Swanson's rain-soaked smash helps Cubs kick off June on high note

CHICAGO -- Moving from one month to the next can provide a kind of mental lift for teams that slip into a cold spell. The arrival of June offers that kind of hope for the Cubs -- even if it falls into the category of placebo effect -- given the way the past four weeks have gone.

“I do feel a little better waking up and writing ‘June 1,’” Cubs manager Craig Counsell said. “You’re like, ‘Oh, this is a reason to feel better.’ I’m kind of lying to myself, but we all do that, you know?”

If Saturday night was a sign of things to come in June for the Cubs, buckle up.

Chicago’s 7-5 win over the Reds at Wrigley Field -- delivered via a two-run homer by Dansby Swanson in the eighth -- took place amid steady showers that initially forced a three-hour, 20-minute rain delay. The fans who hung in there filled the old ballpark with an odd energy, engaging loudly and boisterously with each pitch that served as a reward for their patience.

“I’m just really glad we won,” Swanson said. “It’s been a little bit of a tough stretch. To be able to fight and compete today, regardless of the conditions and just being here all day, all the different obstacles, we really just stepped up today.”

In the second inning alone, there was a full range of emotions for the audience to experience.

In the top half of the frame, Cubs lefty Justin Steele was tasked with a bases-loaded jam with two outs. He induced a fly ball high over right field, where Seiya Suzuki waved off center fielder Pete Crow-Armstrong and settled under his target. The ball caromed off Suzuki’s glove, the crowd unleashed a collective gasp and the door was open for Cincinnati to push four unearned runs across in the frame.

“I just really wanted to apologize to Steele for that routine play that I should’ve obviously caught,” Suzuki said via his interpreter, Toy Matsushita. “That play in right field, that kind of drove my emotions throughout the whole [game].”

Reds righty Hunter Greene then walked three batters and found himself in a bases-loaded, two-out situation in the bottom of the second. Naturally, it was Suzuki in the batter’s box. With the count full, the Cubs’ right fielder made amends, crushing a 98.3 mph heater over the left-field bleachers for his first career grand slam. The Wrigley faithful were delirious.

“There was nobody that was more excited for him than me,” Steele said. “I was down in the tunnel freaking out. I was going nuts. What a moment for him. That’s just kind of the player he is.”

Suzuki’s slam came one inning after he tripled, helping him join Jason Heyward, Ryan Theriot, Sammy Sosa and Bill Buckner as the fifth Cubs batter in the past 50 years with a homer and a three-bagger in the first two innings of a game. Suzuki is also the only MLB player in the modern era to hit a grand slam and commit a three-run error in the same game.

“Credit to Seiya for staying in it,” Counsell said.

The Cubs grabbed the lead on a Nico Hoerner RBI single in the third, but the Reds responded with a run in the fourth. On that run-scoring play -- an RBI single up the middle by Jeimer Candelario -- Crow-Armstrong registered the first outfield assist of his career at a key moment.

Elly De La Cruz slowed into second on Candelario’s single and then bolted for third when Crow-Armstrong hesitated to throw the ball in. The center fielder fired a precise throw to third baseman Christopher Morel, whose tag stayed on De La Cruz as he popped off the bag during his head-first slide. Initially ruled safe, De La Cruz was deemed out after a replay challenge by Counsell.

“Sick review by the review team for us,” Steele said. “It’s one of those games where every out counts for you. That ended up being huge.”

It was not the way any team would have drawn up a page-turning game, but it got things rolling in an important month for the North Siders.

Including Saturday’s tilt, the Cubs play teams with a below-.500 record 24 times out of 27 games in June. The exception is the June 28-30 road series against the National League Central-leading Brewers. There are a dozen division games this month for Chicago (six against Cincinnati, three against St. Louis and three against Milwaukee).

That is the type of opportunistic path the Cubs need, following a 10-18 showing in May that dropped the team below .500 and to the edge of the Wild Card picture. That slide came after Chicago set a franchise record with 18 wins in March-April.

“There’s so many moments in a season,” Swanson said. “There’s just some where they’re capitalized on, it can really change the momentum of a season. Hopefully, something like tonight … can really build some momentum.”