The defending champs have made up 5.5 games of ground on the Brewers since the All-Star break to take their first share of first place since June 6.
CHICAGO — As he rounded first base in the sixth inning of Sunday’s game against the St. Louis Cardinals, Chicago Cubs catcher Willson Contreras turned to his coach, and to the fans behind the bag, and let out one of his patented roars.
The team’s most emotional player hit perhaps the most emotional home run of the season yet, breaking a tie game and vaulting Chicago into a tie with the Milwaukee Brewers for first place in the National League Central just 10 days after they trailed the Brewers by 5.5 games. The scream heard around Wrigley Field might as well have been heard around all of the major leagues: The defending champions aren’t going down without a fight.
“You can’t control what other teams do, so it’s very good timing on us playing well, and the Brewers are in a little skid right now, so it’s the game of baseball, ” first baseman Anthony Rizzo said after the 5-3 win . “It has its ups and downs. That’s why you play the full season.”
The Cubs are most definitely feeling it again after a first half that featured more starts and stops than a commuter train. The Cubs have had an even record 21 times this season and are above.500 by at least five games for the first time this year. Now 8-1 since the All-Star break, those early woes feel like a distant memory.
“Starting the second half with this kind of energy feels good, ” Contreras said. “It’s not about me, it’s about the team.”
Oh, but it is about you, Willson.
The second-year player is on fire in July, hitting .339 to go with six home runs. That’s on top of taking on nearly all the catching duties, considering his backup is now a rookie. Plus, he’s working with a brand-new pitcher, Jose Quintana, who was a little amped up for his first Wrigley Field start on Sunday.
” [Quintana] may have been a little bit overexcited, ” manager Joe Maddon said. “Not as sharp, but very good.”
Quintana made it through six innings, giving up three runs — thanks in part to Contreras, who calmed him down. Is there anything this guy can’t do right now?
“Everything [Contreras is] doing has been pretty darn good, ” Maddon said. “He plays with enthusiasm, also, which, you have to feel that in the stands.”
The stands are certainly full of enthusiasm after the Cubs won two dramatic games in a row over the Cardinals before they welcome in the fading Chicago White Sox on Monday, while the Brewers head to play the first-place Washington Nationals on Tuesday. Now that the Cubs have a share of first place, separating themselves is next on their minds. Maddon likes to assess his team in five-game increments, so finally he can smile after they achieved their season high over.500.
“That’s just how this stuff happens sometimes, ” Maddon said. “We haven’t had a run. We didn’t run anywhere in that first half. We’ve been walking in that first half. We get on a mini run right now and it coincides with the other team not doing so well. Bully for us.”
As for Contreras, he continues to mature as a key cog in the middle of the lineup. He’s not the only one finding his game, though. Addison Russell has come alive in the second half, Kyle Schwarber has a.901 OPS since returning from Triple-A Iowa and former closer Hector Rondon is hitting nearly triple digits on the radar gun. No team needed a reset more at the break than the Cubs; the results show as much.
“The guys are different right now, ” Maddon said. “They’re back to what they’re supposed to look and feel like.”
Contreras is so locked in, he didn’t realize what his home run meant. A share of first place for the first time since June 6 sounds good to him.
“I didn’t realize that, but now that I know, it feels great to keep helping the team, ” he said. “I’m not thinking about first place, though, I’m thinking about the game tomorrow against the White Sox.
“It’s a big difference than the first half.”
It certainly is.
