‘Run differential’ is becoming Cubs’ favorite phrase

9:43 PM ET

PITTSBURGH — Forget “Embrace the Target” or “Try Not to Suck” or any of the other sayings popularized by Chicago Cubs manager Joe Maddon. The phrase of the season — as unsexy as it is — is “run differential.” The Cubs are on a historic pace of blowing teams out, and there’s no end in sight after a dominating sweep of the Pittsburgh Pirates this week.

“We’re superhappy to beat up on our division second-place team and separate ourselves a little bit, but the approach of the team is still day-to-day,” Cubs catcher David Ross said after Wednesday’s 6-2 finale.

That four-run margin was as close as the Pirates came in any one game, and perhaps the Cubs need to keep things day-to-day in order to stay grounded. Usually that cliché is used to keep a team focused, but since the end of spring training, this team has been on a mission.

“We do a really good job of grinding out each individual inning, whether we’re hitting or on defense,” Wednesday’s winner Jon Lester said. “We’ve done a good job so far.”

Lester is part of a starting staff that is turning heads and is a big reason that the team’s winning percentage (.769) and difference between runs scored and runs against (plus-93) are so off the charts. The rotation has a 2.19 ERA after Lester’s 5⅔ scoreless innings. He ground through some of the game, but for the second time in two starts, he escaped a bases-loaded-nobody-out jam — and the Cubs never looked back. The final tally for the series was 20-5 in favor of the visitors. If you’re keeping track at home, that was another plus-15 on their run differential.

“We know what we’re up against in this division,” Lester said. “[Pittsburgh]’s a good ball club. The Cardinals are a good ball club. We know we have to go through those two teams to go where we want to go.”

At this point, observers might think the opposite is true — teams have to go through the Cubs — …

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