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Cubs pick up right where they left off

4 years agoTony Andracki

The Cubs had an impromptu “All-Star Break” over the weekend but that did nothing to slow their early-season momentum.

Jason Heyward drove in an early run and then added a 3-run blast late to put the game away in a 7-1 win over the Indians Tuesday night in Cleveland.

After the four-day layoff due to the postponed Cardinals series, David Ross was pleased with the way his team responded with energy and passion.

“The guys have put in the work,” Ross said. “They’re a real joy to be around because they come to work every day with a good attitude and they work really hard. You don’t know how things are gonna play out — there’s no substitute for live pitching — but I think [Kyle Schwarber’s] at-bat in the 2nd really set a tone for the group and you heard the dugout was energized again.

“The guys are all-in on everybody’s at-bats and all the way up to the end and Albert [Almora’s] walk, guys were going crazy in the dugout. It’s a good vibe and these guys are really focused.”

The Indians entered the game with the best ERA in baseball by a wide margin (2.04) and had not allowed an opponent to score more than 4 runs in a game all season.

The Cubs entered with one of the game’s best offenses and showed why at Progressive Field, flipping the script on the Indians pitching staff.

After Schwarber’s 11-pitch strikeout in the 2nd, Willson Contreras singled, Ian Happ walked and then Heyward singled home Contreras to get the Cubs on the board. In the 6th, Contreras hit a sacrifice fly and then Happ added an RBI hit of his own later in the inning. Heyward followed with a 3-run homer to put an exclamation mark on the night.

It was more than enough offense for Jon Lester and the Cubs pitching staff. The veteran southpaw surrendered just 1 run on 3 hits in 6 innings, running his season ERA to a sparkling 1.06.

Lester’s outing was even more impressive considering he hadn’t pitched in nine days due to the weekend postponement.

“That’s not easy,” Ross said. “It just shows what a pro he is. You could still tell he was off — just not quite as sharp as he would want to be out of the stretch. But the way he battled tonight, made big pitches. … He’s off to a great start for us and it was nice for him to have that good outing after such a long layoff.”

The four-day respite had no effect on the bottom of the Cubs lineup as they continued to rake this season. Happ, Heyward, Victor Caratini and Jason Kipnis combined for 6 hits, 2 walks and 5 RBI Tuesday.

“It really lengthens the lineup,” Happ said of the contributions by the bottom of the order. “I think it takes pressure off the guys up top and that’s the goal, right? To be able to hit all the way through, put pressure on the pitcher 1-through-9 and not let up.

“I know the first 5 guys in the lineup are absolute bangers. To make sure that once a pitcher gets through those 5 guys, he can’t relax and there’s still tough ABs all the way through. And you’ve seen that on a consistent basis.”

The Cubs entered the evening with the best winning percentage in baseball and will carry an 11-3 record into Wednesday night’s series finale in Cleveland.

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