CHICAGO -- Kyle Schwarber slid into second base, grinned wide and nodded his head repeatedly. The reaction was part celebration, but mostly disbelief that the baseball he flared softly up the third-base line somehow dropped to the grass in left field and opened the door for a two-run double.

The Cubs were fortunate that Schwarber's fifth-inning fluke fell, igniting a five-run frame against Lucas Giolito in a 6-3 victory over the White Sox at Guaranteed Rate Field on Saturday night. Chicago is also fortunate that -- no matter how bad things have spiraled at times over the past several weeks -- the National League Central is still very much there for the taking.

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"By the nature of the standings," Cubs president of baseball operations Theo Epstein said, "these next few weeks are obviously really important, for sure. Every game."

With their win, the Cubs moved a half-game ahead of the Brewers atop the NL Central. Consider, however, that Chicago has gone 10-15 dating back to June 10. Remarkably, the Cubs have actually gained a half-game in the standings over that stretch of inconsistent play. That is not a sustainable method, and it was at the heart of Epstein's latest gathering with reporters to discuss the state of the club.

Epstein made it known in a radio interview early in the week that “change is obviously called for” if the Cubs continued their inconsistent ways. The leader of Chicago’s front office did not back down from that stance before Saturday's game, when he took responsibility for his team’s play of late while also stressing the importance of identifying answers -- potentially from the outside -- as the July 31 Trade Deadline approaches.

“We're in a proactive mindset,” Epstein said, “looking to shore up soft spots on the roster, looking to find guys who are going to produce, whether they are the guys we have here or elsewhere. I think everyone's working together in trying to find solutions.”

Saturday's victory served as a microcosm of ways the Cubs need to win and also areas still in need of attention.

Cubs manager Joe Maddon has said all along that the rotation sets the tone, and veteran Jon Lester answered the call against the White Sox by working into the seventh. That allowed Maddon to use Steve Cishek and Pedro Strop as the bridge to closer Craig Kimbrel, who sidestepped some two-on, two-out drama in the ninth for the save.

"I like formulaic wins," Maddon said.

On the offensive side of the equation, Chicago's situational hitting has come under fire, and rightly so. Against the White Sox, the club went 4-for-9 with runners in scoring position. Not only did the Cubs deliver with runners on, but the hitters also set up the fifth-inning rally with three walks, refusing to chase Giolito's out pitches. After Schwarber’s two-run double, Javier Báez doubled home two runs of his own, and Anthony Rizzo added an RBI single.

"That has to become contagious. We have to be that," Maddon said. "That has to be a big part of our game nightly. And that comes from within the mind more than anything, for me. That's just that mental at-bat that you go up there and you work it through. People say, 'Grind it out,' and you have to do that.

"Again, when you're facing good pitchers, you must have them get you out in the zone and not outside the zone. That's how you become elite."

In the field, the Cubs still showed that more attention to detail will be required in the second half. Second baseman Addison Russell made a throwing error on a routine grounder in the second. Schwarber bobbled a ball in the third that, while not deemed an error, made it a bit easier for Yoan Moncada to score from second on a single by Jose Abreu. Two more errors in the seventh tacked a pair of unearned runs on Lester's line.

Before the game, Epstein cited that part of the Cubs' play as a surprising aspect of the first half.

"The sloppiness has kind of surprised all of us," Epstein said. "I think for many years now, when we're at our best, we're playing sort of alert, focused, prepared, heads-up baseball. Making the plays we should make. Keeping the mental mistakes to a minimum. I think our players are all capable of that. That's kind of got us lately."

Maddon made sure to point it out again after the victory.

"That's one thing we really have to work on in the second half, is to be cleaner," Maddon said. "That's the next level for us. And it's within us."

That was a point of emphasis for Epstein as well -- that much of the improvement can come from within. He reiterated that he enjoys the "partnership" with Maddon and praised the manager's willingness to explore different ideas and messaging both for himself and his coaching staff. Behind the scenes, Epstein said they have all been tossing concepts around in an effort to seek solutions.

"We're in this together," Epstein said. "Look, Joe's been remarkably effective and remarkably consistent. I'm not going to sit here and say this is on him. I look at it collectively. I think my job is to put him in a position to succeed. His job is to put the players in a position to succeed. And when we're not succeeding, you can't point at any one thing. It's the collective."

For now, the Cubs can point to Saturday’s win as another step in the right direction.

“We've just got to be able to keep going,” Schwarber said. “That's kind of the theme. We're not out here not trying. We've just got to know that if we keep doing our work and keep being as prepared as we can be, good things are going to happen. Today was a really positive step, and we're just looking to carry that momentum.”