The Chicago Cubs offense carried them to their second 10-game winning streak earlier this month.<\/p>\n
Those same bats went cold over the final five games of their most recent trip to Texas and Atlanta, hitting .124 (19-for-153) with five extra-base hits and five runs over a 1-4 stretch to end the six-game jaunt.<\/p>\n
So, Friday\u2019s 14-hit outburst in their 10-5 win over the Chicago White Sox<\/a> in the City Series was a welcome sight. The Cubs had a baserunner in seven of their nine innings, and all nine starters collected a hit in the victory at Rate Field.<\/p>\n Game 1 photos: Cubs beat White Sox 10-5 in City Series at Rate Field<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n \u201cWe played a good offensive game tonight, for sure,\u201d manager Craig Counsell said after the win. \u201cI know it\u2019s been a little bit light the last four or five days, but we played a really good offensive game all around.<\/p>\n \u201cIt felt like every at-bat we made it hard on them. A bunch of hits, walks, baserunning was really good.\u201d<\/p>\n Catcher Carson Kelly delivered a trio of crucial knocks. He had an RBI single in each the fourth and seventh innings, the latter giving the Cubs the lead for good in the series opener. He delivered the knockout blow an inning later, delivering a two-run, ground-rule double with the bases loaded that made it a six-run lead.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019ve had a couple of guys that have been a little bit of a dry spell, Carson\u2019s one of them,\u201d Counsell said. \u201cBut he had a good night tonight. We got a bunch of guys on base for him, and it felt like everybody had shots to drive in runs tonight.\u201d<\/p>\n The Cubs drew six walks in the win, including three in the eighth inning to load the bases before Kelly\u2019s double. That plate discipline was prevalent in the previous five games, as they had 19 walks, an 11% walk-rate, nearly in line with their 11.8% clip they have this season, which is second in the majors.<\/p>\n \u201cI think that\u2019s a \u2014 hopefully \u2014 little more stable trait of an offense that you can remain stable no matter what,\u201d Counsell said before the game. \u201cIt\u2019s not the ball in play getting caught or (a) hard-hit ball getting caught, and I think it\u2019s something that we\u2019ve shown and are players are historically good at, and hopefully it\u2019s something that we can continue to be a stable, consistent part of our offense.\u201d<\/p>\n Boyd\u2019s progress<\/p>\n Left-hander Matthew Boyd was back with the Cubs since he suffered a torn meniscus in his left knee<\/a> on May 6 that required surgery.<\/p>\n The opening-day starter remained in Chicago while the team departed on its trip and began throwing on May 8, the day after the operation.<\/p>\n\n
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