3 Things We Learned About the Chicago Cubs in Series Win Over Pittsburgh

The Cubs' starting pitchers nearly went four-for-four on quality starts this weekend. On Thursday, Jameson Taillon pitched 6.1 innings with just two earned runs allowed. Cade Horton followed that up with 5.2 innings on Friday. Then, Saturday featured 6.0 innings of one-run ball from Matthew Boyd and Sunday featured 6.0 innings of two-run ball from Colin Rea. 

No Justin Steele and Shota Imanaga? No problem, apparently. The rest of the Cubs' starting staff has stepped up in a big way. At this juncture, the aforementioned pitchers are having strong seasons. Taillon owns a 3.48 ERA, Horton owns a 3.47 ERA, Boyd owns a 2.79 ERA, and Rea owns a 3.84 ERA. This starting staff has been spectacular in the absence of their two workhorses. 

Strong Situational Hitting

Again, runs were hard to come by throughout the series thanks to some pretty good pitching for both sides. However, the Cubs' found ways to battle and get clutch hitting in big situations. Whether it was Dansby Swanson's RBI single on Sunday, or go-ahead home run on Saturday, to some huge swings on Thursday night from the Cubs' thumpers, the team found ways to get ahead. 

Circling back, quality starting pitching certainly helped, as did the quality bullpen pitching. However, timely hitting was important over the course of this series. 

Human After All?

Although he still sports a 0.00 ERA due to the ghost-runner rule in extra innings, Drew Pomeranz allowed his first run as a member of the Chicago Cubs on Friday afternoon. In extras, the southpaw was called upon to lock down the Pirates but allowed his first run on a sacrifice fly. Though the run was technically unearned, it is wild seeing Pomeranz lose his incredible streak. 

Pomeranz has made 20 appearances, pitching 18.1 innings in the process. He's fanned 16 batters, walked only five, and allowed just seven hits. In addition, he finally has a run allowed, but still maintains his spectacular ERA thanks to the rules of extra innings. That said, we learned Drew Pomeranz is not a robot and is still human after all. And yes, that is not Drew Pomeranz in the photo, rather it highlights the gloom for Pomeranz on a gloomy day at Wrigley Field. Just go with it. 

What's On Tap Next?

The Chicago Cubs are home for an off day on Monday before starting a three-game set with the Milwaukee Brewers on Tuesday. Ben Brown will take the bump on Tuesday as the Cubs look to keep their string of strong pitching going at Wrigley Field.