CHICAGO -- Moving from one month to the next can provide a kind of mental lift for teams that slip into a cold spell. The arrival of June offers that kind of hope for the Cubs -- even if it falls into the category of placebo effect -- given the way the past four weeks have gone.

¡°I do feel a little better waking up and writing ¡®June 1,¡¯¡± Cubs manager Craig Counsell said. ¡°You¡¯re like, ¡®Oh, this is a reason to feel better.¡¯ I¡¯m kind of lying to myself, but we all do that, you know?¡±

If Saturday night was a sign of things to come in June for the Cubs, buckle up.

Chicago¡¯s 7-5 win over the Reds at Wrigley Field -- delivered via a two-run homer by Dansby Swanson in the eighth -- took place amid steady showers that initially forced a three-hour, 20-minute rain delay. The fans who hung in there filled the old ballpark with an odd energy, engaging loudly and boisterously with each pitch that served as a reward for their patience.

¡°I¡¯m just really glad we won,¡± Swanson said. ¡°It¡¯s been a little bit of a tough stretch. To be able to fight and compete today, regardless of the conditions and just being here all day, all the different obstacles, we really just stepped up today.¡±

In the second inning alone, there was a full range of emotions for the audience to experience.

In the top half of the frame, Cubs lefty Justin Steele was tasked with a bases-loaded jam with two outs. He induced a fly ball high over right field, where Seiya Suzuki waved off center fielder Pete Crow-Armstrong and settled under his target. The ball caromed off Suzuki¡¯s glove, the crowd unleashed a collective gasp and the door was open for Cincinnati to push four unearned runs across in the frame.

¡°I just really wanted to apologize to Steele for that routine play that I should¡¯ve obviously caught,¡± Suzuki said via his interpreter, Toy Matsushita. ¡°That play in right field, that kind of drove my emotions throughout the whole [game].¡±

Reds righty Hunter Greene then walked three batters and found himself in a bases-loaded, two-out situation in the bottom of the second. Naturally, it was Suzuki in the batter¡¯s box. With the count full, the Cubs¡¯ right fielder made amends, crushing a 98.3 mph heater over the left-field bleachers for his first career grand slam. The Wrigley faithful were delirious.

¡°There was nobody that was more excited for him than me,¡± Steele said. ¡°I was down in the tunnel freaking out. I was going nuts. What a moment for him. That¡¯s just kind of the player he is.¡±

Suzuki¡¯s slam came one inning after he tripled, helping him join Jason Heyward, Ryan Theriot, Sammy Sosa and Bill Buckner as the fifth Cubs batter in the past 50 years with a homer and a three-bagger in the first two innings of a game. Suzuki is also the only MLB player in the modern era to hit a grand slam and commit a three-run error in the same game.

¡°Credit to Seiya for staying in it,¡± Counsell said.

The Cubs grabbed the lead on a Nico Hoerner RBI single in the third, but the Reds responded with a run in the fourth. On that run-scoring play -- an RBI single up the middle by Jeimer Candelario -- Crow-Armstrong registered the first outfield assist of his career at a key moment.

Elly De La Cruz slowed into second on Candelario¡¯s single and then bolted for third when Crow-Armstrong hesitated to throw the ball in. The center fielder fired a precise throw to third baseman Christopher Morel, whose tag stayed on De La Cruz as he popped off the bag during his head-first slide. Initially ruled safe, De La Cruz was deemed out after a replay challenge by Counsell.

¡°Sick review by the review team for us,¡± Steele said. ¡°It¡¯s one of those games where every out counts for you. That ended up being huge.¡±

It was not the way any team would have drawn up a page-turning game, but it got things rolling in an important month for the North Siders.

Including Saturday¡¯s tilt, the Cubs play teams with a below-.500 record 24 times out of 27 games in June. The exception is the June 28-30 road series against the National League Central-leading Brewers. There are a dozen division games this month for Chicago (six against Cincinnati, three against St. Louis and three against Milwaukee).

That is the type of opportunistic path the Cubs need, following a 10-18 showing in May that dropped the team below .500 and to the edge of the Wild Card picture. That slide came after Chicago set a franchise record with 18 wins in March-April.

¡°There¡¯s so many moments in a season,¡± Swanson said. ¡°There¡¯s just some where they¡¯re capitalized on, it can really change the momentum of a season. Hopefully, something like tonight ¡­ can really build some momentum.¡±