It’s always tough to gauge how a long layoff could affect players.

Friday night in Pittsburgh, both Ben Brown and Cody Bellinger showed no rust.

Brown and Bellinger have had limited game action recently — for different reasons — but both shined in the Cubs’ 7-2 win over the Pirates in the series opener at PNC Park.

Bellinger, having just been activated off the IL earlier this week, delivered a 4-hit game with 3 extra-base hits and hasn’t skipped a beat since being activated off the IL.

Cody Bellinger since coming off the IL 💪

7-for-13
2 HR
4 XBH pic.twitter.com/x2IuYktl71

— Marquee Sports Network (@WatchMarquee) May 11, 2024

Brown, meanwhile, shined in relief — his first game action since May 2. The rookie righty struck out 6 in 3.3 innings of work after Javier Assad exited the game with 1 out in the 5^th. Brown recorded his first big-league win and saved the Cubs bullpen in the process.

“That was a wonderful outing by Ben,” Counsell said after the game. “He’s been off, but he was really crisp today and just throwing a ton of strikes.”

Pregame, manager Craig Counsell had told reporters that he would try to avoid Brown Friday night. Jameson Taillon was lined up to start Friday but felt some back stiffness in his back when he played catch on Tuesday and the Cubs opted to give him more rest to try and recover. Counsell wanted to avoid Brown in case he needed him to start Sunday.

Instead, Brown turned in a quality outing that kept the Pirates at bay — allowing the Cubs offense to finally break through after facing a tough young starter.

Bellinger crushed a solo home run in the 1^st inning of rookie flamethrower Jared Jones. But the hard-throwing righty settled in and kept the Cubs’ hitters cornered. The Pirates took the lead in the bottom of the 1^st, scoring a pair of runs off Assad, who had his shortest outing of the year. They worked up his pitch count early and — coupled with 3 errors — limited his ability to pitch deep into the game.

In the top of the 5^th, the red-hot Bellinger tied the game with an RBI double. Then, in the 6^th the Cubs took the lead on a Miguel Amaya single. When the Pirates had to turn to their bullpen, the Cubs were ready to pounce.

With one out in the 6^th, four straight hitters reached, setting the stage for a 4-run inning that put the game to bed.

Nick Madrigal with some nice hitting, delivering an opposite field, 2-run single. pic.twitter.com/047frpsUKZ

— Andy Martínez (@amartinez_11) May 11, 2024

Bellinger’s return to form has been a crucial addition to the Cubs offense. It provides a middle-of-the-order threat and, with the return of Seiya Suzuki, gives the Cubs arguably two of their best offensive producers.

Suzuki was activated Friday afternoon, with Dansby Swanson being placed on the 10-day IL. But Friday was scheduled to be an off day for Suzuki and, rather than call up someone from the minor leagues, the Cubs opted to activate Suzuki and have him on the bench.