If the slugging is back, so are the Cubs

After Patrick Wisdom hit a pinch-hit, game-tying, two-run home run in the sixth inning of Tuesday night’s game against the Chicago White Sox, Christopher Morel’s excitement was hard to contain.

“I almost gave him a kiss in that moment,” he joked via interpreter Fredy Quevedo, Jr.

The moment was big in the microcosm that was the 7-6 win over the South Siders. The Chicago Cubs had to first erase a 5-0 deficit and then take back the lead after the White Sox’ Luis Robert Jr. — freshly returned from the injured list — hit a go-ahead solo shot in the seventh inning. They did so thanks to timely hits like Wisdom’s homer, an earlier one from Morel and Ian Happ hitting a go-ahead double in the eighth inning.

And in the bigger picture, those kinds of hits are all positive signs that the Cubs offense might be trending away from the low team slugging percentage that has plagued them for much of the season.

Headed into Tuesday, the Cubs ranked 23rd in baseball in slugging percentage (.369). Their struggle to hit for power and with runners on base have been factors in the disappointing last month-plus.

“I don’t think we’ve shown the kind of firepower that we need to do,” Cubs president of baseball operations Jed Hoyer said before Tuesday’s game. “Thursday in Milwaukee we hit three homers, but we need to do a lot more of that. That’s been really such a big part of it. Any kind of power with guys on base, guys in scoring position has not happened. Let’s face it, like, multi-run homers win games. Sunday’s game was a perfect example. [The Cincinnati Reds] hit a three-run homer and we didn’t, and they won the game. We need more of that to compete.

“I think it’ll come. I think that’s for sure, but you need to be able to homer at the right times and you need to be able to score in bunches. And that’s something that we haven’t done, especially early.”

Tuesday’s win doesn’t erase the frustrations of the first two months of the season for the Cubs, but the outcomes at the plate point in a good direction. Several of the Cubs’ batters have been hitting the ball hard but not getting results. Morel and Happ have both been among that group.

“A lot of hard luck the last few weeks, but [Morel] is a good player,” Wisdom said. “He’s got an electric bat, and it’s going to start showing.”

“He just hasn’t been rewarded, and I feel like he’s definitely been the least lucky player on our team from an offensive standpoint,” Hoyer said. “He’s really important to our offense. We’ve lacked slug so much during this stretch, and getting him going and having him slug for us is really important.”

Morel had the homer and an eighth-inning single and appears as though he could be heating up. Meanwhile, Happ has a .781 slugging percentage over his last nine games. He’s homered four times since May 26 and went 3-for-4 on Tuesday with two doubles and a single — exactly the kind of hitting the Cubs have lacked from the group as a whole for much of the past few weeks.

“[Happ is] swinging really well right now,” Cubs manager Craig Counsell said. “And when he’s doing that, he’s driving the ball. There’s doubles, there’s homers and there’s big production.”

Tuesday’s win wasn’t just about the big hits. Shota Imanaga left the game after a 42-minute rain delay in the fifth inning, but he’d given up seven hits, including a two-run home run to Lenyn Sosa and a total of five runs, though four of them were unearned thanks to an error by Morel. After Imanaga, the bullpen of Tyson Miller, Hayden Wesneski, Luke Little and Héctor Neris limited the White Sox to just one run.

Pivotal, too, was Cody Bellinger’s hustle to second base in the eighth inning that set up Happ’s two-RBI double. After drawing a walk, Morel hit a soft grounder to White Sox shortstop Paul DeJong, who couldn’t flip the ball to second in time to get Bellinger out.

“That’s not going to be the highlight of the game, but that keeps us going and gives us a chance to score those two runs,” Happ said. “Those plays are huge. When you’re going through a stretch like we are, the little things matter so much.”

And in the ninth inning, White Sox pinch-hitter Oscar Colas worked a walk before being lifted for pinch runner Duke Ellis, who was making his major league debut. Called up from Double-A, Ellis has 34 stolen bases in the minors this year and was brought up for his abilities on the base paths.

“He’s an 80 runner, and not only is he an 80 runner, he’s an elite base stealer,” White Sox manager Pedro Grifol said before the game.

Ellis stole second base, but he was eventually picked off in the next at-bat. He had been sent in to try for second and third with the Sox down by one run, but Neris and Nico Hoerner executed a perfect pickoff play.

“He can really run. You saw on the two pitches before, he was interested in trying to get to third base, and he’s just a tough guy to stop if he’s running,” Counsell said.

The biggest positive takeaway from Tuesday’s win was that the Cubs put together the kinds of at-bats Hoyer said they have not had, especially during their 10-18 May. Losing six series in a row and dropping three of four to the Brewers in Milwaukee last week planted the Cubs under .500 and seven games out of the division lead.

Climbing out of that will have to involve a lot more of the offense they showed on Tuesday.