Cubs 8, Orioles 0: Sweep!

You didn’t have “the Cubs are going to sweep the Orioles” on this week’s baseball bingo card.

Nobody did.

And yet, after Thursday’s impressive 8-0 win in Baltimore, that’s exactly where we stand. This was the team I thought the Cubs had early this season – solid starting pitching, a variety of timely hitting and enough relief work to finish things off.

It was the Cubs’ fourth win in a row and sixth out of seven, and their first win in a three-game series since doing so against the Astros at Wrigley Field on April 23–25. Additionally, they had not won a three-game set on the road since doing so against the Pirates in Pittsburgh more than a year ago, on June 19-21, 2023.

The first two innings of this game were scoreless, then the Cubs’ offense took over in the third. With two outs, Michael Bush walked.

Seiya Suzuki doubles them up (video).

Justin Steele continued his excellent work from last week, retiring the first 11 Orioles before Ryan Mountcastle doubled with two out in the fourth.

The Cubs’ offense produced a lopsided number in the top of the fifth. With one out, Tomas Nido singled and Nico Horner doubled to take him to third.

This time, it was Bush with an RBI double, driving in both runners (video).

Did I mention duets? Here’s Suzuki’s second of the game, making the score 4-0 (video).

The fifth-placed Cubs crossed the plate in the sixth, courtesy of Dansby Swanson’s ninth home run of the year (video).

Swanson has shown signs of coming out of his long slump during this series. Hope this continues.

The Cubs put the game out of reach in the top of the seventh. Hoerner led off with a run, and after a wild play, Suzuki hit his third extra-base hit of the game, an RBI triple (video).

Fun fact about all of Suzuki’s extra-bass hits from BCB’s JohnW53:

The last Cub to hit two doubles and a triple before Seiya Suzuki was Javier Báez in a 4–0 home win over the Dodgers on June 20, 2018.

Only five others have done so since 2000: José Nieves (2000), Corey Patterson (2003 and 2004), Jim Edmonds (2008) and Anthony Rizzo (2016). Every one of them was on the road. Each had two doubles and one triple. Rizzo also had a single.

Cubs batters have done this 40 times since 1901.

I know you can’t have enough Cubs doubles — here’s another one by Ian Happ, who made it 7-0 (video).

With one out, Swanson’s second hit of the game made it 8–0 (video).

That was more than enough for Steele, who completed seven shutout innings, allowing three hits, striking out four with no walks. I was a little surprised that Craig Counsell picked up Steele after seven, considering he had only thrown 70 pitches, but on a hot, sticky night it’s possible that Steele told Counsell he was done. The game ended with scoreless innings from Drew Smyly (13 pitches) and Jorge Lopez (18 pitches), so Penn should be fresh for the four-game series in St. Louis.

Here’s the final out (video).

And so, my friends, I gladly add:

More facts about this impressive win and the series, from BCB’s JohnW53:

The Orioles’ back-to-back shutouts were the 105th time since 1901 that the Cubs have defeated opponents in two or more consecutive games.

The most recent before this week were June 19-20 of last year, 8-0 and 4-0 at Pittsburgh, and May 16-17 of 2022 at home vs. the Pirates, 9-0 and 7-0.

Most recent vs. Pirates other than May 1 and 3, 2019, 11–0 at Seattle and 4–0 at home vs. Cardinals.

The most recent in which both games were against someone other than the Pirates was a 4–0 and 6–0 loss to Miami on April 16–17, 2019.

Thursday was the Cubs’ third shutout in five days, which continued through Sunday. The shortest period since 2000 in which they have defeated opponents three times is four days, April 26–29, 2018. In 2010 he had a pair of five-day periods.

Seven of the Cubs’ 13 hits in this game went for extra bases. Suzuki’s three extra-base hits increased his SLG from .458 to .475 and his OPS from .786 to .809 – all in one game!

Additionally, the Orioles had not been shut out in consecutive games since June 23–24, 2021 – this is an Orioles team that has lost 110 games. This Orioles team came into this series with the best record in the American League and the Cubs outscored them 21–2, 38–19. This sweep was an impressive smackdown of a very good team, and it showed what this Cubs team is capable of. They’re getting warm exactly when they need it. It looks like they’re set for a tough divisional matchup this weekend in St. Louis, a four-game set against the Cardinals.

That series is starting from Friday evening. Kyle Hendricks will take the mound for the Cubs and Sonny Gray will start for the Cardinals. Game time is 7:15 pm CT and TV coverage will be via Apple TV+ (how to watch).