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.
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.
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 Ian 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.
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.
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 and 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.