Cubs’ Kris Bryant heating up, walking off as 9th-inning homer beats Marlins

Safe to say Kris Bryant is back for the Cubs?

More accurate to say he never really went anywhere?

Whatever the hot take of the moment might be on Bryant, he has begun powering the Cubs’ lineup in recent series like he hasn’t done since he hurt his shoulder last year.

And on this Tuesday night, that meant a three-run drive through the frigid wind with two outs in the ninth to beat the Marlins 5-2. It was his first walk-off home run since he had two during his 2015 rookie season.

The Cubs’ 17th victory in 22 games pushed them back into first place, a half-game ahead of the Cardinals, who lost Tuesday.

“It’s always good when it feels like things are clicking, and it certainly feels that way right now,” said Bryant, who has ninth-inning home runs in back-to-back games and homers in three straight for the first time in his career.

In fact, Bryant, who also tripled and scored in the first inning, has reached base in 17 consecutive games and has five homers in his last 10 games.

Not bad for one of the most scrutinized hitters on the team the first month of the season. The slow start by the 2016 MVP and two-time All-Star has led to angst among the fan base.

“I don’t think anybody in there doubted [him],” said teammate Jon Lester, who battled through six impressive innings without a walk, allowing only two unearned runs.

“It’s just good to see him kind of in that good spot right now. He’s been having some good at-bats and hitting the ball hard, and he hasn’t had the results here lately until probably this homestand. It’s nice to see that. But definitely nobody in that clubhouse doubted that he would be back to being Kris Bryant.”

Bryant is hitting .289 with a .417 on-base percentage and .789 slugging percentage in his last 10 games. He has nine extra-base hits and as many walks (eight) as strikeouts in that span.

The Cubs have gone 8-2 in those games.

“It feels normal,” Bryant said of the at-bats these days. “I knew it was just a matter of time before my work showed up in the games. I’ve been really proud of that.

“I feel like I’ve been putting in a ton of work just on consistency in my swing and approach and not chasing too much and taking my walks. It’s nice to see good results the last three games, four games — honestly, back to that homer I hit in Arizona.

“I’ve felt locked in since then. So I’m just going to ride this wave.”

If nothing else, the surge should silence any remaining whispers from those doubters who may have believed that issues remained with the shoulder he hurt on a headfirst slide May 19.

His six homers through 23 games are already more than he hit in 63 games after hurting the shoulder, which never got right despite two stints on the DL.

“He’s been working so hard,” said manager Joe Maddon, who helped in recent weeks by sharing a few observations from video work. “I think the West Coast trip got him right. He’s just hitting the ball a lot more consistently hard, and with that, his confidence is going up.

“Confidence matters. It always matters.”

For all the help a heating Bryant can add to an already productive lineup led by Javy Baez and Willson Contreras, the pitching staff has been the backbone of the Cubs’ last-to-first surge.

And Lester helped show why again in his third start back from a hamstring injury against Marlins ace Caleb Smith, the onetime spring-training Cub.

On a 41-degree, wind-blown night made for pitching, Lester ran his streak of innings without an earned run to 13 and lowered his ERA to 1.41.

Lester has allowed only one run in 18 innings in three starts since returning from the injury.