CHICAGO -- Twenty games over .500.

It’s Memorial Day.

In more than 100 years, those two sentences have been uttered together only one other time in regard to the Chicago Cubs. In 1907, the Cubs were 26-6 on May 25. They went on to win the World Series that year and the next.

Since then, they’ve hit a championship dry spell that continues to this day, but after nearly two months of some of the best baseball this franchise has ever experienced, it looks like that drought could end.

“It goes back to the good start,” manager Joe Maddon told reporters Sunday after the Cubs' latest win. “We talked about that in camp. [It] was so important to get off to a good start. We just absorbed a little bit of a hiccup. Right now, we’re talking about 20 over, whereas a week ago, we were talking about stubbing our toe a little bit.”

A 4-8 stretch was the Cubs’ version of a stubbed toe. But that was quickly followed by five straight wins in which they outscored the opposition 38-16, and that put them back on track to challenge baseball's all-time record of 116 victories.

“That’s what a good start permits you to do,” Maddon said. “You can stub your toe and still look good.”

Even while losing a few games, the Cubs were getting the job done on the mound, especially with their starting staff. If there is one reason the team is an eye-popping 20 games over .500 on Memorial Day, it’s because of these five names: Jake Arrieta, Jon Lester, John Lackey, Jason Hammel and Kyle Hendricks. After the weekend sweep of Philadelphia, the Cubs' starting staff has an ERA of 2.49. The Washington Nationals' 3.13 is a distant second in that category.

Although the Cubs have been marching past many milestones in the first two months of the season, this one might be the most impressive: According to Elias Sports Bureau research, not since the 1972 Los Angeles Dodgers has a team entered June with five starters (minimum eight starts) with ERAs of 3.16 or below. Considering that the ERAs of the pitchers who will be starting the last two days of May -- Hammel (2.17) on Monday against the Dodgers and Arrieta (1.72) on Tuesday -- are well below that mark, it's unlikely either will be tagged for enough runs to jeopardize the Cubs' chance to match that accomplishment.

Hendricks' and Lackey's further reducing their ERAs the past couple days has inspired a new topic of debate on sports radio stations: In a best-of-seven playoff series, which four pitchers would you start for the Cubs, if the playoffs began June 1?

Guess who has given up the fewest home runs and walks? Hendricks. In nine starts, Hendricks has given up fewer home runs (2) than Arrieta (3) and fewer walks (12) than Lester or Lackey (17). Of course, the matchup with the opponent would affect who would start and when, but if the playoffs began this week, Maddon would have a tough time setting the rotation.

It’s a moot point at the moment because things will undoubtedly change over the next four months. But right now, the starting staff is reaching a level previously unseen at Wrigley Field.

It seems highly unlikely that the Cubs will deal for a big-name starter come trade season -- they already have five pitchers who can lead them to a championship. More than likely, they’ll use their assets on a bullpen arm or two while stashing a back-end starter in the minors in case he’s needed.

As for Maddon, he plays the "over .500" game like everyone else. He likes to mark five-game increments and recognizes when his team reaches another plateau. Last year, the Cubs reached 20 over .500 for the first time on August 23. This year, it happened on May 29. There might be four months and 114 games of baseball left, but for two months in 2016, Maddon’s team has shown the baseball world that it is every bit as good as everyone thought they might be -- historically good, in fact -- with no signs of slowing down.

“I was aware we could be 20 over after [Sunday],” Maddon said. “The next goal is 25, obviously. Give our guys credit.”

They deserve it.