{"id":906403,"date":"2026-07-01T23:29:26","date_gmt":"2026-07-01T23:29:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/906403\/"},"modified":"2026-07-01T23:29:26","modified_gmt":"2026-07-01T23:29:26","slug":"chicago-cubs-3-series-takeaways-as-dansby-swanson-hits-3-hrs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/906403\/","title":{"rendered":"Chicago Cubs: 3 series takeaways as Dansby Swanson hits 3 HRs"},"content":{"rendered":"

Twenty-one days ago, the Cubs dejectedly watched the Colorado Rockies celebrate a walk-off victory at Coors Field that dropped Chicago to .500 and put them at another early-season crossroads.<\/p>\n

An electric stretch, punctuated with a series sweep<\/a> of the San Diego Padres in a 23-3 victory Wednesday, moves the Cubs 11 games over .500. The Cubs\u2019 23 runs were their most in a game in 31 years, while their eight home runs tied the franchise record.<\/p>\n

Bolstered by winning 11 of their last 13 games, the Cubs enter Thursday\u2019s off day with the third-best record in the majors, tied with the Atlanta Braves and Tampa Bay Rays, pending the latter teams\u2019 games Wednesday evening.<\/p>\n

The Cubs outscored the Padres 35-12 in the series sweep and, potentially important for the postseason, now hold the tiebreaker over San Diego by taking the season series, too.<\/p>\n

Here are three takeaways from the series.<\/p>\n

1. Dansby Swanson stays scorching hot.
\n\"ChicagoChicago Cubs shortstop Dansby Swanson celebrates after hitting a three-run home run in the third inning against the Padres at Wrigley Field on July 1, 2026. (Terrence Antonio James\/Chicago Tribune)<\/p>\n

At this point, it might be a surprise if Dansby Swanson doesn\u2019t hit a home run seemingly every game.<\/p>\n

Or multiple in a game.<\/p>\n

Swanson slugged two home runs Tuesday<\/a> and for an encore Wednesday hit three home runs in the Cubs\u2019 blowout win, including a grand slam, continuing a torrid stretch for the Cubs\u2019 shortstop. Swanson\u2019s three-home-run, 8-RBI game adds to an incredible run-producing clip. Dating to when RBI became an official stat in 1920, Swanson became one of only five players to record 26+ RBI in a 10-game span, joining Joe DiMaggio (1939), Jimmie Foxx (1933), Lou Gehrig (1930 and 1931) and Mel Ott (1929).<\/p>\n

\"ChicagoChicago Cubs shortstop Dansby Swanson, center, celebrates with his mother Nancy Dansby Swanson, left, and his father Malcolm Swanson after the Cubs defeated the San Diego Padres at Wrigley Field on Wednesday, July 1, 2026. (AP Photo\/Nam Y. Huh)<\/p>\n

\u201cThe one thing I was kind of taught early on just playing this game was RBIs is the one stat that continuously adds up, and no matter if you\u2019re going good or bad, they can continue to stack up each and every day,\u201d Swanson said.<\/p>\n

\u201cRBIs are a good thing, right? Producing runs and scoring runs yourself is a huge thing to help the team win, so it feels like they\u2019ve come in bunches, but that\u2019s kind of what happens, and that\u2019s just a testament to this game, and how hard it can be and just how important it is to show up every day and do your best.\u201d<\/p>\n

After hitting seven home runs and tallying 28 RBIs in his first 70 games of the season, Swanson has nine home runs and 29 RBIs over his last 13 games and now leads the Cubs in RBIs on the season with 57 \u2014 putting him 39 away from matching his career-high set in 2022.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe never have baseball figured out, I think this tells you that,\u201d manager Craig Counsell<\/a> said. \u201cHe probably went through the roughest patch of his career and on the other side of it is the best stretch of his career. You figure it out. I don\u2019t think Dansby could explain it to you either.\u201d<\/p>\n

2. Cubs hitters are loving the conditions at Wrigley.
\n\"CubsCubs right fielder Seiya Suzuki rounds the bases after hitting a three-run home run against the Padres in the first inning at Wrigley Field on July 1, 2026. (Terrence Antonio James\/Chicago Tribune)<\/p>\n

Hot summer days at Wrigley Field, when the wind is blowing out, make a game feel like a Home Run Derby for hitters and a nightmare for pitchers.<\/p>\n

The Cubs\u2019 offense feasted while their pitching staff managed to keep the Padres in check despite the conditions. For the third time in franchise history, the Cubs had back-to-back games with at least five home runs, something they had only done in 2022 and 2023. Only the Athletics have also accomplished that feat this season.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe conditions the last three days are so unique,\u201d Counsell said. \u201cThere\u2019s no place else that ever plays like this, not even close.\u201d<\/p>\n

Seiya Suzuki<\/a> slugged his 100th career home run Wednesday, making him the fourth Japanese-born player to reach the milestone (Shohei Ohtani, Ichiro Suzuki and Hideki Matsui). Among all the home runs hit during the three-game series, no one needed theirs more than Alex Bregman. His three-run home run Tuesday proved crucial<\/a> and marked his first at Wrigley since March 29.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s been grinding hard, and he wants to do well so badly, and he hasn\u2019t quite gotten to that groove yet that we know he\u2019s going to get into,\u201d Counsell said.<\/p>\n

The Cubs\u2019 23-run outburst Wednesday represented their most at Wrigley Field since May 17, 1977, also against the Padres.<\/p>\n

3. Pitchers keep stepping up.
\n\"ChicagoChicago Cubs relief pitcher Javier Assad delivers to the San Diego Padres in the eighth inning of a game at Wrigley Field in Chicago on June 30, 2026. (Chris Sweda\/Chicago Tribune)<\/p>\n

The Cubs\u2019 pitching injuries<\/a> have created an additional challenge this season, particularly in June.<\/p>\n

Two rainouts and a doubleheader last Wednesday in New York made things more difficult for the pitching staff, especially for what became a taxed bullpen. Counsell took a day-by-day approach with his relievers against the Padres, which meant right-handers Gavin Hollowell and Tyler Ferguson pitching important innings late in Monday and Tuesday\u2019s games, respectively.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s pitching in some pretty big spots, and credit to him, he\u2019s doing a heck of a job,\u201d Counsell said of Ferguson.<\/p>\n

Counsell had to stay away from veteran Jacob Webb after he pitched four times in a five-game span entering the series.<\/p>\n

The Cubs\u2019 starters stepped up, too. Shota Imanaga, Matthew Boyd and Colin Rea combined for seven runs in 16 1\/3 innings with only three home runs allowed in the windy, humid conditions.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Twenty-one days ago, the Cubs dejectedly watched the Colorado Rockies celebrate a walk-off victory at Coors Field that…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":906404,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[5124],"tags":[2730,960,1271,1816,16075,300712,5386,1818,1306,54514,261672,1272],"class_list":["post-906403","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-chicago","tag-alex-bregman","tag-chicago","tag-chicago-cubs","tag-craig-counsell","tag-dansby-swanson","tag-gavin-hollowell","tag-il","tag-illinois","tag-san-diego-padres","tag-series-sweep","tag-tyler-ferguson","tag-wrigley-field"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/116847323967269668","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/906403","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=906403"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/906403\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/906404"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=906403"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=906403"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=906403"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}