CHICAGO -- Drew Smyly had to be about as perfect as possible on Friday afternoon. 

The Cubs southpaw was going toe-to-toe with Giants ace Carlos Rodón, one of the best pitchers in the Majors. He was doing so with the memory of his worst outing of the year still hovering in the rear-view. Smyly was essentially tasked with pitching a mistake-free start just one appearance after allowing a season-high seven earned runs in just 2 1/3 innings. 

If such a difficult duty was weighing on him, you’d hardly have known it. 

During yet another day of double-digit strikeouts for Rodón, Smyly out-dueled San Francisco’s ace, throwing seven-plus innings while allowing just an unearned run on one hit with eight strikeouts and two walks in the Cubs’ 4-2 victory over the Giants at Wrigley Field. 

“We're more used to seeing a lot of this,” Cubs manager David Ross said. “We really needed a good start [and] length from him today, it was really important. I thought he mixed his pitches well. That was a really big performance. The breaking ball looked really good, kept the hitters off balance and did a really nice job.”

Smyly needed a solid start just the same. The 33-year-old -- who posted an 0.90 ERA across five August starts -- was out to prove his rocky Sept. 3 outing in St. Louis  was simply an outlier. On the other end, Rodón entered the day tied for second among all Major League pitchers with 5.2 wins above replacement, per FanGraphs, which ranked third in MLB. Run support was likely coming at a premium. 

Yet, over the span of 104 pitches, Smyly kept the Giants in check while permitting only five baserunners. His ERA dropped to 3.57. Excluding his five-start stint with San Francisco during the pandemic-shortened 2020 campaign, it’s his lowest season ERA since 2015, when he pitched for Tampa Bay.

“I felt I was pretty locked in, even though it was a very short season, the COVID year with the Giants,” Smyly said of the last time he felt this strong on the mound. “But yeah, after that, it was pre-Tommy John [surgery] back with the Rays. I had some good stretches with them. 

“It's definitely nice to feel confident and in sync with your mechanics and be able to go out there and trust yourself.” 

Smyly’s day wasn’t without a jam, especially early on. After getting the first two outs in the top of the second, the left-hander allowed a double to David Villar after walking Mike Yastrzemski. With runners at second and third, Austin Dean chopped a soft roller to third base that initially looked as though it could be trouble. But a hard-charging David Bote grabbed the grounder and fired a throw to first just in time to get the out.

Smyly had just one other brief brush with trouble in the sixth, after beaning Austin Wynns and walking J.D. Davis. But a four-pitch strikeout of Evan Longoria ended the inning and erased the threat. 

Though Smyly may not have matched Rodón in punchouts -- the San Francisco hurler set a franchise record with his 10th outing of double-digit strikeouts in a season – Smyly did everything else the Cubs could’ve asked of him.

The Cubs supplied enough support to help Smyly earn the win, with Yan Gomes hitting a two-run homer in the second inning. (Gomes' blast marked the first time any player has hit a home run off Rodón’s slider this season.) Nico Hoerner, on the three-year anniversary of his big league debut, added another two-run shot in the sixth off reliever Yunior Marte.

It was all the offense Smyly needed to notch his sixth victory amid what has served as a bit of a full-circle season. The veteran had previously signed with the Cubs in December of 2017, but his lengthy recovery from Tommy John surgery prevented him from being able to pitch for the team. 

Now back for his second stint with the club, the significance of finally being able to pitch in Chicago isn’t lost on him. 

“Feels great, man,” Smyly said. “I've been saying it all year, Wrigley is just such a fun place to play. It's very special. I mean, we're out of the playoff hunt, and you show up every day and you can feel the energy. It's just different here, it really is. Not many teams have this type of support. So players, we feed off of it. It's been awesome to be healthy this year and take the ball and have the home games at Wrigley.”