CHICAGO -- The Cubs spent the first couple weeks of the season trying to find their rhythm on multiple fronts. There were outages throughout the lineup, injuries piling up and testing the depth of the roster, and a repeated refrain that things would turn around.\n\nEight consecutive wins later, the Cubs look like the postseason-caliber team everyone expected.
On Wednesday night, the North Siders rolled to a 7-2 victory over the Phillies behind a widespread offensive attack and the return of veteran lefty
“When you go on these win streaks,” Boyd said, “it’s a product of just everybody doing their thing. It’s special. It’s a lot of fun right now. And it’s taken all of us.”\n\nThe eight-game run is the longest for the Cubs under manager Craig Counsell and the first time Chicago has rattled off that many in a row since another eight-win stretch from July 21-29, 2023. During this streak, the North Siders have outscored their opponents, 58-20, while getting contributions from up and down the roster.\n\nThe pitching staff has spun a 2.22 ERA overall during the last eight wins, while the offense has hit .318/.399/.514 as a unit with 7.3 runs scored per game.\n\n“Y’all are watching it,” Cubs center fielder Pete Crow-Armstrong said. “It feels really, really good showing up to the ballpark knowing that everybody’s going to have a part in winning a baseball game.”
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Let’s dive into three aspects of Chicago’s win streak:\n\n**1\\. Boyd rejoins rolling rotation** \nThe Cubs lost Boyd to the 15-day injured list after his previous outing on April 1 due to a left biceps issue. Two days later, a right elbow injury that required major surgery took Cade Horton out of the mix for the rest of the season. It was a pair of early blows that could have sent the rotation into a spiral.\n\nEntering Wednesday, the Cubs’ rotation – with Colin Rea and Javier Assad stepping in to help – had turned in a 3.21 ERA since April 4, ranking fifth in the Majors in that span. If Rea’s six-inning appearance on April 14 is swapped in for Riley Martin’s one-inning outing as an opener, the starters have a 2.25 ERA across the eight-game winning streak.
“Look, it’s been the key to this little run that we’ve had,” Counsell said. “The length. The quality. Those are both really meaningful. The length, as much as anything. That’s a big deal, man.”\n\nBoyd was admittedly rusty with his command in his return, but the veteran gave the Cubs 84 pitches in 4 2/3 innings and limited the Phillies to two runs. The Cubs’ Opening Day starter issued zero walks and struck out five in a solid foundational outing as he builds back up after the layoff.\n\n“The boys picked it up, picked me up there,” Boyd said. “It’s going to take all of us to get to where we want to go. The luxury of just having five starters all through a year, that’s amazing, but it doesn’t happen much anymore, right? It takes all of us.\"\n\n**2\\. Lineup’s stars starting to show up** \n
“That’s what makes you a good offense,” Counsell said. “You’re not going to have all nine guys kind of rolling at the same time. A good offense, if you’ve got enough good hitters in there, you expect a group of them at times to be seeing it well and swinging it well.\n\n“And tonight, some of the guys that maybe are off to a little bit of the slower starts, had big nights. That’s how I think a good offense should work and a good lineup. And that’s what leads to run consistency, hopefully.”\n\n**3\\. Brown coming up big for ‘pen** \nIn the wake of a long list of injuries impacting the bullpen, righty