Craig Counsell needs to make this closer change after Cubs finally hold onto late lead

The Chicago Cubs are a flawed baseball team, but their bullpen has held them back more than anything. This one statistic proves just that. Even if the Cubs had a semi-competent bullpen, they'd presumably be in a postseason spot. Instead, they entered Tuesday's game against the San Francisco Giants five games under .500 and in last place in the NL Central after blowing another game on Monday.

Tuesday's game felt like more of the same for the Cubs. Justin Steele went toe-to-toe with Giants ace Logan Webb, allowing just two runs in 6.2 innings of work, but the Cubs only managed two runs themselves through seven frames.

Run-scoring hits by Cody Bellinger, Ian Happ, and Christopher Morel gave Chicago a 5-2 lead which in most cases would feel secure, but in the Cubs' case, it felt like anything but.

One day after saying he was planning on sticking with the status quo, Craig Counsell managed his bullpen differently on Tuesday. It paid off. The Cubs finally held onto a late lead, and Counsell needs to do exactly what he did next time the Cubs have a late lead.

Craig Counsell must ride hot hand after Cubs finally secure late-game victory

A constant theme from this season has been Counsell relying on his guys for too long. Part of that has to do with Jed Hoyer not giving him enough to work with, but part of it is Counsell simply not letting go. The Cubs lead the National League with 16 blown saves. That was tied for second in the majors entering the night. Thankfully, they did not blow it this time.

Tyson Miller, one of the few solid relievers in Chicago's bullpen, was the first reliever Counsell turned to. He retired all four men he faced, keeping the game knotted at two. After the Cubs took a 5-2 lead, Counsell turned to Keegan Thompson to shoot for his first save of the season and fourth of his career. All Thompson did was strike out the side to secure a much-needed Cubs win.

Thompson entered the game with an unimpressive 4.61 ERA in his first ten appearances and 13.2 innings of work, but six of the seven earned runs he had allowed came in two particularly rough outings. He was sporting a 3.66 FIP, and had struck out 33.3 percent of the batters he had faced. His statistics seemed to indicate that his ERA was higher than it probably should've been, and he showed a lot in his first save opportunity of the season.

Miller and Thompson have greatly outperformed the Cubs' usual late-game duo of Mark Leiter Jr. and Hector Neris for much of this season, and the one time the Cubs secured a win, they stayed away from those guys.

Perhaps Neris and Leiter were unavailable. Both of them threw over 20 pitches and struggled the day before. Still, the fact that Counsell tried something new and saw it worked has to mean something, right?

This Cubs team can't afford to wait on Neris, Leiter, and anyone else struggling to turn it around. If Counsell has just found a winning formula, he has to ride it. Time will tell to see if he will.