CHICAGO -- One of the Cubs’ trademarks early on this season was steady production throughout the entirety of the lineup. On Friday afternoon, that was on display during Chicago’s 6-4 win over Tampa Bay in the opener of a three-game set at Wrigley Field.
“We had baserunners. We had pressure,” manager Craig Counsell said. “We got some huge two-out hits today. Overall, it was a good offensive day.”
Ian Happ finished a triple shy of a cycle and knocked in a pair, Nico Hoerner reached base three times, rookie Moisés Ballesteros delivered a clutch triple and Dansby Swanson came through with an RBI double. That collective offensive showing helped back a five-inning outing from veteran lefty Matthew Boyd.
With the win, the Cubs moved within five games of the National League Central-leading Brewers, pending the result of Milwaukee’s night game with St. Louis. Chicago remains in command of the NL’s top Wild Card spot.
“The final run scored is obviously the biggest thing,” Hoerner said. “But creating opportunities and doing it in a variety of ways, I thought that was a nice example of that today.”
Here were three keys to Friday’s trip to the win column:
1) Hoerner’s pursuit of .300
There are better evaluation tools than batting average, but there is still something special about a hitter finishing above the .300 mark. With a couple weeks left in the regular season, Hoerner has a chance to climb across that line.
“If you go into a year or a day really too focused on batting average, it can be a real trap,” Hoerner said. “But, it’s a reflection of quality of at-bat, quality of contact. I think there are more valuable batting stats, but it is a part of how I get on base, too, which is important.”
Hoerner had two of Chicago’s dozen hits in the win, notching a leadoff single to spark a three-run second inning and later adding a triple in the fourth. On that extra-base hit, the Cubs’ second baseman sent a line drive off the wall in left and hustled to third before Rays outfielder Chandler Simpson could retrieve and relay the ball.
With his showing, Hoerner has now hit .375 (15-for-40) in September to raise his season average to .296. Entering Friday, only Philadelphia’s Trea Turner (currently on the injured list with a .305 average) was above .300 among qualified hitters in the NL. Cody Bellinger (.307 in ‘23) and Ben Zobrist (.305 in ‘18) are the only qualified Cubs hitters to bat at least .300 since ‘12.
“Man, Nico’s awesome,” Boyd said. “He doesn’t give up an at-bat. I think that’s something that is a quality that is special and extremely unique in this game.”
2) Boyd’s 11 pickoffs
Boyd was admittedly off out of the chute, as evidenced by the single (Simpson), walk (Yandy Díaz) and home run (Christopher Morel) he allowed to open the first inning. The veteran lefty found a rhythm from there and held Tampa Bay’s lineup to one run the rest of the way.
Part of how Boyd limited the damage arrived in the fourth, when he walked Everson Pereira to put runners on first and second with no outs. Then, with one out and a 1-0 count to Nick Fortes, Boyd began his delivery before stepping and firing the ball to Cubs first baseman Michael Busch. Pereira was picked off, adding another pickoff to Boyd’s historic tally.
Boyd extended his single-season Cubs record with his 11th pickoff of the year, representing the most for a Major League pitcher since Clayton Kershaw in 2012 (also 11). And the play helped reduce the impact of Fortes following with an RBI single.
“It shows up again,” Counsell said. “They absolutely change innings. He’s done a great job with that and he’s disguised them very well throughout the course of the year to continue getting outs, even when the other team knows he’s very good at it.”
3) 12 up, 12 down for bullpen
After Boyd’s exit, the Cubs’ bullpen retired a dozen batters in a row, culminating in veteran Andrew Kittredge picking up the save. Over the past three games combined, Chicago’s relief corps has combined to hold opposing batters to a 1-for-34 showing.
With closer Daniel Palencia on the IL and trying to come back from a right shoulder issue, plus a potential postseason run looming, it was another promising collective performance from the Cubs’ bullpen arms.
“It’s all hands on deck,” Kittredge said. “I think maybe senses are heightened a little bit, but I think everybody understands what their job is and is going to continue to do that.”