CHICAGO -- Ben Brown walked off the mound Saturday afternoon having done everything the Cubs could have reasonably asked of him.
Again.
The right-hander did not factor into the decision in Chicago's dramatic 3-2, 10-inning win over the Giants at Wrigley Field, but his fingerprints were all over it. Brown allowed just one hit and one walk while striking out five across 5 1/3 scoreless innings, lowering his ERA to 1.74 and continuing a breakout season that has become increasingly important for a battered Cubs rotation.
When the season began, Brown wasn't guaranteed a spot in the rotation. Now, he might be its most indispensable member.
The Cubs have spent much of the season navigating injuries and instability among their starters. Justin Steele remains sidelined. Cade Horton is out for the season. Matthew Boyd and Edward Cabrera have both battled injuries. Javier Assad was recalled Saturday to provide additional depth.
Through it all, Brown has emerged as a constant.
"No other pitcher on the North Side is enjoying a season quite like Ben Brown," was the sentiment surrounding the club entering Saturday, and the 26-year-old continued to back that up against San Francisco.
He extended his streak without allowing a home run to 56 2/3 innings -- the longest active streak in the Major Leagues after passing Philadelphia's Cristopher Sánchez (54 IP), per the Elias Sports Bureau.
Since rejoining the rotation on May 8, Brown has allowed more than one earned run only once.
"What do you make of Ben?" manager Craig Counsell was asked afterward.
"More of the same," Counsell said. "I thought his curveball today was really good. Threw it a whole bunch in 3-2 counts when he needed it. I thought that was his best pitch today."
The numbers support that assessment.
Brown leaned heavily on his knuckle curve Saturday, throwing it 38 times -- 44 percent of his pitches. The offering generated six whiffs and accounted for three of his five strikeouts. It has increasingly become a put-away pitch in an arsenal that has evolved dramatically over the last year.
That evolution is a major reason the Cubs believe Brown's success is sustainable.
Before the series opener Friday against the Giants, president of baseball operations Jed Hoyer pointed to Brown's expanded repertoire -- particularly the addition of a sinker -- as a key factor in his leap.
"I think the sinker gives him the pitch he didn't have before," Hoyer said. "Before, it felt like every count was deep. He had really good stuff, but it was hard for him to get quick outs. Now he can get a double play with that sinker. He can throw it in on a righty and get a one- or two-pitch out."
Brown showcased that versatility again Saturday, throwing the sinker 22 times while keeping Giants hitters off balance throughout his outing.
The performance also continued a trend that has become increasingly valuable for a team searching for stability.
Pete Crow-Armstrong's late-game heroics ultimately stole the spotlight, but the Cubs would not have had the opportunity for a comeback without Brown's work earlier in the afternoon. San Francisco managed only one hit against him, and by the time he exited with one out in the sixth inning, the game remained scoreless.
"It's awesome," Crow-Armstrong said of Brown's growth. "There's just so much confidence in every pitch that he's throwing. Especially with developing new pitches. He's just ripping it all."
For Brown, the focus remains simple.
"Just continue to put my best foot forward," he said. "There's going to be hard times, and there's going to be good times."
Right now, there have been far more good times than bad.
The Cubs entered the season expecting Brown to help. They did not necessarily expect him to become the pitcher holding together a rotation beset by injuries and uncertainty.
Yet nearly two months into the season, that's exactly what he has become.
And on a day when the Cubs celebrated another walk-off victory, Brown quietly delivered another reminder of why his emergence may be one of the most important developments of Chicago's season.