and they're hanging out, doing their thing." -- Ross, on the impact of Saturday's offensive breakout