Chicago Cubs at San Diego Padres

SAN DIEGO – The offensive outburst that swung the momentum for the Cubs on Tuesday night was a story in three parts. There was Nico Hoerner, delivering in the clutch as his incredible opening month is approaching its finish line. Alex Bregman came off the bench – after what was supposed to be a day off – coming through with a pinch-hit. And then Pete Crow-Armstrong put the 8-3 victory in the bag with a three-run homer that ended a prolonged power outage. “Playing with the lead against this team is enormous,” Cubs manager Craig Counsell said. “It’s something you *have* to do. We did a nice job of that.” It added up to a win that snapped the modest three-game losing streak for Chicago after it had rattled off 10 straight wins behind an offense that scored in bunches. And it clinched the 900th career managerial victory for Counsell. Here’s a look at the three key hits that made it happen: **1\. Hoerner in the clutch** In the sixth inning, Hoerner came up with the game caught in a 2-2 deadlock and two runners aboard with two outs. He sent a pitch from David Morgan into the right-center-field gap and turned on the burners hunting down a two-run hustle double. When Padres center fielder Jackson Merrill bobbled the ball, Hoerner pumped his fist and reached second easily. “Obviously, he can put a bat to ball on anything,” Bregman said. “But I feel like one of the reasons for his success with runners in scoring position this year is the ability to get a good pitch and hit it hard from line to line.” Through 30 games, Hoerner is hitting .293 with four homers, eight doubles, 26 RBIs, 13 walks and only 14 strikeouts in 141 plate appearances. He has hit .308 with men on base and .289 with runners in scoring position (after hitting .371 with RISP last season).