Cubs Week in Review: Earning Some Help

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The Cubs weren't able to swing the deadline's big blockbuster. As everyone predicted, Tarik Skubal is a Dodger. But while off-the-field affairs kept baseball diehards captivated, the team from Wrigleyville undertook a seven-game slate of contests that further proved this club is worth the investment.

The NL Central has become strictly a two-team race between the Cubs and Brewers, but that didn't stop Chicago's four-game series in St. Louis from feeling the familiar pinch of rivalry and intensity. Craig Counsell and his squad seized the first game of the set in a mostly convincing 7-3 win. Clutch homers from Alex Bregman and Nico Hoerner capped an impressive showing from the offense. The North Siders' starter, trade steal David Peterson, kept the Cards off balance through 5 2/3 innings, allowing 2 earned runs before handing things over to a steady bullpen. Jacob Webb allowed his first run in over a month, but the game was never truly in doubt.

Clinching no worse than a split in the series, Colin Rea and the dangerous offense behind him waltzed to a 10-2 victory on Tuesday night. Rea dealt six full innings of quality work, allowing just one run on four hits and minimizing opportunities for the Cardinals. Meanwhile, the North Siders' charged-up offense, led by newcomer Pedro Ramírez and the sizzling Seiya Suzuki, taxed St. Louis's pitching staff, with those two combining for six hits. Contests like this don't necessarily provide a window into what this team could be come October, but they sure are fun.

Tough losses are an inevitable part of this great game, but it's what makes the losses tough that sticks with you. The third game of Cubs-Cardinals this week was a spellbinding pitcher's duel between Dustin May and Matthew Boyd. The Cubs' veteran lefty was magnificent, going seven strong shutout innings, issuing just two walks and striking out five, but his offense couldn't come up with a run in support of him. The sides finished the regulation nine at 0-0..

In the top of the 10th inning, NL MVP favorite Pete Crow-Armstrong came through with a signature moment by absolutely detonating an 0-1 pitch from Luis Gastelum. The swing put Chicago ahead 2-0 heading into the home half of the frame. Making perhaps the strongest case yet for a bullpen overhaul, though, reliever Trent Thornton failed to play his role in capturing a cinematic win for his squad, surrendering the walk-off knock to Iván Herrera on the first pitch of the at-bat with two on and only one out. (The real trouble, arguably, came when the team failed to find an out on a ground ball to second base, and then when Thornton walked a batter to put the winning run aboard.) The Cards escaped with an enthralling 3-2 triumph.

Good teams find a way to put adversity behind them, and that's exactly what the Cubs did with a 4-2 revenge win in 10 innings on Thursday. Timely hits and sound baserunning let the North Siders stick around long enough to once again find their way into free baseball, and this time, they did not throw away their shot. After Alex Bregman's go-ahead double, Ian Happ traded places with his teammate, driving in the all-important insurance run before Webb and Aaron Civale turned away the home team in the bottom half of the inning.

Returning to the Friendly Confines after claiming three out of four games from their division foe, the Cubs hosted the New York Yankees in the first of a three-game matchup. Squandering a quality 6 2/3 inning start from hurler Shota Imanaga, the hosts failed to string together the right hits at the right time, suffering a 2-0 loss in the opener. Deflating as the defeat was, the contest demonstrated the type of baseball necessary to compete with playoff-caliber clubs like Aaron Boone's squad. New York might not share much of the same DNA, but they're still fighting in the same weight class.

In front of a national audience, the North Siders bounced back to win a big game with a big, late rally Saturday. After a Hoerner homer tied the game 2-2 in the bottom of the seventh, Crow-Armstrong laced an RBI triple down the line in right field, scoring Ramírez. One batter later, Suzuki sliced an RBI single into right field to pad what turned out to be the game-winning run driven in by Crow-Armstrong. Cubs' starter David Peterson was brilliant again: 6 1/3, 2-run innings. Whatever happens to this rotation in the wake of the trade deadline, Peterson has earned the right to keep his spot. The body of work he's produced since his first, dismal start in his North Side debut proves that he wields the resiliency and the stuff to add a serious weapon to the squad.

Sunday's finale saddled Cubs fans with the sinking, unfamiliar feeling of a series loss, as Chicago fell to the Bronx Bombers. The Cubs made excellent use of their ABS challenges throughout the game, except for a perplexing sixth-inning scenario which saw Hoerner miss an opportunity to challenge a 3-0 pitch with the bases loaded. Had he challenged, replay showed it would have been ball four, allowing the tying run to score. Frozen in the moment, Hoerner later flied out to end the threat as the game entered the top half of the seventh. Learning hard truths through those in-game situations is an excruciating form of tough love, but may yet fortify this team, making them ready for when these key moments inevitably resurface.

Standing at the spiritual crossroads of the season, Chicago (as they have been for much of the season) is a team in control of its own destiny. The front office set itself up to complete a successful deadline period by acquiring Kevin Gausman Sunday night. Now, they have to make more moves to capitalize on their opportunity to put together a more satisfying October foray. This week was successful, but not so much so as to hide what needs to be done.