CHICAGO -- Ian Happ turned on a 1-0 slider early in the bottom of the sixth inning on Monday night, sending the ball 112.6 mph off the bat and over the left-center-field wall. The 370-foot two-run shot just got over the wall and, per Statcast, wouldn’t have been a home run in any other big league park besides Wrigley Field. 

But for a Cubs team needing more power from anyone not named Cody Bellinger, the hope is that the moment served as a spark. 

Both Happ and Patrick Wisdom, who added a two-run shot in the seventh, helped the Cubs’ attempted comeback against the Nationals. But the effort ultimately fell short, as Chicago dropped the series opener in a 7-5 loss.

To Happ, the home run provided proof that the team needs to stay focused despite what’s become a team-wide drop-off in slugging. 

“There’s definitely times during the season where you press and try to get something done, and that’s never helpful,” Happ said. “So just continuing to stick with the process, you know?  

“I think there’s times where you’re not going as good as you want to. Those things can get to you, and you try to do a little bit more to get out of it. You just have to stay the course and keep doing the things that you know are going to lead to success. And that’s a lot easier said than done. It’s a process.”

The homers from Happ and Wisdom helped take the load off of Bellinger’s shoulders, at least for one night. Chicago’s center fielder has been on a well-documented tear, boasting a 1.277 OPS during the month of July. 

The Cubs’ problem as of late, though, is the rest of the lineup’s inability to provide consistent power. 

Chicago entered the night having slugged 11 home runs in July. Five of those came off the bat of Bellinger. At a time when the Cubs are trying to stiff-arm potential plans to sell at the Aug. 1 Trade Deadline, this imbalance of extra-base hits is turning their attempt to win close games into an uphill battle. 

That’s especially the case when considering where in the lineup these struggles are occurring. 

Happ’s sixth-inning blast was his first extra-base hit since slugging a pair of homers against the Cardinals in London on June 24. Seiya Suzuki, who batted second on Monday night, has two extra-base hits in July. Christopher Morel hasn’t homered since July 2, and hasn’t hit for extra bases since July 6. Leadoff hitter Nico Hoerner has posted a .403 OPS this month, with one double and one triple.

It’s an issue that hasn’t gone unnoticed in Chicago’s clubhouse. 

“We need the top of the offense to go,” manager David Ross said. “We’ve gotten pretty good production from the bottom as of late. We’ve just got to, as a total offense, continue to have some better production.”

The Cubs had a pair of moments on Monday night when, with the score tight, a big swing could have shifted momentum.

Chicago opened the second with a Yan Gomes walk sandwiched between singles from Bellinger and Morel. Down 2-1, the Cubs followed with a lineout, strikeout, walk and inning-ending groundout.

Later in the eighth, with Wisdom’s two-run shot having cut Chicago’s deficit to 7-5, Bellinger and Gomes singled again. But Morel followed with a strikeout before Mike Tauchman hit a 100.5 mph pinch-hit liner right to Washington center fielder Alex Call.

“That’s the tough part,” Happ said of the eighth-inning shortcoming. “[Tauchman] has a great at-bat there, hits a missile right at the guy. We’ve had a few of those tough moments where it feels like you’re right in it, and stuff like that happens.”

For now, the more evenly spread offense and hard contact can serve as a start for a Cubs lineup that needed a jolt like this. But for Chicago to collect as many wins as possible over these next two weeks, the big hits have to be more than just cameos.

“It’s tough when you’re seven, eight games back,” Happ said. “That’s the part that makes it tough. It’s not about time of the year. It’s about wanting to win games to be in the race, and that’s what we’re all here to do.

“We’re all here to win baseball games for this team and this organization so that we’re in it and have a chance to win the division and go to the playoffs. That’s what everybody in this clubhouse is trying to do, and the thing that makes it frustrating is that we’re not getting that done.”