BOX SCORE

It’s hard to say, one day after an offensive explosion, that the Cubs hitters have regained the mojo.

Usually, moments like that are determined after a nice run of success, and then you can look back and find “the moment” where things clicked. But the Cubs offense still did some good things on Saturday as they beat the Colorado Rockies 4-3 to take the three-game set. The Cubs (78-58) will look to complete the sweep and a 6-3 West Coast road trip in Sunday’s finale.

The Cubs remain two games above the San Diego Padres, who won on Saturday, for the top spot in the NL Wild Card. They also stay 6.5 games back of the Milwaukee Brewers in the NL Central.

Here are three takeaways from the win:

Assad’s quality start

The Cubs will always take a quality start from their starter.

They’ll be over the moon when they receive one at Coors Field – like Javier Assad did on Saturday night. The right-hander scattered just three runs on seven hits in six innings of work against the Rockies.

The line was actually a bit inflated, too. Assad had allowed just one run on four hits through five innings of work before running into and escaping some trouble in the sixth inning. He has been impressive in his last three outings, posting a 2.81 ERA in 16 innings with a 1.13 WHIP.

That’s an impressive run, especially since he’s made just four starts this season after starting spring training with an oblique injury that kept him out of action for the first four months of the season. He was recalled from Triple-A Iowa on Thursday after Jameson Taillon landed on the 15-day injured list and allowed the rotation to not skip a beat.

That group has been the Cubs’ backbone for two months now. Since July 1, Cubs starters have a 3.09 ERA, the best mark in baseball. Assad delivered in Denver and will help ease the absence of Taillon.

Get on base

Friday night’s 11-7 win was all about an offensive eruption – the Cubs clubbed 10 extra-base hits and had a six-run fifth inning to break the game open.

Saturday’s offensive effort was more subdued, but it worked. In other sports, you might call it “taking what the defense gives you”. Against a rookie making his second start, the Cubs took their free passes, drawing three walks against McCade Brown in his four innings of work.

The Cubs drew six walks on the night, drawing pitches and using the base on balls to spur their offense. They also had two hit by pitches in the game. Sure, it isn’t as sexy as the offense on display the night before, but it kept the pressure on the Rockies pitching staff. The first four hitters in the Cubs’ lineup – Michael Busch, Kyle Tucker, Seiya Suzuki and Ian Happ – finished 8-for-14 with four walks.

Of course, that was only part of the story.

The big bop

The Cubs had baserunners and put pressure on the Rockies, but unlike Friday, they didn’t have that knockout blow to allow them to breathe easier and prevent manager Craig Counsell from using his high-leverage relievers.

They were 3-for-9 with runners in scoring position and stranded 11 baserunners. The Cubs had the bases loaded with one out in the first and scored just one run. An inning later, they filled the bases with two outs and failed to push a run across. Carson Kelly hit into an inning-ending double play in the third inning with runners on first and second, and Nico Hoerner hit into a twin-killing in the sixth with the bases loaded.

Four different opportunities to break the game open and just two runs to show for it.

The Cubs will focus on the fact that they created all those opportunities, and that’s fair. You’d rather have multiple scoring chances than not, but Saturday felt a bit like some of the games in San Francisco earlier in the week, where the Cubs were swept. They had scoring opportunities and stranded too many runners.

Again, the Cubs won’t care because they picked up the win, but the hallmark of their offense in the first half, when they were one of the game’s most potent lineups, was the ability to break games open. That will be another sign of this offense regaining their groove.