Cubs get much-needed series win thanks to Hayden Wesneski and Michael Busch

As the rain got heavier, Michael Busch gave the Cubs the protection they needed with a single hit.

Busch’s 2-run home run in the 7th inning gave the Cubs extra confidence for a 5-0 victory and a much-needed series win over the struggling Angels. It’s only the 4th series win for the Cubs since early May.

The Cubs are now 7 games under .500 and remain 6 games behind expectations in the NL Wild Card race heading into the final week before the All-Star break.

“We definitely have no margin for error – and that’s just for the season, we have no margin for error,” said manager Craig Counsell before the game. “We honestly haven’t had a good enough period in a row over the last few months. We need to have better periods to just have a better record and a record that puts us in the conversation.”

A performance like on Sunday can help.

Hayden Wesneski was great – he allowed just one hit, a one-out single in the 1st inning – and pitched into the 7th inning for only the second time this season. After the hit, Wesneski struck out 18 Angels in a row.

Despite Wesneski’s masterful performance, the Cubs only managed three runs until the sixth inning and had all the bases loaded in the fourth inning, keeping the Angels within striking distance.

So in the 7th inning, Counsell turned to one of his levers – Porter Hodge. Weseski let two runners through, which started the turn to the bullpen. Hodge provoked a weak grounder from Logan O’Hoppe and a flyout from Zach Neto to end the threat.

Busch’s home run in the bottom half of the inning gave them some breathing room.

The Cubs have played the most 1-run games in baseball this season, 33. Being able to keep going and not have to rely on leverage all the time has a positive trickle-down effect.

This is what the Cubs want to accomplish before the Midseason Classic if they want to play more important games in the final two months of the season.