3 things I heard inside the Chicago Cubs clubhouse on Friday

Chicago Cubs benefitting from Seiya Suzuki hot streak

With a 3-for-4 performance on Friday, including a two-run homer in the fourth inning that pushed the Chicago lead to 3-0, Suzuki became the third Japanese player to record a season with at least 20 home runs and 70 RBI, joining Hideki Matsui and Shohei Ohtani. It also continued a roll for Suzuki, who is batting .359 over his past 34 games, with nine homers and 29 RBI since August 18.

While Suzuki hasn't had many down days during that run, Thursday was one of them as he went 0-for-5 in the loss to the Pittsburgh Pirates. That effort was on Suzuki's mind when he stepped to the plate on Friday.

"To be honest with you, I don't think I'm at my peak performance," Suzuki told reporters through an interpreter on Friday. "Yesterday, I didn't get any hits. To bounce back off of that and get a couple of hits today with a homer is something I'm really happy about."

After missing the start of the season with an oblique strain, Suzuki put together a decent first half at the plate (slashing .259/.342/.405). However, since the All-Star break, those numbers have skyrocketed, making Suzuki one of the main cogs in the Chicago offense and someone who will be leaned upon for production in the final eight games of the regular season.