Indeed, Anthony, indeed. 146 games down, 16 left to the regular season. The Cubs (83-63) seem bound for the post-season, with the magic number (11 at press time) certain to dwindle if they keep loafing around. A 90-win season, a general-rule playoff standard, certainly seems possible. A .500 season is no longer possible.
Fresh-off-the-IL Jameson Taillon took the hill for game 146, opposing Atlanta’s oft-injured Chris Sale, Interestingly, PCA was in the starting lineup, though Sale would seem like
exactly the type of hurler that would slice and dice his swing. Justin Turner and Carlos Santana also started. The thing was that Matt Shaw was out for ‘personal reasons,’ so Willi Castro had to play that spot. Shaw did play later, as did Michael Busch.
Taillon gave up a tally in the third, reducing the Cubs’ victory chances to around 33 percent, and didn’t look especially sharp. Carson Kelly bailed him out though (17) [VIDEO].
And then the Cubs pulled ahead as Turner doubled Dansby Swanson home [VIDEO]. Later Seiya Suzuki lofted a sac fly for the third run [VIDEO]. The Braves closed the gap to one and 3-2 is where things stood. The bullpens took over and it stayed that way. Andrew Kittridge closed out.
*means autoplay on, (directions to remove for Firefox and Chrome). {$} means paywall. {$} means limited views. Italics are often used on this page as sarcasm font. The powers that be have enabled real sarcasm font in the comments.
- ESPN*: MLB playoff tracker 2025: Clinching scenarios, bracket, schedule. David Schoenfield ranks the contenders.
- Ken Rosenthal, Sahadev Sharma and Patrick Mooney (The Athletic {$}): Nationals’ search for top baseball executive includes Cubs, Dodgers personnel: Sources. “Hawkins has already gone through a preliminary interview with the Nationals, according to a league source.“
- Steve Greenberg (Chicago Sun-Times* {$}): Is Cubs’ Craig Counsell skipper enough to keep this boat afloat? “He’s been through it and seen it all — and as a champion,” a former teammate said. “We know this is crunch time [for the Cubs], but we don’t panic.”
- Zoe Grossman (Marquee Sports Network*): What we learned in series-clinching win over Braves. “… the Chicago Cubs left Atlanta with some pretty good momentum.“ Maddie Lee has more* {$}.
- Meghan Montemurro (Chicago Tribune* {$}): Chicago Cubs rookie Cade Horton is ‘stepping up at a really big time for us’ in a 6-1 win. “I’d rather win a World Series than win Rookie of the Year.”
- Brett Taylor (Bleacher Nation*): So, Ben Brown got the 9th inning last night. “It’s possible we’ll see Brown in more single-inning appearances the rest of the way.“
- Michael Cerami (Bleacher Nation*): The Cubs lineup needs to make this change before the postseason. “… some guys are just not suited to lead off.”
- Randy Holt (North Side Baseball*): Pete Crow-Armstrong’s power-speed output could make Cubs history. “From an organizational standpoint, where does he rank among the players to accomplish that feat?“
- Jordan Bastian (MLB.com*): Cubs hopeful Tucker (calf strain) will require minimum IL stint. “Tucker said he can still throw and hit with no trouble, but running continues to be an issue.“
- Matt Ostrowski (North Side Baseball*): Willi Castro’s struggles are a symptom of the Cubs’ over-reliance on their regulars.“… Castro’s production has plummeted since joining the Cubs. Is that on him, or the team?”
- Zoe Grossman (Marquee Sports Network*): Anthony Rizzo reveals why he chose retirement, Cubs ambassador role. “I think the timing of everything just played itself out. I let it play itself out,” Rizzo said of the decision to retire.
Food for thought:
Please be reminded that Cub Tracks and Bleed Cubbie Blue do not necessarily endorse the content of articles, podcasts, or videos that are linked to in this series. We will not wittingly publish A. I. – driven articles.
