The Chicago Cubs offense hasn’t started a season this strong since Hack Wilson, Rogers Hornsby and Kiki Cuyler were mashing the ball at Wrigley Field.
The Cubs came into Saturday’s game with 137 runs in 22 games, the best start since Hack and the boys were hacking away and scored 152 times over 22 games in 1929.
And the Cubs added on with another strong performance in a 6-2 victory over the Arizona Diamondbacks in front of a Wrigley Field crowd of 36,002, including new Bears coach Ben Johnson, who threw one of the ceremonial first pitches.
“I believe we have the best lineup in the National League,” Cubs starter Ben Brown said. “Our guys are doing a great job and it makes things easier going out there every game. Top to bottom, they are the best in baseball.”
The Cubs (14-9) pounded star Diamondbacks starter Zac Gallen for six runs in the first two innings. Seiya Suzuki and Michael Busch hit back-to-back home runs and Kyle Tucker continued to fire up the “pay him what he wants” social media crowd with a triple and a pair of RBIs.
“It was important to get to Zac really early because he’s one of the best pitchers in the game,” Busch said. “We put some at-bats together and it was big. From top to bottom, we have guys who give us consistent good at-bats.”
That “top-to-bottom” description is a theme. Usually hanging around the bottom of the lineup are Pete Crow-Armstrong and catchers Miguel Amaya and Carson Kelly, who have been tearing it up this season.
“We’re getting good production for sure from Pete and the catchers,” manager Craig Counsell said. “Look, no team has nine guys going off over a (23)-game span. We have a lot of guys who are very productive and guys take their turn and that’s how you get a good offense.
“That’s what you want to continue.”
Saturday’s lineup had six hitters batting over .271. Dansby Swanson entered the game with a .170 average and was the low man of the group but came up with two hits. And his start doesn’t worry Counsell.
Photos: Chicago Cubs beat Arizona Diamondbacks 6-2 at Wrigley Field
“Dansby is off to a slow start,” Counsell said. “It’s not a bad thing if that’s the only name I’m saying. That means we’re in pretty good shape offensively.”
The Cubs have had two homestands this year and have cooled off a pair of hot teams to start them. The San Diego Padres came to town with a 7-0 record and the Cubs knocked them off twice April 4-5 to open a homestand. The Diamondbacks (12-9) came into this series on a five-game winning streak, and the Cubs took the first two.
After seven relievers gave up 10 runs in Friday’s wild 13-11 win, the Cubs were hoping that Brown could go deep into Saturday’s game.
While he held the Diamondbacks to one run on three hits, he threw 100 pitches in four innings, and the taxed bullpen had to go five more innings.
This time it wasn’t a problem.
Winning pitcher Caleb Thielbar (1-0), Brad Keller and Daniel Palencia gave up one run on one hit in the five frames. Thielbar threw two clean innings after Brown left, sparking the bullpen to a sparkling performance after Friday’s disaster.
“The life of a bullpen guy is just to have a short memory,” Thielbar said. “You can’t really think about that kind of stuff. You really have to keep your head on straight and try to execute your pitches and not worry about the stuff that happened (Friday).
“It’s hard not to have that in the back of your mind but you really have to have as short of a memory as possible.”
Counsell enjoyed the 24-hour reversal of fortune from the pen.
“They did a good job — all of them,” he said. “Thielbar going six up and six down really put the game in a good place for us. It put the rest of the bullpen in a good position and they all attacked the zone with strikes. (Arizona) is a team that doesn’t chase very much. Our bullpen attacked the zone and did a fabulous job with that.”
On the injury front, left-handed starter Justin Steele underwent elbow surgery Friday.
“The surgery went well and he’s recovering and will be on his way to Phoenix soon,” Counsell said. “We’re talking about a year timeframe. Obviously he has a long rehab ahead of him.
“He’ll get started soon and put all the work in and we’ll see where that gets us.”
Steele posted a message on X thanking people who support him.
“Truly means the world to me the number of people who have reached out to my family and me,” he wrote. “It’s appreciated beyond belief. I’ll be back soon and better than ever.”
Meanwhile, Friday’s wild game had baseball historians scrambling.
It was the third time in team history the Cubs have given up 10 runs in an inning and won. The first two came in 1893 and 1912.
It was the sixth time they hit a grand slam and allowed a grand slam in a game and the first time since 1956.
Three half-innings after the seventh-inning stretch found all four types of hits and all four types of home runs and produced 5-plus runs per half-inning. According to OptaSTATS, the combination of all of that firepower had never happened in a major-league game.
Jeff Vorva is a freelance reporter for the Chicago Tribune.
