ST. LOUIS -- The strength of the Cubs’ offense has been the ability to have multiple hitters delivering on any given night. Of course, there has been the incredible step forward from center fielder Pete Crow-Armstrong, but Chicago’s lineup was built to be the sum of all parts, not a one-man show.
“The expectations of Pete to continue this,” Cubs manager Craig Counsell said, “let’s say, ‘Hey, you just be the MVP all the time,’ that’s a pretty lofty expectation.”
The North Siders thrive with a versatile offensive attack, and that was what fueled a 10-2 win over the rival Cardinals on Tuesday night at Busch Stadium. For the second game in a row, the Cubs jumped on St. Louis’ starter, running out to an early lead and continuing the recent tear by Chicago’s deep lineup.
“You know that it doesn’t have to be one guy,” Cubs outfielder Ian Happ said. “We didn’t even hit a home run today. Being able to score that many runs without the long ball, just guys producing and coming up with those big at-bats, it really wears on pitchers, and I think it’s something we’re really good at.”
Here were three keys to Tuesday’s win in St. Louis:
1. Bregman piling up hits
Cubs third baseman Alex Bregman noted on Monday night that he picked up one of Dansby Swanson’s bats -- a slightly heavier model than his usual lumber -- before rattling off a four-hit performance in the series-opening win.
Swanson might not get his bat back.
In Tuesday’s victory, Bregman added another three hits, tying a career high with seven hits in a two-game span. The veteran had not achieved that feat since June 26-27, 2018, with the Astros. Prior to this week, Bregman only had four three-hit games this season, and three of those came in April.
“He’s been a productive part of the offense,” Happ said, “even as he hasn’t hit the way he wants to hit and what the back of his baseball card shows. That’s why you play all 162. He’s that type of player. He’s been working really hard on it. It’s good to see him get some results, but we’re all really confident that at the end of the year, it’s going to look pretty similar to what it looks like every year.”
Bregman got his night rolling with a two-out double deep into the right-center-field gap in the first inning, setting up a two-run single by Happ. One inning later, Bregman singled off Cardinals starter Michael McGreevy -- later scoring on a two-run single by Nico Hoerner. He added another base hit in the sixth.
2. Rea goes six strong
While the Cubs’ lineup has been enjoying an extended run of production, the ballclub’s rotation has quietly been rounding into form.
In Tuesday’s win, veteran righty Colin Rea did his part with six strong innings, in which he limited St. Louis to one run via a sacrifice fly in the fourth inning. Helped by a seven-run cushion two innings into his outing, Rea ended with four hits scattered in a performance that continued the starting group’s solid stretch.
“We gave him seven runs before he went out for the second inning,” Counsell said. “That’s always a good feeling as a pitcher. He did his job from there. He threw strikes. Two walks only. That’s normal Colin stuff. … Colin got better as the game went on.”
Dating back to July 4, the Cubs’ rotation has turned in a 3.07 ERA as a unit, ranking near the top in the Majors in that time period. Matthew Boyd (2.13 ERA in four starts), Shota Imanaga (1.19 ERA in four starts), David Peterson (1.56 ERA in three starts) and Javier Assad (1.86 ERA in two starts) have led the way, with Rea (4.43 ERA in four starts) doing his part.
“It makes a big difference,” Rea said of the early outburst by the Cubs’ lineup. “We were able to kind of go right after them, I thought, at times. I was feeling good with my fastball early, so I just wanted to be aggressive in the zone with it.”
3. Well-rounded offensive attack
Bregman was hardly alone in coming through for the Cubs’ lineup. In fact, Seiya Suzuki and rookie Pedro Ramírez also chipped in three hits apiece within a 17-hit outburst for Chicago in the win.
Suzuki came through with an RBI double in Chicago’s five-run outburst in the second inning and later added an RBI single in the eighth. Ramírez, who has hit .467 (14-for-30) over an eight-game hitting streak, contributed an RBI single and stolen base in the fifth, then he doubled and scored in the eighth.
The 10-run flurry came after the Cubs scored seven on Monday and 18 runs combined in the final two games in Pittsburgh prior to this series. Dating back to June 11, the North Siders have averaged 6.4 runs per game across 39 games en route to a 27-12 ledger. That run follows the last time the Cubs lost three in a row (June 7-10).
“Up and down the lineup,” Rea said, “we’ve got a lot of guys with a lot of experience, a lot of veteran guys. And some young guys filling those holes, too, when we need it. It’s just a good balanced lineup that can get on base, but also do damage.”