Chicago Cubs: Bullpen proving its mettle during recent winning streak

Game 2

After receiving a quality start from Jon Lester, Maddon turned the game over to Hector Rondon.

Rondon entered the game with a 4.19 ERA on the season. That elevated ERA was a result of allowing eight earned runs in ten innings of work during the month of May. That horrible month came on the heels of an April in which Rondon allowed just one earned run in 9 1/3 innings.

Despite his recent struggles, Rondon looked like his 2015 self as he needed just ten pitches to sit the Cardinals down in order.

After Rondon’s strong showing, Koji Uehara was summoned out of the bullpen to work the eighth inning. Uehara was brought in during the offseason to provide the Cubs with some veteran depth along the back-end of the bullpen. The 42-year-old Uehara has always been a solid option out of the bullpen. Before joining the Cubs, Uehara posted a 2.53 ERA with 93 saves, and an ERA+ of 170 in eight big league seasons.

In his outing on Saturday, Uehara looked like his normal self as he sat down the top third of the Cardinals’ lineup on just 15 pitches (nine strikes).

Going into the ninth, the Cubs found themselves in need of a save for the second game in a row. This proved to be no problem for Davis as he struck out two batters and walked another en route to his twelfth save of the season.