Cubby-Blue

Remember to vote for Cubs David Ross on DWTS.

Welllllll, so John Lackey gave up some homers last night and the Cubs lose to the Giants 4-6.
Joe Panik led off the game with a one to center and in the 3rd doubled in Gorkys Hernandez.
Brandon Belt singled in another one that inning, so 3-zip.
Justin Ruggiano doubled in Eduardo Nunez in the 4th.
Belt hit one out in the 5th.
Ruggiano hit anOTHER one out in the 8th, so it's 6-nothin' and maaaan that's a brutal way to go into the 8th.
Cub bats woke up then with 2-run dingers from Baez and Zobrist, but not enough.
This kid reliever who started the game, Ty Blach, baffled Cub bats almost all night.

Bummer after the magnificent 13 runs on Sunday vs the Brewers.

It's a must watch biggie tonight with Jon Lester going up against Johnny Cueto.
Pretty sure I'll be watching the game and not Dancing With The Stars, but... kind of awesome that David Ross is still in the thing.
Nobody in their right mind would think a man more accustomed to wearing the tools of ignorance rather than tights could get so far in a dance contest.

Joe Maddon's #Cubs lineup is a daily puzzle. But a good puzzle.

Crazy times, eh?
I thought Ian Happ was heading back down, but instead it was Tommy LaStella.
Pierce Johnson was up for a couple sips of coffee, an inning only, and sent back.
Jason Heyward came back from the bruised knuckle.
Some other pitcher came up.
But the big news is Joe Maddon moving Kyle Schwarber down to the 2nd slot and having Ben Zobrist lead off.
He's not saying that's gonna be that way all the time, and with Javier Baez, Albert Almora, Miggy Montero, and John Jay on the bench I'm certain it won't be.
And... man it's just never a dull moment.

Lets see if this new lineup can produce.
Go Cubs.

Javier Baez leads Cubs in sweep over Reds - 1st sweep of '17.

With all the talk about the not so great record at home and the importance of this first series, HOW AWESOME TO COME AWAY WITH A SWEEP VS THE REDS!
2017 has been so much harder so far - by this time last year, the Cubs had 4 sweeps: 2 gamer vs Angels, 3 gamer vs Reds, 2 gamer vs Brewers (actually 3 - the middle game was rained out and Cubs won the makeup game 4-0 on Aug 16), 3 gamer vs Pirates, and 4 gamer vs the Nats.
This Reds series was more in line with last year - the Cubs outscoring Cinci 25 - 15, each game with crooked number early innings and headspinning freakouts by the opposing pitchers. 
When you look at the replay of Javier Baez' excellent and monstrous grand salami, watch Reds catcher Tucker Barnhart. 
Ohhh the agony of defeat body language, and it's only the first inning.
These games looked like those Cubs we got to meet last year and...
Don't you feel a hell of alot better?

And neeeexxtt...
It's the Milwaukee Brewers.
The oddly first place Milwaukee Brewers.
As a team they're 2nd in the NL slugging .466 (Cubs 10th at .401), 2nd in OPS at .792 (Cubs 11th at .731), and 1st in homers with 65 (Cubs 8th with 48).
The Cubs face Paolo Espino today, never thrown a Big League pitch... vs Eddie Butler who beat the Cards his first time out.
Saturday it's Chase Anderson (3.43 ERA) vs Jake Arrieta (5.44), Sunday Jimmy Nelson (3.86) vs Mr. Lackey (4.37).

All these numbers need to be corrected, and now is a fine time for that to start.

Last thing is Kyle Schwarber and his "Neighborhood Heroes" campaign.
Read this.
The first line says: "Kyle Schwarber's father is a police chief, his mother is a nurse and his sister is in the National Guard."
That guy is so cool, and I predict his .361 slugging is about to go up.

It's the 70th Anniversary of Jackie Robinson's 1st game at Wrigley Field.

Jackie Robinson's first game at Wrigley Field was May 18th, 1947.
I didn't realize that Wrigley Field is the last remaining ballpark that Jackie Robinson actually played at.
Wait, here's a tweet from Sahadev Sharma that tells it better than I can:

So... super cool.

I've been out of town on a shoot.
And I can't tell you how awesome it was to fly home and turn on a 7-5 Cub Victory over the Reds.
That last Addison Russell throw to Anthony Rizzo that was overturned for the last out made up for the plane almost blowing off the runway when we landed.
Heart attack.
But a nice 6 innings (and W) for Kyle Hendricks.
Followed by... a "what the hell just happened" performance from Mike Montgomery (where he gave up 3 runs), Pedro Strop is in a Twilight Zone, Carl Edwards Jr. looked fabulous, and Wade Davis remains runless with his .000 ERA and 9 straight saves.
The bats still look wishy washy.
But 2 wins in a row against a team you're supposed to beat... I can go to bed happy.
The Cubs are now 9-9 at home, and hopefully at the end of this long homestand it'll be way better than .500.

Willson Contreras. 2 Long Balls. Cubs 3, Cardinals 2.

So that's what those two L's are for.
Willson Contreras, what a stud pup.
2 long balls in Busch Stadium to help beat the Cardinals in game one of their 3-game series.
One to right, one just left of center, plus the Fowler pickoff at first.
Great night.
And 26 year old Eddie Butler (that is a GREAT baseball name, btw) goes 6 innings of 2 hit, zeero run starting pitching.
It's almost ALWAYS the other guys who drag some kid up from the minors for the first time to completely flummox the Cubs, and it was just soooooo nice that it works the other way, too.
I wonder if Contreras... well I'll just say it.
I bet Contreras is well aware of Yadier Molina the Cardinal Legend.
And I bet Contreras is thinking hey old man, you had your time. 
Very soon I'm gonna be taking that All Star spot of yours and you can just go play with your sticky substance elsewhere.

How you feeling today, Cub Fan?
It is amazing what one little W can do for one's mood, right?
Today is Jon Lester who threw 120 pitches last Sunday so hopefully his early innings go crisply.
And for St. Louis it's Carlos Martinez who we last saw on Opening Day when he struck out 10 Cubs.
Lets keep this mood thing happening, okay Cubs?

Cubs vs Cardinals. The Greatest Rivalry for 125 years.

The first Chicago vs St. Louis game happened on April 12th, 1892 at Sportsman's Park in St. Louis.
Back then, the Cubs were called the Colts and the Cardinals was called the Browns, and the Colts won the season opener 14 to 10. (No box, but here's the link to the Baseball Almanac)
Weird, huh?
125 years of Browns and Hornsbys, Wilsons and Musials, Jenkins's and Gibsons and Santos and Torres and Banks and Sandbergs and Brocks and Dawsons and Woods and Carpenters and man you can go on forever... this rivalry is made of gold.
Tonight it continues with Eddie Butler in his first start ever for the Cubs vs longtime Red and recent Cardinal Mike Leake, who's sporting a shiny 1.79 ERA this year.
That's tops in the NL.
Which would make it all the sweeter if the Cubs could just bust out like you and I know they can and knock him off that perch.
The Cubs need a streak and it might as well start tonight.
The Cards have won 6 in a row and we know what the Cubs have been up to, or down to.
I'm sick of this small sample size of .500 we're not supposed to worry about, and a win tonight would take us MILES towards normal, because the new normal is the Cubs are kings of the Central.

Big picture is no, I'm not worried about the season and you shouldn't be either.
But my Cub Mind is made up of the collection of the last month, and my Cub Mind needs that collection to get better.
Tonight it'll be cloudy and 50s at Busch, but the weekend is pure baseball weather - sunny and just about 80 for the day games Sat and Sun.
I expect to see some Rizzo/Bryant plus 100 MPH exit velocity, and balls flying out.

Go Cubs.