The fact that Cubs left-hander Justin Steele’s scoreless start against the Padres was his least efficient by pitch count this season speaks volumes to the bar he’s set for himself.

In the Cubs’ 6-0 Tuesday, Steele limited the Padres to three hits through 5 ⅓ innings. But his pitch count had climbed to 98, and he left the game to cheers. The Cubs threw a shutout for the fifth time this season, tied for the most in the first 22 games of a season in franchise history (since 1901).

“You always see guys take strides in a year,” Cubs pitching coach Tommy Hottovy said in a conversation with the Sun-Times before the game. “They have time to work on things, you get locked in on what’s successful throughout the year. And it’s a completely different thing for a guy to be able to take what he did well, go into the offseason with that focus and drive to continue to get better and continue to hone in on it, and then start the season where he left off.”

From the beginning of last year to now, Steele did both. 

Steele’s first four outings of this season were all quality starts. It was the first time in his career that he’d recorded at least six innings in four straight appearances. 

He entered Tuesday with a 1.17 ERA in his past 11 starts, stretching back to late last July. It was the best mark of any major-league pitcher with at least 10 starts in that span. 

On Tuesday, Steele’s pitch count started to rise in the second inning as he got into deep counts against all four batters he faced. The next inning, he issued two walks. But the Padres never put up much of a scoring threat against Steele. Only two baserunners reached second base.

Cubs catcher Yan Gomes provided Steele with run support, mashing a two-run home run in the second inning. It was his fifth home run of the season, over half way to his 2022 season total of eight homers. 

In the eighth inning, Gomes dropped an RBI singe into right field for his fourth hit of the game, giving the Cubs a 3-0 lead. Nico Hoerner supercharged the rally with a three-run triple, which extended his career-long on-base streak to 20 games.

Honoring Beth Murphy

Cubs manager David Ross remembers stopping by Murphy’s Bleachers for lunch when restaurants first started opening in 2020 and taking the food to his place around the corner.

“She fed me a lot,” Ross said Tuesday of Beth Murphy, the owner of the iconic tavern across the street from Wrigley Field. “… She is probably one of the more kind people you’re going to meet and be around. A special, special person.”

Before the game Tuesday, the Cubs held a moment of silence for Murphy, who died Monday. 

“Beth is just a phenomenal human and has opened up that space for a lot of events,” Ross said, “the World Series, having to get places for everybody to meet, walk over together, and just taking care of a lot of friends and family for me.”

Baby Belli born

Cubs outfielder Cody Bellinger and his girlfriend Chase Carter welcomed their second child, a healthy baby girl, into the world Sunday. 

The Cubs put Bellinger on the paternity list Tuesday and recalled Nelson Velázquez, who started in center field in the series opener against the Padres.