Week In Review: The Cubs 'Stack Wins' and Find Consistency in Eye-Opening Week

[RavenCub30]

Due to what sometimes feels like oppressive negativity in sports journalism, and just because of who I am, I ardently try to keep a positive outlook. After the Cubs bagged an impressive series win over the Minnesota Twins this past week, I DM'd one of my fellow Cubby buddies, "This is the team we've been waiting on." Unless you find yourself deeply entrenched in ancient rituals of masochism, this was a hard week. The Cubs played good baseball this week and thrust themselves back into the conversation. Here's how it went down...

Image courtesy of © Kamil Krzaczynski-USA TODAY Sports

Embarking on a week of baseball in which the North Side club enjoyed an extraordinarily rare two days off, wins as if they weren't already, were weighted at an immensely high premium. Craig Counsell's squad is hitting harder these days than Matt Cameron of Pearl Jam on a snare drum. The Cubs are in the midst of a lengthy stretch of playing their best ball of the year, though as they kicked this week off with their week facing an interleague adversary in the Minnesota Twins, you wouldn't know it. In the final series of a seven-game homestand, the Cubs arrived flat as can be in game one versus the the Twinkies.

Without run support, a Kyle Hendricks start is transformed into an auto-loss. That's exactly what happened on a day when the Cubs were shut out despite only conceding three runs. Twins starter David Festa enjoyed the winning fiesta, blanking the Cubs over five sneaky strong innings. He gave up not a single run and fanned nine Cubs batters. There's a plethora of reasons to begrudge Mondays; this was one of them.

Final Score: 3-0 Twins

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In joyfully unlikely fashion, the Cubbies bounced back in game two of the series. As one of the team's leaders, Shota Imanaga grasps the magnitude of the moment better than anyone else in baseball. The Pitching Philosopher simply dazzled in this one, pitching seven innings, allowing only two hits, and striking out ten Twins. Since he arrived back in Chicago, we've been waiting patiently for Isaac Paredes, who had gone 3-27 as a Cub before this game, to show up. Patience rewarded. He launched his first homer as a Cubbie, a three-run bomb that got the Cubs out to an early lead. The Cubs collected eleven hits and left five on base, which is one of the club's more balanced performances all year. 

Final Score: 7-3 Cubs

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With designs on securing their second-straight series win, the Cubs pinned their hopes on Javier Assad to help get them there. Though Assad largely fell short of that goal, the Cubbies' increasingly shutdown bullpen did exactly that with quality work from  Drew Smyly, Porter Hodge, Julian Merryweather, and Jorge Lopez, all of whom combined for five scoreless innings of work. From the offensive side, the Cubs got key contributions from Christian Betancourt, Dansby Swanson, and newly minted offensive weapon Pete Crow-Armstrong. Strong offensive production has proven crucial as they claw their way back into Wild Card contention. Once perpetually sinking through the middle of the season in the batter's box, the Cubs' offensive out more closely resembles their early-season numbers, as they score over 4.5 runs per game. 

Final Score: 8-2 Cubs

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For those familiar, the Cubs have this cosmic penchant for beating their South Side rivals by a score of 7-6 in 2024.  In game one of this two-game micro-series, it happened again, though not in the way you'd maybe want or expect. Racing an early 7-0 lead, the Cubbies completely ambushed White Sox ace Garrett Crochet with a barrage of dingers. Nico Hoerner, Cody Bellinger, Isaac Paredes, and Ian Happ delivered souvenirs to the seats at Guaranteed Rate Field. That sounds great, but with the Sox able to cut the lead to 7-6, it was up to the bullpen once again to bail the Cubs out of trouble. Culminating in a pulse-pounding relief effort from Hector Neris, the Cubs managed to take the game, giving Cubs Nation a cathartic sigh of relief.

Final Score: 7-6 Cubs

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Not to spoil anything, but the Cubs wanted to use the conclusion of this year's Crosstown Classic to draw within one game of .500, and they did. The Cubs and Sox locked themselves in a pretty tense pitchers duel, sending Justin Steele to the mound opposite Chris Flexen of the Sox. Despite the virtually nonexistent margin for error, the Cubs pulled out a late game rally, a two-run double from Isaac Paredes, to win the game and hope skyrocketing to an all-time high this season. 

Final Score: 3-1 Cubs

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After witnessing what unfolded this week, I am convinced my text was accurate: This is the team we have been waiting on all year. With a record of 59-60, just 3.0 games back of the third and final NL Wild Card spot, the Cubs have a chance to do something special. The squad is playing its most sound baseball of the year.  To secure the storybook ending, the Cubs will first deviate to Cleveland to play a three-game set with the Guardians; after that, it's back home for a weekend series with the Toronto Blue Jays. If we're gathered here talking about an over .500 Cubs team next week, I feel compelled to say we're back in business.

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