Dansby Swanson isn’t putting too much stock into his individual accomplishments. However, he is reveling in the fact that his recent video-game numbers have contributed to the Chicago Cubs’ winning ways.

Swanson will look to continue his torrid stretch on Friday as the Cubs open a three-game series against the visiting St. Louis Cardinals.

Swanson highlighted his three-homer, eight-RBI performance on Wednesday with a grand slam in the eighth inning of Chicago’s 23-3 romp over the San Diego Padres.

He has driven in 26 runs over his past 10 games. The only other players who knocked in at least that many runs over a 10-game span since RBIs became an official stat in 1920 are Hall of Famers Mel Ott (1929), Lou Gehrig (1930 and 1931), Jimmie Foxx (1933) and Joe DiMaggio (1939), per MLB.com.

“I think at the end of the day the coolest part about it is RBI helps teams win games, and we’re doing that really well right now as a group,” Swanson said after the Cubs’ fifth win in a row and 15th in 19 games.

“So whatever it takes for the group to succeed is all that matters to me, and it will continue to be that way until one day they won’t let me play this game anymore.”

For all of his recent success, Swanson is batting just .210 on the season. He went 0-for-16 in the four games prior to the San Diego series, during which he went 8-for-13 with five homers, 11 RBIs and seven runs.

Swanson struggled against the Cardinals during a series in late May, going 1-for-9 with four strikeouts and no RBIs. St. Louis won two of the three contests.

Chicago left-hander David Peterson (4-6, 5.86 ERA) will get the start on Friday opposite St. Louis right-hander Andre Pallante (9-5, 3.83).

Peterson pitched well in his first start since being acquired from the New York Mets, allowing two runs on five hits in 5 2/3 innings en route to an 8-2 victory over the Milwaukee Brewers on Saturday.

Peterson, 30, was shelled in his last encounter with the Cardinals, yielding six runs on seven hits in 3 2/3 innings on June 10. Overall, he has a 9.00 ERA without a decision in two career appearances (one start) against St. Louis.

Pallante was 5-0 in his previous six starts before surrendering five runs on 11 hits in 6 2/3 innings during a 5-1 setback to the Miami Marlins on Saturday.

His lone no-decision since early April came against the Cubs on May 29, when he yielded four runs on eight hits in three innings. Pallante, 27, is 0-4 with a 5.12 ERA in 13 career appearances (six starts) vs. Chicago.

St. Louis likely will need Pallante to work deep into the game after the team’s bullpen was taxed by Dustin May exiting two outs into the Thursday contest against the Atlanta Braves due to an ankle injury. The Cardinals’ relievers picked up May by combining to scatter three hits over 8 1/3 scoreless innings in an 11-5 win.

Jordan Walker belted a three-run homer in the first inning and added an RBI single in the seventh for St. Louis, which has won three of its past four games.

“Unreal,” Walker said, according to MLB.com. “We showed what we can do as an offense. On the pitching side, hell of a job for them to lock it in and the bullpen come in a tough situation.”

Walker went 1-for-11 with two strikeouts and no RBIs in the previous series against the Cubs.

–Field Level Media

Two teams with their share of recent struggles will meet in Cincinnati this weekend as the Reds face the Baltimore Orioles in a three-game series starting Friday night.

Both teams are coming off wins that ended four-game skids.

The Reds on Thursday beat Jacob Misiorowski and the Brewers 7-2 to salvage the finale of the four-game series in Milwaukee. Baltimore had Thursday off after defeating the visiting Chicago White Sox 6-1 on Wednesday in the last contest of a three-game set.

The Orioles could be without closer Ryan Helsley for the Friday game and possibly longer. Helsley, 31, tried warming up to enter the Wednesday game but stopped after feeling something in his right (pitching) elbow.

Manager Craig Albernaz expressed some trepidation after the game.

“My level of concern, something like that, is always high,” he said. “It’s almost like you prepare for the worst and hope for the best. Hopefully everything comes out and he’s fine, but you’re always concerned when the bullpen calls out and says that he can’t go.”

Helsley was out from late April to mid-June due to soreness in the same elbow. Since returning, he is 1-for-2 on save chances while losing both of his decisions and compiling a 7.71 ERA in five outings.

Trevor Rogers (5-7, 4.99 ERA) will start the series opener for Baltimore, with the left-hander looking to continue his recent dominant stretch. In his past two starts, both wins, he allowed just one run in 13 1/3 innings. The 28-year-old yielded six hits and issued two walks while striking out 13 against the Los Angeles Dodgers and Washington Nationals.

The Reds perform better, though, against southpaws. They are hitting .243 with a .329 on-base percentage and a .432 slugging percentage vs. left-handers, compared to .224/.303/.379 when facing right-handers.

Rogers has faced the Reds twice, starting both times, and he allowed eight runs and 10 hits in 9 1/3 innings while going 0-1. He last went against Cincinnati on July 14, 2024, when he was with the Marlins. Rogers threw 5 2/3 innings, giving up two runs on two hits and three walks and earning a no-decision in a 3-2 Miami win.

Cincinnati is returning home after a 3-4 road trip. Manager Terry Francona’s team struggled in May and June but will look to build off the Thursday win against one of the game’s best pitchers.

Rookie Sal Stewart, who leads the Reds with 17 home runs and 60 RBIs, is riding an eight-game hitting streak. The corner infielder is batting .353 (12-for-34) during that stretch with three homers and six RBIs. He homered on Thursday against Misiorowski, the major leagues’ hardest thrower.

“That kid’s got pretty special stuff, but Sal stayed short to right field, and he’s strong enough to get rewarded for it,” Francona said about the right-handed hitter.

Brady Singer (3-7, 5.12 ERA) will start for the Reds, with the 29-year-old right-hander hoping to end a 10-start slump that has seen him win just once. Singer is 1-6 with a 5.21 ERA in that span. Most recently, he lost 9-4 to the Pittsburgh Pirates on Sunday after surrendering five runs on nine hits in 4 1/3 innings.

Singer owns an 0-2 record with a 15.63 ERA in just 6 1/3 innings over two starts against the Orioles. Baltimore batters have racked up 14 hits off him but only one homer.

Reds ace Hunter Greene has yet to pitch this season but is expected to make his first start on Saturday. He is recovering after having bone chips surgically removed from his elbow in spring training.

–Field Level Media

Washington Nationals starting pitcher Foster Griffin no longer has the high-velocity stuff that made him a first-round selection in the 2014 draft.

Instead, the 30-year-old left-hander is having a breakout season with a seven-pitch repertoire he will deploy when the Nationals open a three-game home series against the Pittsburgh Pirates on Friday.

A self-described “journeyman, four-A player spending time between Triple-A and the big leagues,” Griffin (8-2, 2.93 ERA) has learned to throttle back his approach and set up hitters.

“For me, I am not going for a strikeout from the start of the at-bat, I am letting it develop,” Griffin said. “If I get into an 0-2, 1-2 situation and I want to go for a kill count, and go for a swing and miss, I will. As soon as I get to even or behind, though, I am not really going for a punchout. I don’t want those free passes.”

On Saturday against the Baltimore Orioles, Griffin threw 112 pitches, allowing one unearned run on three hits and two walks while matching his career high with nine strikeouts. He didn’t factor into the decision as Washington earned a 4-3, 10-inning victory.

Griffin went 2-0 with a 1.15 ERA in five June starts. His only career start against the Pirates came on the road on April 16, a no-decision in which he gave up four runs on eight hits with one walk and seven strikeouts in 5 1/3 innings.

Nationals manager Blake Butera has quickly developed belief in Griffin.

“I appreciate every time he’s on the mound,” Butera said. “We all have a ton of confidence in Foster. He pitches his tail off for us and leaves it all out there every single time.”

Washington had Thursday off after winning two of three games at Boston. The Nationals cruised to a 10-2 victory over the Red Sox on Wednesday behind James Wood’s 22nd home run, a three-run shot in the seventh. Andres Chaparro added a two-run bomb and Nasim Nunez hit a solo shot, the first homers of the season for both players.

The Pirates are set to counter with right-hander Mitch Keller (6-5, 4.87 ERA). After going 0-3 with an 8.25 ERA in his previous five starts, Keller earned his lone win of June on Sunday, a 9-4 home decision against the Cincinnati Reds. He allowed five hits and four runs (three earned) with one walk and four strikeouts.

Keller made his second straight six-inning start, and he feels things are pointed in the right direction.

“I’m starting to feel like I am getting in a little more of a rhythm,” Keller said. “Obviously, there’s still a lot more that I can clean up and just execute a little better.”

In eight career starts against Washington, Keller is 1-4 with a 5.31 ERA. He lost 5-4 to the Nationals on April 14 in Pittsburgh after yielding five runs on six hits and four walks with three strikeouts in four innings.

The Pirates’ offense is trending in the right direction. Rookie right fielder Esmerlyn Valdez continues to establish his place in the batting order.

Pittsburgh split a four-game road series against the Philadelphia Phillies this week, and Valdez was 2-for-4 with a run and three RBIs in a 6-1 win on Thursday.

Valdez homered in four consecutive games — including the series opener against the Phillies on Monday after going deep in each game of Pittsburgh’s previous three-game set against the Reds — a stretch that has highlighted his impressive start in the majors. Since his big league debut on May 22, Valdez has a .316 batting average, six homers and 15 RBIs in 19 games.

“The staff plays a big role,” Valdez said. “Even when you fail, they are right by your side. They bring the energy and give you the information you need to succeed.”

–Field Level Media