Cubs sweep Cards, keep riding winning wave in tough June

Share

After the Cubs finished a sweep of the NL-contending Padres earlier this month, manager David Ross said the team is “pretty damn good.”

Looking back on it 11 days later, that may not have been putting it strong enough. The Cubs on Sunday completed their latest sweep, this time over the rival Cardinals at Wrigley Field.

“We're just going to continue to ride this wave,” second baseman Eric Sogard said after the 2-0 win over St. Louis.

The Cubs have carried over a strong May into the first half of a June that team president Jed Hoyer suggested could be a make-or-break month, with a gauntlet schedule that includes two trips to the West Coast.

After posting a 19-8 record in May, the Cubs are 8-4 so far this month. They’ve won six of seven since dropping the first three of a four-game series to the Giants in San Francisco last week.

“These guys are playing at a high level,” Ross said after Sunday’s win. “They have a ton of confidence. The talent is showing up on a nightly basis.”

Especially against stiff competition.

The Cubs are now 5-1 against the Cardinals this season. It’s part of a 16-2 mark against St. Louis and other NL postseason contenders — the Padres (5-1), Dodgers (3-0) and Mets (3-0).

The latest sweep came during the first series with full capacity crowds at Wrigley since 2019, the 35,000 fans generating an electric atmosphere all weekend long.

“It’s incredible,” Zach Davies said of the atmosphere.

Davies threw 6 2/3 scoreless innings of two-hit ball Sunday, continuing his own turnaround after early-season struggles. The right-hander is 4-1 with a 1.83 ERA in his last eight starts (44 1/3 innings), dating back to May 7.

That’s coincided with a strong showing from the entire Cubs pitching staff, which holds a 2.85 ERA since the start of May.

“Everyone on this team steps up,” said Sogard, who doubled and scored the Cubs' first run. “It seems like we have a different hero each and every day. It's a fun team to be a part of, a fun team to go to battle with each and every day.”

It doesn’t get any easier from here — the Cubs open a four-game series with the NL East-leading Mets in New York on Monday, later playing the Dodgers and the Brewers on the road. 

But they continue playing at a high level and sit a season-high 11 games above .500.

“We’ve got a good team,” Ross said.

Maybe even damn good.

Click here to subscribe to the Cubs Talk Podcast for free.

Contact Us