Cubs mix things up to grind out eighth straight win

1:54 AM ET

CHICAGO — During his days as a manager with the Tampa Bay Rays, Joe Maddon grew accustomed to winning games with pitching and defense. As for the offense, let’s just say it couldn’t be relied on daily.

“Whenever we had five runs, I looked up and I said, ‘We’ve got five runs,’” he said of his time with the Rays. “It was like, ‘whoa.’”

Lately, Maddon probably has been saying ‘whoa’ a lot, but for completely different reasons. His Chicago Cubs team is racking up runs — and wins — at a ridiculous rate. The Cubs’ offense pounded out eight runs on 12 hits to overcome a rare shaky performance by the pitching staff in an 8-7 victory over the San Diego Padres Tuesday night to extend their winning streak to eight games. At 25-6, Chicago has the best record in the major leagues and is averaging better than six runs a game.

The Cubs had a potent offense a year ago in Maddon’s first season with the team, but the manager believes his young hitters — with the addition of savvy veteran Ben Zobrist, who went 4-for-4 on Tuesday — are finding ways to score besides hitting the ball out of the park.

Addison …

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