ATLANTA — After two days and 18 innings at Truist Park without putting up much of a fight at the plate, the Chicago Cubs finally got going. And in the finale of their three-game series with the Atlanta Braves, it didn't take the Cubs long to figure out how to use their bats.
At the same time, Javier Assad showed once again that he knows how to use right arm quite effectively on the mound.
Assad pitched six scoreless innings for the Cubs, who woke up on offense and avoided being swept by beating the Braves 7-1 on Wednesday night. Chicago has not been swept this season.
Assad (4-0) allowed just four hits and walked one batter while matching a season high with seven strikeouts as he lowered his ERA to 1.49 through nine starts.
"I've been very pleased with just being able to stay healthy," Assad said through an interpreter. "The ability to start, in general, and go out every five or six days, just really happy to be able to go out there."
Pete Crow-Armstrong went 2-for-4 with a triple, two RBIs and a run, and Seiya Suzuki and Mike Tauchman homered for the Cubs, who had 13 hits after mustering just eight — with all but one of those singles — while being shut out in the first two games of the series. Nick Madrigal added three hits and Michael Busch scored two runs for Chicago.
Assad has allowed just four earned runs in his past six starts and hasn't given up more than two runs in a game this season.
"He's pitching at an elite level," Cubs manager Craig Counsell said. "It is just exceptional what he is doing. He's off to a wonderful start, and I'm happy for him."
Atlanta starter Charlie Morton (3-1) lasted just three innings, with the 40-year-old right-hander who recently reached 2,000 innings for his MLB career giving up four runs (three earned) and five hits with three walks and four strikeouts.
"Obviously, they pitched really well the first two nights and we got nothing, so early runs were just a good place for us," Counsell said, "and we got a good starting pitcher out of the game quickly."
Chicago's Ben Brown gave up a run in two innings of relief, and Luke Little finished with a scoreless ninth.
Braves star right fielder Ronald Acuña Jr., who played in each of Atlanta's first 39 games this season, was given a day off to rest. He's off to a slow start, hitting just .245 with three homers this season. He hit .337 with 41 homers while stealing 73 bases in 2023 on the way to being voted National League MVP for the first time.
"He can have two days," manager Brian Snitker said, referring to the Braves having Thursday off. "Just talked to him last night after the game. Just let him relax a little bit and wake up knowing he's got two days to kind of detox a little bit."
The Cubs shook off their offensive woes from the first two games of the series immediately when Tauchman lifted Wednesday's first pitch — one of 35 thrown by Morton in the first inning — over the wall in left field.
Suzuki followed with a double, Cody Bellinger singled, and Christopher Morel's grounder to shortstop knocked in another run before Madrigal's infield single loaded the bases. Crow-Armstrong was hit on the shin to force in a run and give the Cubs a 3-0 lead.
The Cubs tacked on another run against Morton in the third. After Miles Mastrobuoni walked and Madrigal singled to put runners at first and third, Morton threw wild to first on a pickoff attempt, allowing Mastrobuoni to get down the line to home plate.
The Braves avoided being shut out when Orlando Arcia and Zack Short hit doubles in the seventh.
The Cubs are 3-13 in their past 16 games at Truist Field, but after losing 2-0 and 7-0 in the first two games of the series, they were able depart Atlanta with a little momentum.
Chicago (25-19) is second in the NL Central, 1 1/2 games behind the Milwaukee Brewers (26-17). Atlanta (26-14) is second in the NL East as it chases its seventh consecutive division title, three games behind the Philadelphia Phillies, whose 31-13 mark is the best in the majors.
"It's a good team over there," Cubs catcher Yan Gomes said of the Braves. "You tip your cap and move on. There are some good teams ahead of us, and we're a good team and battling in the division still."
Atlanta third baseman Austin Riley remains day to day with inflammation in his left side.
Meanwhile, Atlanta right-hander Pierce Johnson threw live batting practice and appears to be ready to come off the injured list on Friday when he is eligible — he had been sidelined with left elbow inflammation — while Sean Murphy is set to begin a rehab assignment next week. The Atlanta catcher has been out since injuring an oblique muscle on opening day in late March.
After their day off, the Braves will begin a run of 17 games in 17 days — the last will be on Lou Gehrig Day across the major leagues — that starts with a three-game series against the visiting San Diego Padres.
In Friday's opener, Atlanta plans to send left-hander Max Fried (3-1 3.57 ERA) to the mound as the Padres counter with right-hander Matt Waldron (1-5, 5.49).