PITTSBURGH — The 10-game road trip that began with manager Mike Quade’s “I’m not a lunatic” pronouncement ended Thursday with a 7-6 comeback win over the Pirates at PNC Park.
The yin-and-yang trip concluded with a season-high five-game winning streak after the Cubs started it with a five-game losing streak.
“It’ll drive you nuts sometimes trying to figure it out,” Quade said. “But you keep playing, and guys have the right to get better. Hopefully, they’re headed in the right direction.”
The trip featured two Quade ejections, a 17-inning scoreless streak, 13 Cubs homers, Marlon Byrd trading insults with a fan, Aramis Ramirez opening the door to a trade, Ramirez closing the door to a trade, and the end of the Kosuke Fukudome era.
In other words, just another stretch in the life of the Cubs.
“This was a big series for us,” left fielder Blake DeWitt said. “We’re just building on each and every day. That’s how good teams are made. We came in here against a good team and had a great series. It’s fun playing series that mean a lot.”
The Cubs wound up with a four-game sweep in Pittsburgh, their first since June 5-7, 1959 at Forbes Field, dealing the folding Pirates their seventh straight loss. The Cubs finished 5-5 against the top three contenders in the National League Central before heading home to take on Dusty Baker’s Reds this weekend at Wrigley Field.
Thursday’s game was a microcosm of the Cubs’ season to date, albeit without a Quade ejection.
Geovany Soto, Carlos Pena and DeWitt homered early to hand Rodrigo Lopez a 4-0 lead, but the veteran starter coughed it up in a six-run fourth inning that included a bases-clearing triple by Pirates pitcher James McDonald.
The Cubs came back in the eighth, scoring three runs off four Pirates pitchers and taking a 7-6 lead on a sacrifice fly by Byrd. Kerry Wood bailed them out of an eighth-inning jam, and a rejuvenated Carlos Marmol closed it out with a perfect ninth, notching his 23rd save and fourth straight over the last five days.
“It’s very awkward, definitely very unusual,” Pena said of the trip. But I’m glad it was that way, and we were able to turn the road trip around. It’ll make the ride home a lot better.”
The clubhouse was a different experience before the game, with Byrd, Soto and Carlos Zambrano dancing to salsa music and everyone having a good laugh. The only downside Thursday was the meltdown of Lopez, who pitched well in July but has struggled in his last two starts, allowing 12 runs on 15 hits over 8 1/3 innings.
But the Cubs found a way to pick Lopez up, and for the first time this season look like a team that believes in itself instead of a team waiting for something bad to happen.
Twitter @PWSullivan
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