Steele picks up where he left off, Cubs sudden turnaround continues in fifth-straight win
The Cubs offense made an inexplicable upturn this week. After six weeks of low performance, they collected at least 12 hits in four straight games for the first time since 2018.
Then on Saturday, it was back to a more familiar formula to pick up their fifth-straight win.
Justin Steele looked like his old self after spending a couple weeks on the injured list and the bullpen nailed down a 3-2 victory over the Baltimore Orioles at Wrigley Field.
They're still four games below .500, but making a run toward the top of the NL Central.
"I felt we've always known we were capable of this," Steele said. "We're very capable of playing really good baseball against really good teams. It doesn't matter who we're playing."
Steele was one pitch away from completing 5 scoreless innings, but gave up a 2-run homer to Orioles DH Adley Rutschman. The left-hander's final line was 2 runs, 5 hits, 1 walk and 4 strikeouts, needing 74 pitches to finish 5 innings.
He kept his pitch mix simple, as usual. He threw 59 fastballs, 36 sliders and just 4 change-ups, according to Statcast.
His previous start was May 31, when he pitched three perfect innings, then left the mound and went on the 15-day injured list with a left forearm strain.
"I felt really good," Steele said. "I felt like I had command, for the most part, of all my pitches. I felt like I was getting into a groove as I was going on too. I was getting more and more comfortable."
The bullpen added 4 scoreless innings. Julian Merryweather recorded his 11th-straight scoreless outing. Mark Leiter Jr. got out of a jam in the seventh and finished 2 innings. Then Adbert Alzolay picked up his fourth save.
"I think Merryweather is the one that's really solidified some things," manager David Ross said. "Leiter's been throwing good all year. Adbert at the back end has really been successful. Merryweather does a nice job of getting us to those guys and holding it there in the middle innings when it can be a little tough."
After striking out the first two batters in the ninth, Alzolay barely missed on a 3-2 pitch to Austin Hays. Except, home plate umpire C.B. Bucknor lost track of the count and didn't send Hayes to first base. The scoreboard had it right, but there was a roughly five-minute delay as the umpires went to a replay review to determine the correct count.
"It was a strange moment for sure, kind of a weird pause in an energetic time," Nico Hoerner said. "Obviously Adbert is high-energy, I can imagine what that felt like waiting to face the next guy. It all worked out."
After going more than two months without a set closer, it's starting to look like Alzolay might keep the job indefinitely.
Steele and Alzolay were best friends coming up through the minors, so they can appreciate working both sides of a big win.
"I think the fact there is a lot on the line really fires him up," Steele said. "I just think he's that kind of competitor, he's always had that intensity about him. He wants every pitch to matter. It's just awesome to watch him do what he's been doing down there."
The Cubs didn't get a hit the first time through the order against Baltimore starter Kyle Gibson. But they got on the board in the third inning when Yan Gomes reached on a dropped third strike, Mike Tauchman walked, then Hoerner belted a 2-run double to the wall in left-center field.
After Rutschman's homer tied it in the fifth, the Cubs manufactured the winning run in the bottom of the inning. Gomes doubled, was bunted to third by Miles Mastrobuoni and scored on Tauchman's sacrifice fly.
This game drew the Cubs' largest home crowd of the season at 40,605.
"Obviously, this is a significant homestand for us," Hoerner said. "I thought the energy in the ninth inning was pretty special to be a part of. I had my PitchCom turned all the way up (because of the noise)."
Twittter: @McGrawDHSports