May 31, 2013; Chicago, IL, USA; Chicago Cubs right fielder Scott Hairston (21) hits a 3RBI home run during the third inning against the Arizona Diamondbacks at Wrigley Field. Mandatory Credit: Reid Compton-USA TODAY Sports

Cody Ransom added a solo shot of his own in the same frame for good measure and the Cubs were well on their way to another rout. On the bump, Matt Garza bounced back from a terrible second start of the season. The righty was pretty much in control all afternoon, with the only hiccup coming in the sixth, when he allowed a pair of runs on three hits and a sac fly. Garza tallied a quality start with four strikeouts for his first W of 2013.

Cubs relievers James Russell and Carlos Villanueva coasted with the big lead to finish off the game and the win streak has hit an exciting five in a row. It has been a joy to see pitching, offense, bullpen, and defense all working together to produce winning baseball this week.

Ironically, on the night Samardzija keeps the opposition off of the scoreboard, the offense wakes up with a bunch of runs. If you take a few of the eight runs scored last night and spread them across a few of his other starts, Samardzija would easily be looking at a 6-3 record on the season instead of a 3-6 win loss total with a 2.85 ERA. The Shark’s first career complete game shut out also ensured that his inconsistent bullpen mates would not spoil this one.

May 27, 2013; Chicago, IL, USA; Chicago Cubs starting pitcher Jeff Samardzija (29) reacts after the ninth inning against the Chicago White Sox at U.S. Cellular Field. The Cubs defeats the White Sox 7-0. Mandatory Credit: Mike DiNovo-USA TODAY Sports

As for the offense, the Cubs accomplished the outburst with the help of a conscious effort to be a little more patient at the plate. Starlin Castro drew a rare walk for himself with one out in the first. The Cubs shortstop then stole second while Anthony Rizzo struck out at the plate and Castro was cashed in on a clutch two out single by Alfonso Soriano. The Cubs veteran left fielder would add another single to his name in the fourth and stole his sixth base of the season, but his teammates were unable to bring him in with one out. That sixth base swipe already ties Soriano’s season total last year and here we are not even done with the month of May yet.

The Cubs did cash in on another one out walk in the fifth frame, this time thanks to a two run homer from unlikely candidate Julio Borbon. The lead off man took a first pitch fastball over the right field wall after coming up a little short in Pittsburgh last week. Scott Hairston collected a rare RBI in the top of the sixth. Unfortunately for the new Cub’s struggling batting average, this was done via a sacrifice fly. The North Siders blew the game open in the seventh, with some help on a throwing error by Sox back stop Tyler Flowers on a strikeout that allowed Ryan Sweeney to reach base. Borbon followed with a single for his second hit of the night, but Castro’s bid for a RBI was snuffed out when Sweeney was caught at home on a throw by left fielder Dayan Viciedo, leaving the Cubs short stop with just a single in the box score.

That set the stage for some more two out magic, a continuing theme from Sunday afternoon’s comeback win over the Reds. Rizzo hit a clutch triple to center to score both Borbon and Castro, making it 6-0 Cubs. Soriano rounded out his productive night with another RBI single and the blue half of Chicago was well on its way to celebrating bragging rights for one night. The visitors tallied nine total hits on the night, although there is room for minor concern that all of the base knocks were compliments of the top four hitters in the Cubs line up. The bottom half of the order went a combined 0 for 17, including DH Hairston, Sunday’s hero Welington Castillo, and Gold Glove second baseman Darwin Barney.

The Cubs will look to “sweep” the two game set on the South Side tonight before hosting their cross town neighbors at Wrigley for a pair of matinees on Wednesday and Thursday to round out the split four game “series”.

Jay Bruce got the scoring started with a one out solo homer. A hit batter and a walk was followed by a RBI single by Ryan Hanigan before the big blow came in the form of a two RBI double by Zack Cozart. Just like that it was 4-0 Reds and Garza was replaced prior to the bottom of the fifth. The Cubs righty’s 92 pitch count played just as much a part in the decision as the four run deficit, if not more.

May 26, 2013; Cincinnati, OH, USA; Chicago Cubs relief pitcher Kevin Gregg (63) is congratulated by catcher Welington Castillo (53) at the end of the game against the Cincinnati Reds at Great American Ball Park. The Cubs defeated the Reds 5-4. Mandatory Credit: Frank Victores-USA TODAY Sports

With that and the six game skid, many Cubs fans that had tuned in probably took their attention away to attend to more entertaining or relaxing activities for the Memorial Day holiday weekend. Those that stuck around were soon to be in for a nice surprise.

After all of the heat the bullpen has taken as an unit so far this season, there was a bit of role reversal on Sunday. The relief corp picked up the rare early exit of Cubs starter and combined to keep the home team to just one hit the rest of the way. That fact sounds more impressive when you consider that it came in the fifth during Rafael Dolis‘ lone inning of work. Even Carlos Marmol tossed a scoreless frame despite one walk, and lefty James Russell continued his stellar season with a perfect inning to bring his ERA down to 0.95.

Mean while the Cubs offense finally came to life against Reds starter Johnny Cueto in the seventh. The visitors collected back to back singles after one out thanks to their corner outfielders Alfonso Soriano and Nate Schierholtz. Then with two outs Luis Valbuena hit a single into center field to get the Cubs on the board.

The two out magic turned out to be a late inning theme for the Cubs. After two fairly quick outs to start the eighth, Starlin Castro collected a single. Anthony Rizzo then doubled just down the right field line to make it 4-2. Soriano then launched a 2-1 pitch deep into left center to tie up the ball game.

Kyuji Fujikawa took care of the bottom of of the eighth with three ground ball outs, but the Cubs wasted a lead off Darwin Barney double in the ninth to remind everyone of the RISP woes again. The Japanese reliever then got himself into a little trouble with a one out hit batter and a two out walk. With the way things have been going for the Cubs, the stage seemed primed for another disappointing North Sider loss. But manager Dale Sveum chose to bring in closer Kevin Gregg to get out number 27 and the veteran right hander obliged by getting Brandon Phillips to fly out.

In the top of the tenth, the Cubs quickly produced two outs before Scott Hairston, who had come in as part of the double switch with Kevin Gregg, earned a walk. Welington Castillo then hit a clutch double to plate the go ahead run, the first lead for the visitors all day.

Gregg did not let a walk and a catcher’s interference call rattle him, and the veteran reliever closed out the game for the first Cubs win in a week. Gregg is now 1-0 and the Cubs snapped their six game skid in late inning comeback fashion. After watching early leads of their own dissolve in the first two games of the weekend series, the Cubs gave the Reds a taste of what it was like to be on the losing end.