ATLANTA (MCT) — It hasn’t been a particularly fun season to watch the Cubs.
It has been even a worse year to play for the Cubs.
But the best part of baseball is even the worst teams have a chance to win every day, so there’s little reason to mope.
The Cubs looked relaxed and ready Monday night, winning a season-high fourth straight game with a 4-1 victory over the Braves.
Jeff Samardzija snapped a four-game losing streak, Anthony Rizzo homered again, Darwin Barney made back-to-back gems at second base and Luis Valbuena won it with a three-run, seventh-inning double off Braves starter Tommy Hanson.
“You look up and you think he’s hitting .340, but he’s only hitting about .250,” manager Dale Sveum said of Valbuena. “He’s getting big hits and been a heck of an addition. I wish I had him all year.”
Samardzija (6-7) allowed one run on four hits over seven innings, striking out a career-high 11. He just endured the worst month of his starting career, going 0-4 with a 10.41 earned-run average in five June starts before pitching coach Chris Bosio helped him get his mind right.
“We definitely put in the elbow grease in between starts to get this thing right,” Samardijza said.
On Sunday, Rizzo became the first Cubs player with three game-winning RBIs in his first five games. The rookie added to his resume Monday with an opposite-field home run in the fourth, going 2-for-4.
Is it a coincidence the Cubs are 5-1 with Rizzo in the lineup?
“It definitely hasn’t hurt,” Samardzija said. “Any time you add a lefty bat to your lineup, it strengthens it big-time. He plays great defense at first. He’s definitely been a big part of it, no doubt. And he’s young, so he can play every day, and we expect big things out of him every day too. The best thing is he (expects it) out of himself.”
The Cubs are still on a learning curve, as evidenced in the second when Starlin Castro let Dan Uggla reach on a routine grounder after holding on to the ball too long. Samardzija was visibly upset on the mound.
After Samardzija got out of the inning, Sveum went over to talk to Castro. Rizzo interceded, taking the rap for being slow to cover first because of a defensive shift.
“I took full blame,” Rizzo said. “It’s my fault, in my opinion. I told him before to give me a little time. That’s just me, not knowing Uggla’s speed. I thought I had time.”
Sveum apologized to Castro.
“Not that I’d said anything, but Rizzo came to his rescue right away, said, ‘It was my fault,” Sveum said.
Samardzija put it in the “things happen” category, saying it’s a young team that’s going to make mistakes.
“But hopefully we’ve got the resilience to bounce back and correct them,” he said. “You learn from them. Castro brings a lot to this team, and when those plays start becoming routine for him, he’s going to become an amazing player. He already is a great player.
“All we can do is come to the park every day and play and surprise some people.”
