Cubs string together wins, Counsell urges “stop asking”

Cubs stop – After winning three straight and taking a series for the first time in 11 tries, Craig Counsell says it may be time to move past the constant question of whether the Cubs are “back.” The stretch includes a 6-1 win over the Giants featuring multiple homers, str

SAN FRANCISCO — The Cubs’ clubhouse could feel the shift before Saturday even became a headline. Three wins in a row. A series won for the first time in 11 tries. And for once. the question that had followed this team so closely over the last month — whether they’re “back” — sounded less like a demand and more like a distraction.

Manager Craig Counsell put it plainly before the game. “I think if we can get past the point of people asking that, then we’re in a good spot,” he said ahead of Saturday’s action.

Then the Cubs backed up the idea with their third straight win Saturday night, beating the Giants 6-1. It was “a meager streak. ” as the moment was framed. but it was also something the team hasn’t experienced in more than a month: a run of results that looks like it belongs to a club with championship-level expectations.

You have to go back to the close of their second 10-game win streak on May 8 for the Cubs’ last stretch that even resembled what they’ve strung together now. The broader context still hangs over them. An 8-22 stretch dropped them from first place to .500. and nobody in the building is acting as if that chapter has been erased just because the last few days have gone right.

But Saturday felt different in the way it assembled its story. It wasn’t built only on one swing or one inning. It was built on offense that showed up early. the kind of grind-up-the-pitch-count approach that makes relief pitching feel inevitable. and defense that kept preventing damage even as the team wrestled with consistency.

The latest effort was, at its core, a statement with the bat. The Cubs hit three more home runs, continuing the burst of production on their trip out West. Center fielder Pete Crow-Armstrong set the tone with a homer on the game’s first pitch. He finished a triple shy of the cycle. Left fielder Ian Happ also homered. and infielder Pedro Ramirez joined the party with a home run in the fifth inning.

Home runs did the flashing, but the Cubs’ scoring wasn’t only about power. First baseman Michael Busch scored on an officially ruled steal of home, after some “wonky Giants defense” helped create the moment. Busch also walked into a bases-loaded walk.

The night carried an extra layer of consequence because their patience forced it. The Cubs drew four walks and talked afterward about long, punishing at-bats that lifted their opponents’ pitch counts. The effect showed up immediately against Giants starter Trevor McDonald. who threw 92 pitches and didn’t make it out of the fourth inning.

Starting pitcher Ben Brown didn’t have the kind of dominant outing that’s become a hallmark of his breakout season. but he didn’t need to. Despite significant traffic on the bases. Brown allowed just a single run across his five innings. keeping his 1.74 ERA right where it was when he took the mound.

After the game. Brown described the stretch in a way that sounded less like surprise and more like relief that the pieces are finally clicking together. “This is kind of what we expected,” he said. “This is what we’ve experienced a ton this year, and it’s just awesome putting some good games together.”.

“It’s fun to be a Cub right now,” Brown added. “It’s always fun to be a Cub.”

Crow-Armstrong echoed that sentiment, pointing to what happens when the lineup is executing in enough ways at once. “The last few days have been really good, overall,” he said. “Whenever you get everybody up five times [in a game], something’s going right, whatever that is. … Maybe when we haven’t been executing with guys on base lately. it’s nice seeing the ball fly out of the yard. for sure.”.

Counsell framed it as the payoff of grind rather than fireworks. “It was a good offensive night,” he said. “We’ve had some struggles, but tonight is a night, when you grind out at-bats, you see the effect of it.”

Even with the offense finding traction, the Cubs’ defense stayed in its familiar spot. The team’s defense has continued to be baseball’s best. despite the offensive and pitching struggles during the last month. Busch made a great snag on a line drive at first base. Seiya Suzuki. playing right field. threw a runner out at second and made a terrific sliding catch before leaving with right knee discomfort.

It was the kind of all-around performance — the third in as many days — that makes a lot of people in the division start rethinking the last few weeks. Still, the Cubs are not in the habit of treating momentum as proof.

A couple walk-off wins on the last home stand proved mirages, despite how cathartic they felt in the moment. It’s why the cautious tone is still there, even as the scoreboard begins to look steadier.

Maybe what the Cubs needed wasn’t just emotional, drama-packed victories. Maybe it was “solid, boring ones,” the kind that wear teams down instead of thrilling them for a night. Either way. for a club trying to claw its way back toward the top of the division. a 6-1 win in the middle of a three-game run is the first kind of evidence that feels hard to shrug off.

Cubs Craig Counsell Ben Brown Pete Crow-Armstrong Ian Happ Pedro Ramirez Michael Busch Seiya Suzuki Giants MLB three straight wins