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3 important numbers you need to know from the Cubs’ wild sweep of the Pirates

Winners of 7 of their last 10, the Cubs are doing everything in their power to make things interesting heading into the final month of the season.

By Jake Misener |
Chicago Cubs v Pittsburgh Pirates
Chicago Cubs v Pittsburgh Pirates / Justin K. Aller/GettyImages
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I was supposed to be at the cold, waterlogged Chicago Cubs come-from-behind win against the Atlanta Braves in April 2018. But after going to the team's first five home games that year and feeling pretty miserable after a steady diet of hot dogs and beer, my buddy and I saw the forecast that morning and decided to stay home.

Of course, we all know how that went. Chicago pulled out a wild win, scoring nine runs in the eighth inning to come back and beat Atlanta by a 14-10 final. The energy I felt watching that game, even from the couch at home, was the same on Wednesday, when the Cubs ran off 11 unanswered runs to come all the way back from down 10-3 to win by a final score of - you guessed it - 14-10.

The team the Cubs are trying to run down in the NL wild-card picture, those very same Braves, unfortunately won, too, keeping their lead over Chicago at 5 1/2 games. But this was a big series for Craig Counsell's club. They hadn't swept a three-game series since Baltimore in early July and taking care of business puts them at 68-66, the first time they've been two games over .500 since May 25.

This was big. With an off-day on Thursday before opening a weekend set in D.C., let's look at some numbers from the sweep in the Steel City.

7: Number of RBI from backup catcher Christian Bethancourt

Miguel Amaya has been one of the best hitters in baseball since making a mechanical change in his stance, but it wasn't Amaya who stole the show on Wednesday. It was backup catcher Christian Bethancourt, who went 3-for-5 with a double, a home run and seven runs batted in.

The 32-year-old journeyman, who has played parts of eight MLB seasons with six different teams, stole the show in the series finale - helping the Cubs overcome a rocky start from Kyle Hendricks in the process.

He's appeared in 11 games with Chicago this year, amassing a grand total of just 29 plate appearances in the process - but he's made each one count, slashing .407/.448/.889 for an OPS north of 1.300. Pair that with Amaya's .983 OPS over the last month and, all of the sudden, the Cubs are getting elite offensive production from behind the dish.

As we've talked about quite a bit lately, the front office will likely look to upgrade here this winter, despite Amaya's resurgence in the second half. But, at least for now, it's nice to see Bethancourt and Amaya teaming up to give Counsell run production at the bottom of the lineup and help keep the Cubs' longshot playoff hopes alive.

41: The number of runs scored by the Cubs in the three-game series

No team has scored more runs in a three-game set than the Cubs did this week in Pittsburgh.

The offensive onslaught felt relentless, with Chicago hanging 18 on the Bucs in the opener, nine in their lowest-scoring game of the series and then 14 in the finale. It's easy to win ballgames when you're pushing runs across at such a high volume and the hope is that the recent hot streaks from Pete Crow-Armstrong and Amaya at the bottom of the order continue, because they've been the difference-makers of late.

Earlier in the year, Counsell remarked that the Cubs were giving away outs at the bottom of the order - and he was spot-on in that assessment. But now, Chicago is getting the best production of any team from the 8 and 9 spots in the lineup, and it's completely changed how the offense looks.

Over the last 30 days, the Cubs rank second in the NL in runs, OPS, stolen bases and slugging percentage. They're 16-8 in the month of August, with more momentum than they've had since April heading into September. Will it be enough? We'll see. But the offensive is clicking in a way we haven't seen in months and it's causing havoc for opposing teams.

1: The number of shellshocked Livvy Dunne's watching that finale

Livvy Dunne, the girlfriend of Pittsburgh Pirates ace and Rookie of the Year candidate Paul Skenes, perfectly summed up the thoughts and feelings of Bucs fans everywhere when the dust settled on Wednesday's wild affair.

Skenes, who started the game, was solid, allowing two earned runs on five hits, striking out six over five innings of work. He departed with a 10-3 lead, no doubt thinking his ninth win of the season was in the bag. Instead, the Pirates bullpen (including former Cubs closer Aroldis Chapman) coughed up those 11 unanswered runs over the final three innings and that was that.

So maybe you say the Pirates and a particularly poor showing on their part broke Livvy Dunne. I say the Cubs' historic comeback did the job.

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