Deep dish: Cubs' output at plate best since 1897

The red-hot Chicago Cubs, fueled by an offense that is putting up numbers not seen by the team’s faithful in more than 125 years, are right in the thick of the National League Central race.

Chicago clubbed 16 hits and five home runs in a 16-6 victory over the Cincinnati Reds on Wednesday night, giving them 36 runs in their past two games — the franchise’s most over that span in a single season since 1897.

Oh, and they weren’t the Cubs in 1897. They were called the Chicago Colts then.

“It’s hard to get everybody out,” Cubs manager David Ross told reporters Wednesday night. “Nobody’s chasing, nobody’s going outside of what they’re trying to do. … Then you get to the underbelly of the bullpen and you just get to your rhythm and your zones, where you’re trying to do damage.

“The offense is free to go out there and have their at-bats and work as a unit. I feel like it’s just been a really cohesive group throughout the lineup for a while now. So, I think it’s like ‘wow’ when we’re able to put up these types of numbers offensively.”

Fueled by the two-game barrage in which the Cubs became the first team in major league history to have 10 extra-base hits and five home runs in consecutive games, Chicago has excited its fan base by steadily moving into contention in the NL Central.

After winning 12 of its past 15 games, Chicago trails the first-place Reds by three games and is within just a half-game of second-place Milwaukee Brewers. They also are just 2½ games out of an NL wild-card spot.

“It’s enjoyable to be in the race, for sure,” Ross said. “My manager brain wants to go, ‘We’ve got a long way to go, right?’ Said that a bunch of times. We’ve got a lot of games still left to play.

“We haven’t done anything up to this point.”

The Cubs have averaged 7.6 runs since the All-Star break, tallying 145 in 19 games — a whopping 43 runs more than the Atlanta Braves and San Diego Padres, who are tied for second with 102 since the break. The pace is well above the single-season record for runs per game in the second half of the season, set by the 1936 New York Yankees (6.7 runs per game).

The offensive outburst might be nothing in Ross’ estimations, but it certainly is something. And the fans have noticed, which means the players have too.

“It’s fun to win,” Ian Happ, who hit two home runs Wednesday night, told reporters. “Winning is what we’re all here to do, and when you’re winning, it’s a lot more fun than the opposite. I think a lot of guys in this room have been in that spot in different places, some of us here.

“I think for the guys that were here last year, the encouraging thing was there still were the crowds. The crowds were still there. They were still excited when we would win ballgames. To be able to be in this position with this momentum for the crowd in August, that’s the exciting part.”

The Associated Press contributed to this report.