What's Smyly's secret to success at PNC Park?

PITTSBURGH -- There’s something about Drew Smyly and PNC Park.

The Cubs left-hander once again gave a solid though laborious start as a visitor at the ballpark, tossing five scoreless innings in Chicago’s 8-0 win on Monday night. It gave the North Siders all the breathing room they needed to get hot on a cloudy evening in the Steel City.

In just five career appearances (four starts), Smyly is now 3-0 with a 1.61 ERA at PNC Park, though his five scoreless innings didn’t come so seamlessly in the series opener.

Smyly walked five batters, including two straight in the third and fifth innings to load the bases each time. However, he consistently kept the Pirates off the barrel, allowing only three hits and no more than two in an inning.

Smyly’s 13 whiffs were his third most in a start this season.

“That’s as hard as I’ve seen him work in a while, to be honest,” manager David Ross said. “He didn’t have the command he normally has and wasn’t able to drop the stuff in, but he continued to pitch.

“It was getting a little hairy on him right there at the end. Those guys threw some at-bats on him. He couldn’t execute the way he usually does, but I thought he did a nice job of battling today.”

Smyly had to work through a bit of the elements, though not nearly as badly as opposing pitcher Osvaldo Bido, who allowed the Cubs’ first three runs in the top of the second inning during an intermittent downpour.

The timing couldn’t have been more beneficial for the Cubs.

Mike Tauchman capitalized on the situation and continued to stay strong in June, delivering a two-run single as part of a three-hit game from the leadoff spot. The Cubs just kept adding on from there, as they scored seven or more runs for the fifth time in the past seven games.

“I definitely got the better half of that rain. Their guy kind of had to wear it pretty heavy for a little bit,” Smyly said. “The mound was muddy, it rained a good amount that half inning, so it was sticky, muddy and humid out.

“So it wasn’t the best conditions, but you’ve just got to play through it and try to grind it out.”

Though he had to work hard to get through five innings, the outing could be a bit of a boost for Smyly, who entered Monday’s start with a 6.04 ERA across his previous four outings after posting a 2.60 ERA through his first 10 turns this season.

In fact, Smyly’s last start during that tough span came against the Pirates on Wednesday at Wrigley Field, when he afforded five runs in six innings.

Smyly said facing a team in back-to-back starts is a tough task, because you have to make the adjustment from last time out quickly. Though his command wasn’t quite where he wanted it to be, Smyly thought that he and catcher Yan Gomes’ game plan paid off.

“Last game, they were ambushing me, they were crazy aggressive and they got to me pretty good,” Smyly said. “So tonight, I felt like I needed to kind of flip the script, and I started attacking them way more with fastballs in and the cutters. I think that helped.”

The Cubs have now won eight of their past 10 games to inch closer to first place in a neck-and-neck National League Central race.

Chicago entered last Monday’s series opener against the Pirates at Wrigley Field 6 1/2 games back of the then-first-place Bucs. Now, they’re tied at 34 wins apiece, though the Cubs (34-38) trail by one-half game for third.

Ross said before Monday’s win that although he tries not to put too much emphasis on standings watching during the season, he likes to keep a “peripheral glance” on the divisional standings, especially when the Cubs are playing an in-division opponent.

Chicago’s first four games against Pittsburgh, in which the Cubs have gone 4-0, have made that glance a little more comfortable.

“The energy is high. We have a lot of confidence. I don’t think we ever lost our confidence,” Smyly said. “ … There are a lot of veterans on our team that realize it’s a marathon, it’s a long race. You’re going to have slumps. You’re going to have stretches where things aren’t going your way, but it’s been really nice to see how we’ve turned ground.

“We’re just playing good baseball right now.”