Cubs beat Pirates 9-5, hope recent surge is 'a sign of what’s to come the rest of the way'

PITTSBURGH — After the Cubs scored double-digit runs Saturday against the Marlins in Miami, they fell into a lull the next day.

After doing it again Monday against the Pirates, they nearly doubled down in a 9-5 victory Tuesday.

The Cubs have scored 43 runs in their last four games, putting nine or more runs on the board in all but one of them.

‘‘It’s really just nine names that stands out the most; it’s up and down the lineup,’’ manager Craig Counsell said.

The Cubs (67-66) haven’t fully inserted themselves into the National League wild-card race, still trailing the Braves by 5œ games for the last spot. But they have pulled into a tie with the Giants (67-66), with only the Mets (68-63 entering play Tuesday) between those two and the Braves.

Regardless of their recent soft schedule, the Cubs’ offensive surge is a reason for hope. While a winning record might not be a high bar, they moved a game above .500 for the first time since May 28.

‘‘You don’t go into a year just looking to be above .500,’’ said second baseman Nico Hoerner, who hit a double and scored two runs. ‘‘But considering where we were at one point, it does matter. And hopefully it’s a sign of what’s to come the rest of the way.’’

Even though the Cubs didn’t score until the fourth inning, Hoerner traced the beginnings of their strong night to the first against Pirates starter Jared Jones. In that inning, Ian Happ’s double off the wall was followed by a hard line drive by Seiya Suzuki.

‘‘Unfortunate to get doubled off, but a couple of hard-hit balls,’’ Hoerner said. ‘‘Got a nice sense of confidence in the lineup that it’s just a matter of time.’’

Cubs left-hander Justin Steele kept the game within reach, adjusting after allowing two runs and three hits in the first.

‘‘They came out super-aggressive from the first pitch,’’ Steele said of the Pirates. ‘‘Some loud foul balls, loud contact. So we kind of had to deviate from the original plan. . . . I was having to mix the whole repertoire in there today.’’

He didn’t allow another run, pitching through the fifth. For a few minutes, however, it was in doubt whether the umpires would let him stay in the game that long.

Going into the bottom of the third, a sticky-stuff check identified rosin on Steele’s right arm. It was a hot and humid day, so Steele had been applying rosin liberally.

‘‘You could probably see me shaking,’’ he said. ‘‘I was scared.’’

After all the umpires gathered to examine Steele and had a long conversation, they asked him to wipe off the rosin off his arm. He ran to the dugout to grab a towel and returned to the mound.

‘‘I respect umpires for wanting to protect the integrity of the game,’’ Steele said.

When the Cubs’ offense broke open the game, they did so by batting around in the fourth against Jones and the fifth against
relievers Jalen Beeks and Ben Heller.

Suzuki delivered a tying two-run home run in the fourth before an RBI double from Hoerner and a two-run homer from Dansby Swanson made it a 5-2 game.

In the fifth, the Cubs scored all four of their runs with two outs — on back-to-back bases-loaded walks and a two-run single by Miguel Amaya.

Hoerner pointed to strong recent stretches from Amaya and Pete Crow-Armstrong as major factors in the Cubs’ offensive resurgence. Amaya has multiple hits in five starts in a row, the longest such streak by a Cubs catcher since Tyler Houston in 1998.

‘‘They’ve been incredible playing two really important positions [catcher and center field] for us all year,’’ Hoerner said. ‘‘And then doing that every day and then continuing to develop offensively is just so impressive.

‘‘They’ve really carried us in a lot of ways through this stretch.’’