Cubs flash leather all over field in sixth consecutive victory

The quaint notion that hitting is contagious has been around as long as Abner Doubleday, as if it can somehow spread from player to player like the whooping cough.

Well, then, perhaps it’s time for this variant, especially after watching the Cubs put on a master class in leatherwork in winning their sixth straight game Monday night, 5-1 over the Philadelphia Phillies in Wrigley Field.

Can fielding be contagious?

“Absolutely,’’ said catcher Carson Kelly, who did not play Monday night but had a front-row seat for seven defensive plays that objectively ranked as highlight plays, even for a team known for its defense.

“All of it can be contagious,’’ Kelly said. “Everything is. I think that’s what makes this game so beautiful, you can feel the momentum.’’

It began in the first inning, with left-fielder Ian Happ caterwauling over the low retaining wall in left field to grab Kyle Schwarber’s foul fly. The crowd was still buzzing about that play when second baseman Nico Hoerner’s backhanded dive took a base hit away from the Phillies’ other prime slugger, Bryce Harper.

What does that do for the guy standing on the hill, in this case Colin Rea?

“It kind of gets you fired up a little bit,’’ he said, “especially to start the game. You know, you’re so honed in on executing pitches and trying to make really good pitches and not make mistakes, and then you’re kind of like, ‘Oh, we got a defense like this. Just go right after them.’’

It couldn’t have done much for the sagging confidence of the Phillies, who have now lost six straight, especially when the fielding virtuosity did not let up all night.

In the second inning, it was Michael Conforto, with a diving catch in right field.

In the third, it was first baseman Michael Busch with a slick scoop of third baseman Alex Bregman’s low throw while on the run.

In the sixth, it was Busch again, this time with a diving stop on the line of Bryson Stott’s smash, Busch flipping to Rea for the out.

In the seventh, it was Hoerner’s turn for an encore, this time with a dive to his left to take another hit away, this time from the aggrieved Schwarber.

Even the substitutes got into the act. Matt Shaw, who has a thimbleful of experience in right field, made a flying grab of Trea Turner’s sinking liner in the ninth.

“From the second batter of the game, like all night, there were tons of plays being made,’’ said Rea, who exited with two outs in the seventh to a standing ovation from the crowd of 27,798 after a yield of six hits and a run, numbers that surely would have been inflated without the defensive wizardry.

“It’s like, you don’t expect those plays to be made,’’ Rea said, “but you do at the same time with just the guys we have all around the diamond, and I think they take a lot of pride in making those plays.’’

Playing quality defense lies deep in the team’s DNA, said shortstop Dansby Swanson, whose three-run home run in the Cubs’ four-run second made short work of the Phillies’ struggling one-time ace Aaron Nola.

The Cubs have outscored opponents by a 44-14 margin during the streak, and have held opponents to a total of four runs in the last three games.

So, we ask again: Can fielding be contagious?

“I think just good baseball is,’’ said Swanson, taking note of how the pitching staff has picked up for injured starters Cade Horton and Matthew Boyd, as well as a gaggle of relievers on the shelf as well.

“There are so many different ways to bring energy to a group and to a game. You can do it defensively by making plays. You can do it offensively by hitting the ball hard. You can do it by stealing bases. You can do it by taking extra bases. You can do it by shutting teams down.

“There are so many ways to do it, and this team is really, really good at it.’’