Enhanced Box Score: Cubs 14, Pirates 1 – September 19, 2023

The Cubs needed that. We all needed that. The night was relatively smooth from the jump, with Dansby Swanson hitting a two-run homer that actually could have carried the game – not that you would’ve wanted that tension for nine innings.

For the first time in a couple weeks, the Cubs looked like the clearly better team in every phase of the game, ultimately blowing things open with an eight-run eighth inning, including a GRAND SLAM from Alexander Canario! And also a Cody Bellinger three-run homer!

Big nights up and down the lineup, all the bench guys getting into the game, and all low-leverage work for the relievers. You just love to see all of that for a group that has been grinding lately. Javier Assad bouncing back the way he did was just the cherry on the top.

Full box score.

written by

Brett Taylor is the Lead Cubs Writer at Bleacher Nation. You can find him on Twitter at @BleacherNation, on Bluesky at @Brett-Taylor, and on LinkedIn here. Brett is also the founder of Bleacher Nation, which opened up shop in 2008 as an independent blog about the Chicago Cubs. Later growing to incorporate coverage of other Chicago sports, Bleacher Nation is now one of the largest regional sports blogs on the web.

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