No Team Had Done What the Cubs Did, Second Best in Baseball, and Other Bullets

All that you touch
And all that you see
All that you taste
All you feel
And all that you love
And all that you hate
All you distrust
All you save
And all that you give
And all that you deal
And all that you buy, beg, borrow, or steal
And all you create
And all you destroy
And all that you do
And all that you say
And all that you eat
And everyone you meet
And all that you slight
And everyone you fight
And all that is now
And all that is gone
And all that’s to come
And everything under the sun is in tune
But the sun is eclipsed by the moon

– ‘Eclipse,’ Pink Floyd

  • I am still enjoying yesterday’s comeback win, not only because it was crazy improbable and very fun, but also because that was a big psychological swing win for the Cubs (and the fans). The difference between a 4-3 homestand against bad teams and a 5-2 homestand against bad teams just feels really big. It’s the emotional difference between “dang it, that is the bare minimum I would have accepted not to be flipping my lid” and “dang that was really good fam”. It also kept the Cubs 2.0 games ahead of the Brewers, and moved them 3.5 games ahead of the Cardinals. It’s not much breathing room, but with the Cubs playing a long stretch of non-competitive teams, this is what needs to happen right now.
  • According to ESPN Stats and Info, that was the first time this season (0-50) that a team had come back to win after being down multiple runs in extra innings.
  • (Photo by Stacy Revere/Getty Images)

  • With the win, the Cubs are now on pace to win 87 games. Fun fact: the Dodgers currently have 87 wins.
  • It’s still not likely to matter, but it’s comforting to know: the Cubs are now tied in the loss column with the Diamondbacks, just a half-game back of that second Wild Card spot. Juuuuuuust in case.
  • It was good to know that Kyle Hendricks was able to work effectively with new back-up-back-up Rene Rivera right out of the gate. Not that you would have expected otherwise, given the skill set of each.
  • Speaking of Hendricks, for all his relative struggles this year, his 3.52 ERA is 19% better than league average. He’s missed time with injury and his outings have almost universally been very short, but the reality is, for all our (legitimate) concerns about further drops in velocity, he’s still getting it done.
  • Justin Wilson’s walk rate with the Tigers: 10.2%. Justin Wilson’s walk rate with the Cubs: 25.0%. Through his first eight appearances with his new team, Wilson has been unquestionably brutal, with no ability to command his fastball. I’d be cool with him shaking off the transitioning-to-a-new-team stuff any day now.
  • In case you were wondering, Alex Avila has hit .235/.333/.529 (122 wRC+) with his new team.
  • Surprise, the Cubs have been very good:
  • Justin Verlander, comin’ in hot about the issue of juiced baseballs:
  • https://twitter.com/JustinVerlander/status/899393756679610369

  • A very awesome note from a Blue Jays fan who was at Wrigley this weekend:
  • That means that usher came to the game with Blue Jays cards in tow, knowing that he’d want to give them to a visiting Blue Jays fan to help make their experience great. How awesome is that?
  • The Cubs won the game, so I can totally appreciate what an incredible catch this was:
  • I’m a dope: yesterday was the Little League Classic, which is part of the Players Weekend stuff, but next weekend is actually Players Weekend – *that’s* when the Cubs will be wearing their sweet unis and caps.
  • Speaking of the Little League Classic, it was the Pirates beating the Cardinals at the Little League World Series, and then doing something really awesome at the end of the game:
  • https://twitter.com/flippingbats/status/899490974560374784

  • This is the total eclipse of my heart:
  • Over at TYL, Luis believes it’s time for Mitch Trubisky to at least see some time with the 1’s.
  • The Amazon Echo is on a big sale today, which is not common – it’s 44% off, and under $100. The Echo Dot is also on sale, by the way. I got home from Chicago yesterday to find The Little Boy telling Alexa to play ‘Bad to the Bone’ on ours, which she did. He was happy.
  • 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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