The Chicago Cubs have largely done good work so far this season, and they’re looking to put together a strong push going into the All-Star break. They’ll begin a three-game series against the host Baltimore Orioles on Tuesday night.
Chicago snapped a two-game skid to win for the sixth time in their last eight games with Sunday’s 6-4 home result against the St. Louis Cardinals.
The wins have come despite Cubs third baseman Alex Bregman largely struggling at the plate since the beginning of June. He produced a run-scoring double Sunday.
“I’m really optimistic that we have a really good 70 games ahead of us with Alex,” Cubs manager Craig Counsell said. “It’s coming. It’s going to come. He’s too good of a player.”
Baltimore’s three-game winning streak ended with Sunday’s 3-2 loss at Cincinnati.
Orioles manager Craig Albernaz continues to defend the team’s batters even though the results have been inconsistent.
“With the ebbs and flows of the season, sure we want to score eight every game,” Albernaz said. “But it’s really tough to hit in the big leagues.”
The Orioles have scored more than four runs in only two of their last nine games. They’ve gone 4-5 in those outings.
“Our at-bat quality has been outstanding pretty much the whole season,” Albernaz said. “We just need to score more runs than the other team. There’s big-league pitching out there and that’s really tough to hit sometimes.”
For the Cubs, Tuesday night’s game marks the start of a six-game road trip leading into the All-Star break. They’ve won six of their last seven road games.
Chicago sends left-hander Matthew Boyd (3-1, 5.08 ERA) to the mound for his eighth start of the season. He has won one decision in each of the past three months, including last Tuesday, when he made it through five innings and gave up three runs against the visiting San Diego Padres.
Boyd is 1-1 with a 4.83 ERA in six starts covering 31 2/3 innings against Baltimore.
Right-hander Shane Baz (4-8, 4.19) gets the call for the Orioles. He’s winless in his last three starts, but he had a no-decision in his last outing June 29 when he held the visiting Chicago White Sox to two runs in seven innings. That effort put him above 100 innings in a season for only the second time in his career.
Baz has pitched once against the Cubs, giving up five runs in 2 1/3 innings in a 2025 loss while pitching for the Tampa Bay Rays.
Baltimore center fielder Colton Cowser has continued to add to his strong defensive portfolio.
“His ability with his body awareness — when to slide and what type of slides to use,” Albernaz said. “He has stepped up and held down center field for us. He has stepped up and held down center field for us and really anchored our outfield defense out there.”
In each of their last three home series, the Orioles have dropped two of three games.
–Field Level Media
