Cardinals Lose Another Key Player, Cubs Haven’t Taken Advantage Yet and Other Bullets

cubs win standings flags scoreboardAlthough last night’s game went through a massive rain delay, folks in attendance didn’t go without sports – the Cubs put the Blackhawks’ game on the video board. Fans got to see the Blackhawks win Game 5 of the Stanley Cup final just before the game against the Reds resumed.

  • Another day, another key Cardinal is heading to the disabled list. This time it’s Lance Lynn, who is out with a forearm strain. Normally, that would make you nervous – the forearm and the elbow are interrelated, and sometimes a forearm issue is a precursor to, or a signal of, a more significant elbow problem. Lynn, though, says he’s been feeling the forearm issue all year, and that he’s just taking a couple starts off to rest it, and then he’ll be back when his 15-day DL stint is up (Cardinals.com). That seems extremely optimistic, but we’ll see. If Lynn does, indeed, return in just two weeks, he’ll come off the DL just in time to face the Cubs in a weekend series in St. Louis.
  • With so many key injuries, you’d think the Cardinals would have given the Cubs a window to make a run in the NL Central, but it hasn’t happened yet. With 41, the Cardinals have the most wins in baseball by a relative mile – no other team has more than 36 (Dodgers). So, even at six games over .500, the Cubs are seven games out of first place. Were they in any other division, they’d be no more than two games out. The Cubs would actually lead in the AL and NL Easts.
  • It’s not too often that you see a video highlight created for a sacrifice bunt. So, why does this highlight clip of Kyle Hendricks sacrificing last night exist? And why are his teammates so excited? Because that was the first successful sacrifice bunt by a Cubs pitcher all year.
  • Something you may not have seen on TV last night that deserves some applause: in the top of the 5th inning, with rain trickling and storm clouds threatening, a ball was fouled off at the plate. The Cubs led 3-1 at the time, and if they could get through the 5th quickly, the game would become official, and they might win, rather than have things rained out. That foul ball bounced about 15 feet from home plate toward first base, and no one from the Reds’ dugout moved to go get it. That’s when Miguel Montero SPRUNG from his crouch and SPRINTED to get the ball and get it off the field. Montero alway hustles, but this was above and beyond. That’s a guy who understood the situation, and was going to do everything he could to help put the Cubs in a position to win. It was at least as impressive as his two-run homer.
  • Tsuyoshi Wada hasn’t lost his rotation spot after back-to-back rough outings (CSN). He’ll start again on Tuesday. You can bet, though, that Travis Wood and Edwin Jackson will be ready to go if the start doesn’t last long.
  • Meant to share this from Thursday, just outside Wrigley:
  • And two more from the Twitters:

    written by

    Brett Taylor is the Lead Cubs Writer at Bleacher Nation, and you can find him on Twitter at @BleacherNation and on LinkedIn here. Brett is also the founder of Bleacher Nation, which opened up shop in 2008 as an independent blog about the Chicago Cubs. Later growing to incorporate coverage of other Chicago sports, Bleacher Nation is now one of the largest regional sports blogs on the web.

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