Rarely do you see a beat writer go with the word “need,” but here we are. Kansas City clearly had no juice in the running game all last season as Pacheco struggled to run the same after returning from a broken leg. Kareem Hunt was a steady veteran pounder but couldn’t hit a second gear. Taylor notes that Brett Veach has been quoted as saying running backs in Andy Reid’s offense “need to be a better receiver than a runner” and ties them to Georgia back Trevor Etienne.

Suzuki’s two-run homer off Marlins lefty reliever Anthony Veneziano gave the Cubs a commanding five-run lead that they wouldn’t relinquish. He’s hitting just .149 (7-for-47) in 11 games since the start of May, but three of those hits have left the yard.

Hill went deep in his return from the injured list, clobbering a no-doubter to left field two outs in the seventh inning to break up a potential shutout bid from Cubs starter Colin Rea. It was his second dinger of the season and first time he’s gone deep since April 8. It was also his lone hit in four at-bats in the low-scoring affair.

Pomeranz, who hasn’t allowed a run in seven relief appearances since making his Chicago debut back on April 25, got the call to protect a three-run lead with Porter Hodge likely unavailable after throwing 29 pitches in a pair of appearances over the weekend. It certainly appears the Cubs are going to try to stay away from Ryan Pressly in save situations for the time being. The 36-year-old veteran southpaw struck out Kyle Stowers and got Eric Wagaman to fly out to center field before Connor Norby delivered a two-out single. He froze Derek Hill on a 94.4 mph fastball to extinguish any hopes of a comeback and preserve the victory.