The Cubs’ 8-2 win over the Pirates on Wednesday at PNC Park was lacking, for many reasons. It lacked drama. It lacked stress. It lacked exhaustion. In other words, it was missing everything that made Chicago’s game on Tuesday compelling viewing.

And boy, did the Cubs need it.

Stress-free wins are always welcome, regardless of the length of a season. The Cubs had a long day on Tuesday that involved travel, rain delays, extra innings and extra work for everyone. Their second game with the Pirates was more tranquil. While it did involve another rain delay (and, eerily, this one was the exact length of the first one -- 1 hour and 11 minutes), that’s where the similarities ended.

• Box score

Manager David Ross, pointing out the intricacies of this game -- heads-up baserunning and air-tight defense, for example -- didn’t categorize this win as uneventful. But he did acknowledge it was nice to get such a robust win on a night that he preferred to stay away from some of his regulars who needed a breather.

“I think there's a lot to be happy about,” Ross said. “It's nice to get a big lead. It was nice to not have to get [Jason Heyward] or [Kyle Schwarber] cranked up, or the guys that were getting the off-day. The big lead allowed that.”

With a five-game series in four days vs. the Cardinals looming this weekend, and with their next off-day still 12 days away, the Cubs needed this textbook-style win at PNC Park. They received a strong outing from Kyle Hendricks. They put together modest rallies in the seventh and eighth innings that pushed them to a comfortable lead. And the bullpen was used sparingly, which could prove beneficial as the weekend nears, especially after the news that the pitching staff had lost one of the weekend rotation options, José Quintana, to the injured list.

Hendricks did his part, striking out six Pirates over six innings. Colin Moran’s homer to lead off the second inning was the only blemish of Hendricks’ 102-pitch outing, in which he also snapped a personal three-game losing streak. Hendricks was critical of parts of his outing, especially early on, when he struggled to get into a rhythm. As the innings wore on, however, he felt more in control.

“My timing just felt off,” Hendricks said. “It didn't feel right. But by the end of the game -- the sixth inning was the best I felt, so hopefully, I can build on that. I’ve got some positives to take out of it, but still, not great. I made some bad pitches that I got away with.”

“The first thing I told him was that he was rushing too much,” catcher Willson Contreras said. “I know he was trying to get into a rhythm early in the game, but instead of getting in a rhythm, he was rushing. That's why he was missing locations a lot.”

Hendricks didn’t need to be perfect, he just needed to be effective. The lineup took care of the rest.

Most of the offense came from the top part of the order. Ian Happ, Contreras and Anthony Rizzo logged seven of the Cubs’ 10 hits, with Javier Báez delivering the biggest blow of the night: a three-run homer in the fourth inning off reliever Nick Tropeano. Báez’s sixth drive of the season traveled a Statcast-projected 443 feet to center and left his bat at 107.1 mph.

Happ has been solid for most of the season, but it’s been a slower go for some of the other Cubs hitters. Wednesday’s win was one of the Cubs’ more cohesive of this road trip.

“Once we get on base, the other teams pay a lot of attention to us,” Báez said. “At the same time, I feel like we learn from each other, from the mistakes we make. We move forward to get better.”

“You know it's in there. It's just a matter of time,” Ross said. “These guys are too talented for it to continue the way it’s been going. It’s nice. I know they put a lot of pressure on themselves to contribute and want to do well, all those guys. The big homer by Javy [on] the hanging slider was nice. That sounded good, felt good.”