- CF Dexter Fowler
- RF Jason Heyward
- 2B Ben Zobrist
- 1B Anthony Rizzo
- 3B Kris Bryant
- LF Kyle Schwarber
- DH Tommy La Stella (Jorge Soler, E-10 on the author)
- C Miguel Montero
- P Jake Arrieta
I believe Joe Maddon had over 140 different starting lineups in 2015. Lets see how many it will be this year.
April 4
Cubs 9 Angels 0 — Jake Arrieta, 7 innings gave up 2 hits, struck out 6, walked 1. It looks like Jake is picking up where he left off last season. Of course it’s way to early to talk about breaking season long records. But is it possible for Jake Arrieta to break one of the records that is considered by many to be impossible to surpass; Bob Gibson’s ERA of 1.12 in 1968? The Cubs did leave 25 runners on base.
John Lester on the mound tonight hope he doesn’t have to field any grounders or attempt a pickoff.
“Try not to suck” boys.
April 5 2–0
John Lester had a good outing last night, 4Ks, no walks, 1 earned run. A much better start than last year when early on Lester had a “dead arm.” Even with a dead arm Lester managed to break Ken Holtzman strike out record (from the 1960s)with 207 Ks.
Cubs have a 2 game lead on the 0–2 Cardinals. John Mozeliak, GM of the Cards, offered Tony LaRussa his old job if he promised to stay sober. No info on what LaRussa’s answer was.
Off day today. Leaving Anaheim after outscoring them 15–1 in 2 games. Pujols was 0–7 with 2 Ks, Trout was 0–8 with 3 Ks.
D-Backs on Thursday.
“Try not to suck” boys.
April 6 — OFF DAY
I hate it when the Cubs have a day off so early in the season, especially after winning their first two games. I know, I know rain outs and “cold outs” are more likely early in the season, #letsgo
John Lackey takes the bump tonight in Arizona, his first start as a Cub. Let’s hope he has at least 150 innings left in his 37 year old arm. I’m told his competitive fire still burns white hot, which will help.
“Try not to suck” boys.
April 7 3–0
Good news is the Cubs beat the D-backs 14–6 last night. The bad news is Kyle Schwarber collided with Dexter Fowler chasing down Segura’s deep fly that turned into and ITPHR. Schwarber was carted off the field. X-rays were negative on his left ankle. An MRI is scheduled for to day.
Hammel is pictching tonight and Schwarber was going to catch tonight’s game. Oh well.
“Try not to suck” boys.
April 8— 3–1, 1 game behind the Pirates
Cubs lost 3–2 to the D-Backs with 2 outs in the bottom of the 9th. The Cubs only had 5 hits and to of those were by Dexter Fowler. Joe Maddon said,“You can’t be an oil painting every night.”
The bigger issue is Kyle Schwarber is out for the season with ACL and LCL tears. The Cubs called up Munenori Kawasaki from Triple A Iowa. The Cubs depth should mitigate the loss of Kyle.
“Try not to suck” boys.
April 9— 4–1 Tied with Pirates for 1st place
Cubs get 3 runs in the top of the first off Greinke. Cubs win 4–2. Zobrist has 3 hits and a walk. Rizzo has 10 RBI this season. Kyle Hendricks, the Cubs 5th starter pitched 6–2/3 innings, 5K, 4 hits, 2 earned runs.
Kyle Hendricks had 32 starts in 2015.
Arrieta pitches the final game today in Arizona.
“Try not to suck” boys.
April 10–5–1 Tied with the Reds for 1st
Cubs win 7–3. Arrieta hits a 2 run homer 440+ feet to give the Cubs a 2–0 lead in the 2nd. Tommy LaStella had 3 hits and Jorge Soler homered. It’s great to be coming home to the friendly confines of Wrigley Field.
“Try not to suck” boys.
April 11 6–1 Cubs are alone in 1st place
Cubs Home Opener
Cubs win 5–3. The Red’s Brandon Finnegan had a no-hitter through 6–2/3 innings. With 2 outs Ross singled and 3 batters later with the bases loaded Jason Hayward singled home 2 runs to cut the lead to 3–2. This set the stage for Addison Russell’s heroics in the bottom of the 8th. With 2 out and 2 on Addison blasted a 3 run homer into the left field bleachers. Adam Warren got the win. The Wrigley crowd went wild.
“Try not to suck” boys.
April 12, 6–1
Another off day and you know how I feel about these especially when the Cubs are HOT.
“Try not to suck” boys.
April 13, 7–1, 1st place, 2 games in front of the Reds.
Cubs won 9–2. Cubs were down 1–0 after the top half of the first. After the Cubs batted in the bottom of the first they were up 5–1 with John Lackey credited with a 1B and 2 RBIs. JasonHeyward was 2–4. Kris Bryant was 2–3 with 2 walks and his first HR. The Cubs are HOT!
“Try not to suck” boys.
April 14, 8–1, 1st place,3 games in front of Reds and Cards.
Cubs won 8–1 and sweep the Reds who gave up 22 walks in the 3 game series. With John Lackey getting a double all of the Cubs starting pitchers, except John Lester, have gotten a hit. Dexter Fowler and Addison Russell powered the Cubs with 3 hits apiece. Kris Bryant homered for the 2nd game in a row.
“Try not to suck” boys.
April 15, 8–2,(Rocks) 1st place, 2 games in front of the Cards.
Cubs lost 6–1. Chad Bettis scattered 4 hits over 6 innings to gain the win over the Cubs. Kyle Hendricks gave up 4 runs on 7 hits over 6 innings with 5 Ks. Neither side had any homers. Just not our day :(
Only 4 hits today coupled with 4 errors makes it difficult to win.
“Try not to suck” boys.
April 16, 9–2,(Rocks) 1st place 2 games over the Cards.
Cubs win 6–2. Travis Wood gave up a 2 run homer in the 9th. Jake Arrieta (3–0) pitched 8 innings of shutout ball, 8 Ks, 1 walks. Arrieta hasn’t allowed a run at Wrigley in 48–2/3 regular season innings. Javier Baez is back up in the “bigs” after recovering from a thumb injury he received sliding head first into first base. Maddon says Baez will play 2–3 games a week. Back to back pitches and back to back homers by Rizzo and Soler in the 4th. Dexter Fowler sealed the victory with a 3 run blast to make it 5–0 in the 7th. David Ross’ sacrifice fly in the 8th, scoring Addison Russell was icing on the cake.
“Try not to suck” boys.
April 17, 9–3,(Rocks) 1st place 2 games over the Cards.
Cubs lose 2–0, through now fault of John Lester. He pitched 7–1/3 innings , 10Ks, 4 hits, 1 earned run and threw in a base hit just for good measure. Nolan Arenado hit 2 homers. The Cubs only managed 3 hits.
“Try not to suck” boys.
April 18, 10–3,(Cards) 1st place 3 games over the Cards and the Pirates.
Cubs win 5–0. John Lackey was Filthy against his old team, 7 innings, 11Ks, and he got a hit! Lackey is only the 16th pitcher to have victories over all 30 teams. Dexter Fowler broke a scoreless tie with a solo homer. The Cubs added 3 more runs in the 7th helped by a Aledmys Diaz error.
April 19, 11–3, (Cards)Best record in MLB(Cards) 1st place 4 games over the Cards, Pirates, and Reds.
Cubs win 2–1. Jason Hammel did it all, 6 innings, 5hits, 6 Ks, no walks, and 1 earned run and he knocked in both Cub runs with a single. Warren, Strop and Rondon combine for 5Ks and a save.
“Try not to suck” boys.
April 20, 11–4, (Cards)First place.
Cubs lose 5–3, Kyle Hendricks saddled with the loss but still took 2 of 3 in St. Louis. There was a 3 hour rain delay. Rizzo had two hits, 2 RBI, and one a homer.
“Try not to suck” boys.
April 21, 12–4, (Reds) First place 3–1/2 games ahead of the Cards.
Cubs win 16–0, Arrieta no-hits the Reds as the Cubs hit 5 homers. Chris Bryant had 2 homers including the 3rd grand slam of his young career! It was a rout!
“Try not to suck” boys.
April 22, 13–4, (Reds)First place 4–1/2 games ahead of the Cards.
Cubs win 8–1, John Lester improves to 2–1 and Anthony Rizzo hits a homer for the third game in a row. Both Lester and David Ross made successful squeeze bunts to score runs. Baez also hits a homer
“Try not to suck” boys.
April 23, 13–5 (Reds) First place 3–1/2 games ahead of the Cards.
Cubs lost 13–5, (Reds) John Lackey slips to 3–1. The Cubs were leading 3–2 in the 6th inning when the Reds exploded with 3 homers; Suarez hit a 3 run homer of Lackey, Duvall hit a 3 run homer off of Trevor Cahill and Scott Schebler hit a solo shot. Let’s flush this game!
“Try not to suck” boys
April 24, 14–5 (Reds) First place 3–1/2 ahead of the Cards.
Cubs win 9–0, Jason Hammel with the win and an .075 ERA which is less than Jake Arrieta’s (.086).Anthony Rizzo homered twice. That’s 5 times in the last 5 games.Dexter Fowler had the day off. How do you give Fowler a day off when he is batting .385? When you have La Stella on your bench. Tommy La Stella made only his 4th start this season and he had 2 doubles and a homer. Took 3 of 4 from the Reds in Cincy.
“Try not to suck”boys.
April 25, 14–5, Off day
April 26, 15–5, (Brewers)
Cubs win 4–3, Kyle Hendricks was pulled after 5 innings after the Cubs were down 1 run. Pinch hitter for Hendricks, La Stella walked. Fowler hit a sac fly to tie it at 1–1. Later Addison Russel tripled scoring 2 runs. In the 7th Baez scored on an infield single by Rizzo to make it 4–1. Ryan (juicer) Braun doubled 2 runs home for the final score of 4–3
“Try not to suck” boys.
April 27, 15–5 (Brewers)Postponed rain.
April 28, 16–5 (Brewers) First place 3 games ahead of the Pirates.
Cubs win 7–2. Arrieta (5–0)gives up an earned run but still gets the win. Ben Zobrist hit a 2 run single in the first to give the Cubs a 2 run lead. David Ross hit a homer in the 2nd to make it 3–0 Cubs. Rizzo and La Stella each hit RBI doubles to make it 5–0. Kris Bryant sprains his ankle scoring on Rizzo’s double. Cubs played small ball to get a run in the 5th and 6th innings. Pressley had 2 RBIs for the Brewers for their 2 runs. Miguel Montero goes on the 15 day DL with a stiff back. Tim Federowicz is called up from Iowa.
“Try not to suck” boys.
April 29, 17–5 (Braves) First place 3–1/2 games ahead of the Pirates.
Cubs win 6–1. John Lester got a no decision after giving up one run over 7 innings. Strop got the win. The Cubs had loaded the bases in the bottom of the 7th but David Ross hit into a double play to end the inning. In the 8th, with the bases loaded, Joe Maddon sent in Matt Szczur as a pinch hitter. Szczur hit his first grand slam home run.
“Try not to suck” boys.
April 30, 17–5 (Braves) Postponed rain.
May 1, 17–6 (Braves) First place, 3 games ahead of the Pirates.
The Cubs lost 4–3 in 10 innings. John Lackey had a no-hitter going in the 5th inning when Kelly Johnson broke an unwritten rule of baseball. He tried to bunt to break up the no hitter, that’s a no-no. The next pitch was high heat, a message. When Lackey came up to bat an inning later he and the Braves catcher Tyler Flowers “discussed” the Johnson bunt attempt.The Cubs rallied from a 3–0 deficit with 2 runs in the 8th and 1 run in the 9th before losing in 10 innings. There is no momentum in sports!
“Try not to suck” boys.
May 2, 18–6 (Pirates) First place, 4 games ahead of the Pirates.
Cubs win 7–2 chasing Pirates ace Garrett Cole in 4–2/3 innings. He gave up 5 earned runs on 6 hits. Jason Hammel improved to 4–0 although his ERA skyrocketed to 1.24 from 0.75. Hammel plunked Starling Marte and the next inning Ben Zobrist got hit and the F-Bombs flew from both benches. The Cubs had 11 hits, 2 each by Rizzo, Fowler, and Baez. The Cubs are the only team left that has not lost 2 consecutive games.
“Try not to suck” boys.
May 3, 19–6 (Pirates) First place , 5 games ahead of the Pirates, 7 games ahead of the Cards.
Cubs win 7–1. Arrieta improves to 6–0 with an ERA of 0.84! Kris Bryant had 3 hits and Rizzo had 2 hits.The AAA catcher Federwicz also 3 hits filling in for Miguel Montero who is on the 15 day DL with back spasms. Matt Sczcur also went on the 15 day DL for a hamstring injury
“Try not to suck” boys.
May 4, 20–6 (Pirates) First place, 6 games ahead of the Pirates.
Cubs win 6–2 and sweep the Pirates in Pittsburgh. Ben Zobrist blasted a 3 run homer in the 3rd inning and the Cubs never looked back. Anthony Rizzo had 7 doubles and a homer in the 3 game series. John Lester gets the win and has a 3–1 record.
“Try not to suck” boys.
May 5, 21–6 (Nationals)
Cubs win 5–2. Kyle Hendricks pitches 6 scoreless innings. Ben Zobrist had a 2 run single in the 4th inning and a 2 run homer in the eighth. Travis Wood gave up a 2 run homer to Jayson Werth in the ninth for the Nats only runs. Jason Heyward’s wrist was ok to play Friday but when Dexter Fowler was ejected in the 3rd inning for arguing balls and strikes Heyward played center field.
“Try not to suck” boys
May 6, 22–6 (Nationals)
Cubs win 8–6. Zobrist hits 2 homers and 4 in the last 3 games. Anthony Rizzo and Tommy LaStella also hit solo homers. John Lackey improves to 4–1. Max Sherzer gave up 7 runs on 7 hits in 5 innings.
“Try not to suck” boys.
May 7, 23–6 (Nationals) First place 7 games in front of the Pirates.
Cubs win 8–5. Jason Hayward and David Ross were the only Cubs without a hit. Addison Russell had 3 RBIs and Kris Bryant had a solo homer. Adam Warren pitched a scoreless inning to get the win, to improve to 3–1. Hector Rondon earned his 6th save.
“Try not to suck” boys.
May 8, 24–6 (Nationals) First place 7–1/2 games in front of the Pirates.
Cubs win 4–3 in 13 innings. The Cubs have won 7 in a row, which includes a 3 game sweep of the Pirates in Pittsburg and a 4 game sweep of the Nationals at home. Jake Arrieta was pulled after 5 innings. The bullpen held the Nationals scoreless for 8 innings. Javier Baez won it with a homer in the 13th inning. Note: Bryce Harbor went 0–0 with 6 walks (3 of which were intentional) and was hit by a pitch.
“Try not to suck” boys.
May 9, Postponed Rain, rescheduled for May 11, First place by 8 games.
May 10, 25–6 (Padres) First place 8–1/2 games in front of the Pirates.
Cubs win 8–7. The first 7 batters in the lineup all had at least one hit, Ben Zobrist had 4 hits, Javier Baez and Addison Russell each had 2 hits. John Lester got the win. Adam Warren gave up a pinch hit grand slam to Alex Dickerson in the 8th to make it 8–7. It was his first major league home run. Hector Rondon came in in the 9th for the save.
“Try not to suck” boys.
May 11, 25–8 (Padres) Double header. First place 7 games in front of the Pirates.
Cubs lose 7–4 and 1–0. The padres scored 2 quick runs off Kyle Hendricks in the first inning. The Cubs git 1 rubn back in the bottom of the inning with a Anthony Rizzo RBI single. Zobrist got an RBI single in the 2nd inning to tie it up. The Cubs went ahead in with 2 runs in the 4th inning on consecutive doubles by Addison Russell and the catcher Tim Federowicz. Pedro Strop came in in the 7th inning and couldn’t get any of the 5 batters he faced out.
In the nightcap John Lackey gave up a solo homer to Christian Bethancourt after retiring the first 14 batters he faced. As Bethancourt stood and admired his HR John Lackey hollered “you better f****ng run. That was it 1–0 loss.
“Try not to suck” boys.
May 12, Off Day First place 7 games in front of the Pirates.
May 13, 26–8 (Pirates) First place 8 games in front of the Pirates and Cardinals.
Cubs win 9–4 as the club the Pirates. Every starter had 1 hit including Jason Hammel (5–0) and David Ross had 3 hits, one a 3 run blast. Addison Russell hit also hit a 3 run homer. Kris Bryant hit a 2 run shot. Andrew McCutchen hit a solo shot for the Pirates and another run scored on a David Ross error.
“Try not to suck” boys.
May 14, 27–8 (Pirates) First place 9 games in front of the Pirates.
Cubs win 8–2. Arrieta gave up 2 runs in the 4th inning. In the bottom of the 4th Anthony Rizzo blasted a 3 run shot to up his RBI total to 33 and the Cubs never looked back. Addison Russell luanched a 2 run shot in the 6th and Dexter Fowler singled in Miguel Montero who returned to the lineup today to put the Cubs up 6–2. The Cubs added 2 more in the 8th via small ball. Jake Arrieta goes to 7–0
“Try not to suck” boys.
May 15, 27–9 (Pirates) First place 8 games in front of the Pirates and Cardinals.
Cubs lost 2–1. Jon Lester (4-@)pitches 6 inning of no-hit ball and loses. Jung Ho Kang’s double in the 7th inning gace the Pirates a 1–0 and Kang’s Home in the top of the 9th made it 2–0. The Cubs had runners on the corners with no outs in the 9th but scratched out only 1 run. Wind blowing in and the temperature was 45 degrees.
May 16, Off day
May 17 27–10 (Brewers) First place 7 games in front of the Pirates.
Cubs lose 4–2. Cubs were no hit for 7 innings by Chase Anderson. Ben Zobrist led off the 8th inning with a double. Solo homers by Jason Heyward and Kris Bryant but it look closer than it was. Kyle Hendricks (2–3) took the loss.
“Try not to suck” boys.
May 18 28–10 (Brewers) First place 8 games in front of the Pirates.
Cubs win 2–1 in 13 innings with a walk off walk by Travis Wood. Cubs tied it in the 9th.
“Try not to suck” boys.
May 19, 28–11 (Brewers) First place 7 games in front of the Pirates.
Cubs lose 5–3. Junior Guerra struck out 11 Cubs. The Cubs bats have been somnolent in Miwaukee. Jason Hammel took the loss (5–1).
“Try not to suck” boys.
May 20, 29–11 (Giants) First place 7 games in front of the Pirates.
Cubs win 8–1. Jake Arrieta is 8–0 with a 1.29 ERA a little higher than Bob Gibson’s 1.12 ERA in 1968 but they lowered the mound after Gibson posted that ERA. Jason Heyward made a spectacular catch in “triple alley.” MRI showed nothing serious was wrong. Kris Bryant blasted a 3 run homer. Ben Zobrist was only the 2nd Cub to hit a homer into McCovey Cove ( Corey Patterson was the first).
“Try not to suck” boys.
May 21, 29–12, (Giants) First place 7 games in front of the Pirates.
Cubs lose 5–3. Jason Heyward made a spectacular catch in “triples alley” and slid into the fall. Out 3–5 days we are lucky it wasn’t worse. John Lester lasted on 2–2/3 innings. First time this season a Cubs starter didn’t go 5 or more innings. Lester gave up 5 runs on 6 hits and 3 walks. Kris Bryant hit his 9th homer.
“Try not to suck” boys.
May 22, 29–13, (Giants) First place 6 games in front of the Pirates.
Cubs lose 1–0. Madison Baumgarner hit a double over Jorge Soler’s head in left field scoring Gregor Blanco who had a lead off walk. Kyle Hendricks (2–4).
“Try not to suck” boys.
May 23, 29–14, (Cardinals) First place 5 games in front of the Pirates.
Cubs lose 4–3. John Lackey threw you 87 pitches of 7 innings but Matt Adams tied the game at 3–3 with the Cards league leading 9th pinch hit homer of the season! Grichuk hit a walk-off homer in the bottom of the 9th.
“Try not to suck” boys.
May 24, 30–14, (Cardinals) First place 5 games in front of the Pirates.
Cubs win 12–3. First team with 30 wins. Cubs score 6 runs in the 1st inning.Jason Hammel (6–1) goes 7–1/3 innings and only throws ~83 pitches giving up 1 earned run. Soler homered. Seven Cubs hit doubles including Hammel.
“Try not to suck” boys.
May 25, 31–14, (Cardinals) First place 5 games in front of the Pirates.
Cubs win 9–8. Arrieta (9–0) goes 5 innings and gives up 4 earned runs! Ben Zobrist (.346) had 3 hits. Kris Bryant hit his 10th homer.
“Try not to suck” boys.
May 26, 31–14, Off day. First place 4–1/2 games in front of the Pirates.
May 27, 32–14 (Phillies) First place 4–1/2 games in front of the Pirates
Cubs win 6–2. Jon Lester (5–3) gave up 1 earned run over 6–1/3 innings, 2 walks, 7 strikeouts. Soler, Ross and Bryant homered but it was David Ross who stole the show with is 100th homer in the Bigs. Anthony Rizzo was given the day off. He is batting .234 on the season.
“Try not to suck” boy.
May 28, 33–14, (Phillies) First place 5–1/2 games in front of the Pirates
Cubs win 4–1. A sparkling complete game performance by Kyle Hendricks (3–4), 7 K’s no walks. Dexter Fowler led off with a homer. Jason Heyward is getting his stroke back with 2 doubles. Rizzo (.229) is still struggling with an 0–3 day.
“Try not to suck” boys.
May 29, 34–14 (Phillies) First place 6–1/2 games in front of the Pirates
Cubs win 7–2. They sweep the Phillies. The Cubs are 20 games over .500. John Lackey (5–2) pitched 7 innings giving up 1 earned run and gets the victory. Miguel Montero (2) and Ben Zobrist (7) each homered. Zobrist’s a 3 run shot. Grimm gives up a lead off homer in the ninth.
“Try not to suck” boys.
May 30, 35–14 (Dodgers) First place 6–1/2 games in front of the Pirates
Cubs win 2–0. Jason Hammel gave up a bloop single in the first. When he came out to warm up for the start of the 3rd inning his right legged cramped up. The bullpen served up 7 innings of no hit baseball! Cubs play small ball and win.
“Try not to suck” boys.
May 31, 35–15 (Dodgers) First place 6–1/2 games in front of the Pirates
Cubs lose 5–0. Jake Arietta goes 7 scoreless innings and gets a no decision for his effort. The Dodgers stung together 3 straight hits of Clayton Richard in the 8th inning and Corey Seager hit a 3 run homer in the 9th off of Trevor Cahill in the 9th.
“Try not to suck” boys
June 1, 36–15 (Dodgers) First place 7–1/2 games in front of the Pirates
Cubs win 2–1. Jon Lester threw a 4 hitter, struck out 10, walked none. Kris Bryant hit a 2 run homer to win it but other than that the bats were quiet. As Earl weaver use to say “ all I need is good pitching and a 3 run homer.”
“Try not to suck” boys.
June 2, 37–15 (Dodgers) First place 8–1/2 games in front of the Pirates
Cubs win 7–2. Kyle Hendricks pitches and strong game for the second outing in a row. Javier Baez, Jason Heyward, Kris Bryant, and ANthony Rizzo all hit home runs. Baez had 3 RBIs. The bats awaken!
“Try not to suck” boys
June 3, 38–15, (D-Backs) First place 9–1/2 games in front of the Pirates.
Cubs win 6–0. John Lackey (6–2) and Ashley Bradley (2–1) each pitched 6 solid innings at which point the Cubs were up 1–0 on a Rizzo double that scored Hayward. The Cubs exploded for 5 runs in the 8th. Addison Russell doubled home Bryant and Zobrist. The Baez doubled home Russell and Montero. Baez scored on a throwing error.
“Try not to suck” boys.
June 4, 39–15 (D-Backs) First place 9–1/2 games in front of the Pirates.
Cubs win 5–3. Jason Hammel (7–1) gave up 1 hit over 7 innings. It was a 2 run homer to Jake Lamb. Hammel got the 2 runs back when he hit a ball up the middle, hit second base and bounced into right field, scoring 2 runs.
“Try not to suck” boys.
June 5, 39–16 (D-Backs) First place 9–1/2 games in front of the Pirates.
Cubs lose 3–2. Jake Arrieta (9–1) LOST! Jake’s last regular season loss was 7–25–2015 when Cole Hamels threw a no hitter against the Cubs. That’s it nothing else matters today.
“Try not to suck” boys.
June 6, 40–16 (Phillies) First place 10 games ahead of the Pirates.
Cubs win 6–4. Jon Lester (7–3) had 9 K’s and no walks and left the game leading 6–0. Justin Grimm gave up a 3 run homer in the 9th and got no outs. Hector Rondon came in a gave up a solo homer. Bryant and Rizzo were 3–5, Heyward hit a homer and had 2 RBI’s.
“Try not to suck” boys.
June 7, 40–17 (Phillies) First place 9 games ahead of the Pirates.
Cubs lose 3–2. Kyle Hendricks (4–5) gave up 2 runs over 5 innings. The Cubs made Jerad Eikhoff look like a HOF pitcher, and his off speed junk kept the Cubs bats silent.
“Try not to suck” boys.
June 8, 41–17 (Phillies) First place 9 games ahead of the Pirates.
Cubs win 8–1. John Lackey (7–2) pitched 7 shutout innings. Kris Bryant and Ben Zobrist staked the Cubs a 4 run lead. Javy Baez went 4–4 with 3 RBI’s.
“Try not to suck” boys.
June 9, 41–17 Off Day
June 10, 41–18 (Atlanta) First place 9 games ahead of the Cardinals
Cubs lose 5–1. The worst team in baseball beat the best team in baseball. Hammel gave up 3 runs over 5–2/3 innings and the Cubs struggled to get even 4 hits. Rizzo sat out with a stiff back.
“Try not to suck” boys.
June 11, 42–18 (Atlanta)First place 9 games in front of the Cards.
Cubs win 8–2. Jake Arrieta (10–1) although not great managed to win thanks to 4 homers, one each by Heyward, Rizzo, Montero, and Bryant. Jason Heyward had 3 hits. Miguel Montero had 3 RBIs.
“Try not to suck” boys.
June 12, 43–18 (Atlanta)First place 9 games in front of the Cards.
Cubs win 13–2. Jon Lester (8–3) struck out 7 and walked none. This is Lester’s 3rd consecutive start without giving up a walk! Javy Baez hit a 3 run homer and Rizzo had 3 RBIs. Zobrist and Ross had 2 RBIs each. The Cubs did make 4 errors.
“Try not to suck” boys.
June 13, 43–19 (Nationals) First place 8–1/2 games in front of the Cards.
Cubs lose 4–1. Max Scherzer (8–4) struck out 9 of the first ten batters and mowed down the first 16 batters he faced. Addison Russell was batter 17 and homered to left. Rizzo doubled in the 7th for the second and last hit for the Cubs.
“Try not to suck” boys.
June 14, 44–19 (Nationals) First place 9–1/2 games in front of the Cards.
Cubs win 4–3. John Lackey had 6 strong innings in a non-decision. Albert Almora Jr doubled Addison Russell home in the top of the 9th. Rondon gets the win.
“Try not to suck” boys.
June 15, 44–20 (Nationals) First place 9–1/2 games in front of the Cards.
Cubs lose 5–4 in 12 innings. It was 1–1 through 7–1/2 innings. Then Strop gave up a homer to Stephen Drew in the bottom of the 8th. Chris Bryant doubled in the 9th and Rizzo homered to make it 3–2 Cubs. In the bottom of the 9th Bryce Harper walked and Wilson Ramos singled him home to tie it at 3 apiece.
“Try not to suck” boys.
June 16, off day but the following is from an interview with Matt Carpenter, the 3rd baseman of the St. Louis Cardnals. I wouldn’t be surprised if we make a pretty good run and catch those guys. They haven’t gone through a bad streak, which every team will go through. And we haven’t gone through our good streak yet…We’ve played some of the toughest part of our schedule and they haven’t. My guess? I bet we can get it down to four games before the All-Star break… If we get it to four, they’ll be thinking about it.”
June 17, 45–20 (Pirates) First place by 10–1/2 games ahead of the Cards.
Terry and I went to the game. Sat in section 424. Those you to be cheap seats but not anymore @$67 each but still a great view.
Cubs win 6–0. Jake Arrieta (11–1) is the first pitcher to 11 victories. Dexter Fowler hit the first pitch for a single. Matt Sczcur lined Francisco Liriano’s 2nd pitch into the left field bleachers. Arrieta walked the bases loaded with 1 out, He then went 3–0 on David Freese before striking him out. Matt Joyce was frozen by a borderline strike and before the home plate ump made a call Miguel Montero had leaped out of his crouch, rolled the ball to the mound and taken 3 strides before the ump called strike 3. Miguel won the game with that veteran move. The Cubs score 3 runs in the bottom half ov the 6th and the game is over. Wilson Contreras was brought up from Triple A Iowa and came in in the top of the 9th to catch. We gave him a standing ovation!
“Try not to suck” boys.
June 18, 46–20 (Pirates) First place 11–1/2 ahead of the Cards and Matt Carpenter :-P
Cubs win 4–3. Jon Lester (9–3) won his 5th straight start although it was a rocky outing. The Pirates were up 3–1 when David Ross executed a perfect squeeze bunt to make it 3–2. Chris Bryant hit a homer in the 5th to tie it up and in the 6th inning Ross hit his 5th homer to give the Cubs the final margin of victory.
“Try not to suck” boys.
June 19, 47–20 (Pirates) First place 12–1/2 ahead of the Cards
Cubs win 10–5. Kyle Hendricks (5–6) struck out a career high 12 batters, gave up no walks but the Prates sprayed 7 hits over 6 innings. Willson Contreras pinch hit for Kyle in the bottom of the 6th and hit the first pitch he saw in a MLB came out of the park! Heyward, Rizzo and Baez each had 3 hits. The Cubs had 5 homers: Baez, Bryant, Rizzo, Contreras and Addison Russell.
“Try not to suck” boys.
June 20, 47–21 (Cardinals) First place 11–1/2 ahead of the Cards.
Cubs lose 3–2. John Lackey (7–3) was not at his best as he gave up solo homers to Brandon Moss and Jhonny Peralta. The Cubs had a chance to tie it in the 9th but Albert Almora Jr was thrown out at 3rd base as the ball scooted past Molina who recovered and fired it down to 3rd base to get the out.
“Try not to suck” boys.
June 21, 47–22 (Cardinals) First place 10–1/2 ahead of Cards.
Cubs lose 4–3. Jason Hammel (7–3) gave up 3 runs in the 3rd inning. Carpenter and Holliday hit back to back homers. Cubs had 6 hits but the Cards were just a little better.
“Try not to suck” boys.
June 22, 47–23 (Cardinals) First place 9–1/2 ahead of the Cards.
Cubs lose 7–2. Cubs swept at home by the Cards, grrrr. Arrieta (11–2) gave up 1 earned run but Justin Grimm gave up 4 earned runs and Triple A call up CJ Edwards gave up a solo homer. Spencer Patton another call up pitched 2 strong innings. Wilson Contreras hit a 2 run homer for the Cubs only runs.
“Try not to suck” boys.