"Seiya Suzuki's Slump-Busting Performance Propels Cubs to 6–1 Victory Over Reds"

Cubs designated hitter Seiya Suzuki tattooed a pair of line drives with exit velocities of over 105 mph Wednesday. And the fate of those two, driving in runs at pivotal moments in the Cubs’ 6-1 win against the Reds, illustrated the fine line between extending a skid and breaking out of it.

The Cubs lineup as a whole has been in a rut lately, with its biggest contributors slumping at the same time. And as a result of that offensive dip, when the Cubs took the field Wednesday, they were four games back of the Brewers, who owned the best record in not only the National League Central, but all of MLB.

After Suzuki drove in the first two runs of the game Wednesday, the Cubs offense flashed its power potential and avoided a three-game sweep at Wrigley Field.

“You never know when a hot streak ends, you never know when a cold streak begins,” Cubs president of baseball operations Jed Hoyer said this week. “I know that sounds [cliche] but it’s true, right? You think to yourself, ‘I know we’ll snap out of this, I know we’ll start hitting well.’ I don’t know when. It’s impossible to know.”

It’s too soon to tell whether the Cubs’ offensive performance Wednesday was the start of a trend or just a brief light in the darkness. After all, they put up 10 runs in the series finale against the Brewers last week and then tallied just 12 runs over the next five games combined.

Wednesday’s game at least showed the kind of ripple effect that one breakout showing, like Suzuki’s 2-for-2 day with two RBI and a walk, can have.

“Hitting is one of those things that’s contagious both ways,” catcher Carson Kelly said. “And when you get a big knock, you put a ball in the seats, it rejuvenates [everyone].

“So, we’ve had some tough games recently, but we’ve still got a lot of games left. And today is a good example of how it can get going.”

Suzuki himself had been going through a rough patch at the plate. Manager Craig Counsell gave him a day off Tuesday, after a stretch of five games with just two hits total.

“He had four great at-bats today,” manager Craig Counsell said. “So sometimes just a day of not having to go battle is helpful. And he locked it in.”

Suzuki singled in his first at-bat, the Cubs’ only hit of the first two innings against left-hander Andrew Abbott.

Then in the third, Nico Hoerner and Justin Turner kicked off the inning with a pair of singles to put runners on the corners for Suzuki. He scorched a line drive that Reds left fielder Jake Fraley made a diving play on to rob Suzuki of a hit. But the sacrifice fly broke the scoreless tie.

Suzuki drove in the Cubs’ next run by getting a hold of a slider and roping it just over the left-field fence in the sixth inning.

“I’m always looking at my balance when I’m in the box,” Suzuki said through Japanese interpreter Edwin Stanberry. “And recently it was a little off, but today it felt good.”

The floodgates opened from there. The Cubs rallied for four runs in the seventh and eighth innings combined. Dansby Swanson and Ian Happ also homered.

“When you’re grinding a little bit, those solo homers are just a huge boost,” Happ said of Suzuki’s influence Wednesday. “And a guy coming through in a spot, driving in a run, those kind of things just really lift up the club. So, Seiya, after getting that day yesterday, coming in, having great at-bats all day, it was awesome to see.”