SCORING NINE IS FINE SIGN
Cubs show their offensive versatility in series-clinching rout of Brewers
The Cubs hadn’t seen the results from their approach at the plate in the first two games of the season. Despite working counts and battling through at-bats, they had only six runs to show for it.
It was only a matter of time before their offense broke through — and it did in a big way Sunday. The Cubs’ bats erupted in a 9-1 victory against the Brewers that enabled them to take their first series of the abbreviated season.
‘‘We needed that from an offensive standpoint,’’ first baseman Anthony Rizzo said.
The Cubs had Brewers starter Freddy Peralta on the ropes early and, after taking a 1-0 lead on an RBI grounder by Jason Heyward in the second, started pouring it on in a four-run fourth.
Willson Contreras got the outburst started with an RBI double, and consecutive RBI singles by Nico Hoerner, Victor Caratini and Ian Happ gave the Cubs a 5-0 lead.
Contreras hit a 451-foot solo home run in the seventh before Happ hit a two-run blast and Rizzo a solo shot in the eighth to close the scoring.
Contreras was the Cubs’ best hitter during summer camp and exhibition games and has carried that success into the regular season.
‘‘Maybe the first two games, I was a little excited,’’ Contreras said. ‘‘I was trying to do too much, and thank God that I noticed it on time before my last at-bat. I know they were trying to go up and in, and it got my attention during the game before. But I was trying to get him to get them over the plate. They made a mistake today, and they paid for it.’’
Manager David Ross liked what he saw.
‘‘These guys, they’re going to continue to get better,’’ Ross said. ‘‘You saw it today. Great at-bats. Really out there turning it over to the next guy. We want them to take their walks, using all fields. The offense looked really strong today. Great day offensively.’’
The Cubs have been too reliant on homers at times in the last few seasons. Being able to keep the lineup moving, as they did in the fourth, allows them to be dangerous and keeps them from becoming stagnant.
‘‘That four-run inning was really great,’’ said Hoerner, who was 2-for-4 with a double. ‘‘I think we had a couple of two-strike hits and just kind of [went] one at-bat to the next. It’s something we talked about in spring training, being an offense that can score in different ways. We hit homers at the end of the game just to do both. But, yeah, it was a great ending and something we can build off of.’’
The Cubs now turn their attention to the Reds, who some think will be their biggest challenge in the National League Central. They went 8-11 against the Reds last season, so winning their first series was a good first step ahead of another tough division foe.
‘‘It’s nice to win the series, especially against a division opponent,’’ Ross said of the Brewers. ‘‘They’ve got a good team over there. It’s nice to start, for me, in the win column as far as series go.
‘‘That’s what we’re trying to do here: We’re trying to win them all. We’re trying to win every pitch. We try to get it down to the small details, but, big picture-wise, you want to try to win every series, and that was a nice win today.’’