Chicago Cubs manager Craig Counsell insisted it was just a matter of time before his batters got rolling again.

“I’ll say it again: This is a good offense,” Counsell said after the Cubs lost 5-0 to the St. Louis Cardinals on Friday. “We’re going to score runs.”

Chicago did just that on Saturday night in a 9-1 rout of St. Louis. The Cubs will try to build off that breakthrough on Sunday night when they finish their three-game weekend road series against the Cardinals.

The Cubs scored three runs or fewer on six occasions during a nine-game span before Saturday’s uprising.

Michael Busch has punished Cardinals pitching all season, going 15-for-34 with six homers, 12 runs and 11 RBIs. Many Cubs joined him on Saturday, including Matt Shaw (2-for-3, homer, two runs, two RBIs), Carson Kelly (3-for-4, RBI), Dansby Swanson (3-for-4, stolen base, two runs) and Kyle Tucker (1-for-4, walk, two runs, RBI).

“A multiple-run first inning, which I felt was just good, we haven’t been doing that a lot lately,” Counsell said of the two-run inning. “We played really good offense, hit a bunch of balls hard tonight, and put a big run number up.”

The Cubs on Sunday will start left-hander Shota Imanaga (8-4, 3.12 ERA), who is trying to sustain a late-season turnaround.

Imanaga struggled during his last two starts in July while allowing 10 runs on 17 hits — including five homers — in just eight innings. He got back on track on Tuesday while holding the Cincinnati Reds to one run on three hits in 6 1/3 innings while striking out seven and walking none. The Cubs lost 5-1.

Imanaga earned a 3-0 victory over the Cardinals on June 26, blanking them for five innings on one hit and one walk while striking out three. He is is 2-0 with a 2.41 ERA in three career starts against St. Louis.

The Cardinals will counter on Sunday with right-hander Sonny Gray (10-5, 4.21 ERA), who also is trying to sustain a turnaround.

Gray delivered his best performance since June in his last start. He held the Dodgers to one run on one hit — a Freddie Freeman homer — in seven innings on Monday in Los Angeles. He struck out eight and walked one as St. Louis won 3-2.

Gray re-established his sweeper against the Dodgers.

“I knew it was sharp when Shohei (Ohtani) swung at it as the first batter of the game, but I also set it up pretty well because I got the ball to his hands so that his hips were moving earlier,” Gray told MLB.com. “But when I threw that first one to (Ohtani) and he swung at it, I knew that was a good thing. Then, when Freddie did it as well, it was executed.

“Then I felt more comfortable in those moments because I was executing, and I had done the work to force them to swing.”

Cardinals utility player Brendan Donovan is questionable for Sunday’s game. He was a late scratch from the lineup Saturday night due to left groin tightness.

–Field Level Media

As Baseball Hall of Fame member Ichiro Suzuki wrapped up his pregame speech Saturday upon the retirement of his No. 51 jersey, he turned to the Seattle Mariners’ dugout and had a few words for the players.

“This year’s team has a great opportunity,” he said. “You guys are strong and talented. Please do not take your talent for granted. You have a great team and a great opportunity in front of you. I understand there is pressure to win, but the thing about winning is it is always tough and never comes without pressure. Accept the pressure and figure out how you can perform at your best under pressure. … I am confident you can seize the moment.”

The Mariners’ stars seemingly took those words to heart. Julio Rodriguez hit two home runs and Cal Raleigh added his major league-leading 44th of the season in a 7-4 victory against the visiting Tampa Bay Rays.

The Mariners will look to sweep the three-game series Sunday afternoon when they send Bryan Woo (9-6, 3.02 ERA) to the mound against Tampa Bay’s Adrian Houser (6-3, 2.54 ERA) in a matchup of right-handers.

The Mariners have won six consecutive games and are 8-1 on their 10-game homestand to pull within a half-game of division-leading Houston in the American League West and tie Boston atop the AL’s wild-card standings.

“It was perfect. Definitely before the game in my head I was like, ‘We got to get this (win) for Ichi,'” Rodríguez said. “It was a very special night. We definitely got to go out with a bang and to be able to go like that, the energy in the beginning of the game was unmatched. Cal’s home run, too. It was definitely an awesome night.”

Raleigh’s homer, a three-run shot into the Mariners’ bullpen in left-center field in the third inning, also gave him an MLB-best 96 RBIs.

Josh Naylor returned to the Mariners’ lineup after missing one game with shoulder discomfort and had two doubles and stole his 11th base in as many attempts in 14 games since being acquired from Arizona.

“It just shows the quality of our team, that we can beat you in many different ways and we have the means to just get it done,” Rodriguez said. “At the end of the day, that’s all that matters.”

Rodriguez’s two homers gave him a dozen over his past 25 games as he continues his career-long trend of warming up with summer heat.

“When he finds the barrel, it’s a rocket somewhere,” Mariners manager Dan Wilson said.

Brandon Lowe and Junior Caminero went deep for the Rays, who fell 5 1/2 games back in the race for the AL’s third and final wild-card berth.

Rays pitcher Drew Rasmussen, who started the series opener Friday, took a keen interest in Ichiro’s ceremony as he was born in nearby Puyallup, Wash.

“His first year I would have been 5, 6 years old, and some of my oldest baseball memories do circle around the Mariners in that time,” Rasmussen said. “Really cool to have the opportunity to watch him, a childhood hero of mine. It’s just one of those things that’s a really cool experience to get to be here and get to witness him be remembered as a Mariner great forever.”

Houser, acquired from the Chicago White Sox before the trade deadline, was roughed up in his first start with the Rays, giving up five runs on 11 hits in 5 2/3 innings in a 5-1 loss Monday at the Los Angeles Angels.

He’s 1-1 with a 3.38 ERA in two career starts against the Mariners. The victory came May 20 in Chicago when he allowed just two hits over six innings in a 1-0 decision.

Woo beat the visiting White Sox 8-3 Tuesday as he allowed one run on two hits over seven innings and matched his career-high with nine strikeouts. He’s 0-0 with a 3.00 ERA in one previous start against the Rays.

–Field Level Media