Cub Tracks would like to see Nico Hoerner do a Billy Buck — circa 1980. On the last at-bat, finest kind.
The redoubtable Javier Assad, a man of many hats and many injuries, took the hill in Skyline Chili Land against Cincinnati hurler Zack Littell. Matt Shaw has been moved to the 7-spot and Moises Ballesteros is batting cleanup. Littell has been know to throw meatballs.
Michael Busch (30) found one to his liking in the third [VIDEO].
Assad struggled with location a bit and ran up a lot of deep counts.
The Reds intercepted some of those mistakes with their bats. Reese McGuire (9) tied the game back up again [VIDEO] but Drew Pomeranz was thinking meatball himself in the fifth and the Reds took the lead again.
The Cubs crept close but the pitchers all went in holding meatballs, each Cubs arm giving up a deep fly, and they’ll have to win the Sunday game just to continue their streak of never losing four in a row in 2025. Dispiriting loss. Doesn’t augur well for the postseason, but as we’ve seen predicting that result is folly more sheer than a Vicky’s Secret special.
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- Jordan Bastian (MLB.com*): Imanaga looking to fix homer woes before Cubs’ postseason run. “I want to pitch well for the next start,” Imanaga said via his interpreter, Edwin Stanberry. “And hopefully build momentum going into a start in the playoffs.” Meghan Montemurro has more* {$}.
- Patrick Mooney (The Athletic {$}): It will be a short October at Wrigley Field if the Cubs’ offense doesn’t show up. “The Cubs have not won a playoff game since Oct. 18, 2017.“ Jordan Bastian has similar concerns.
- Tommy Birch (Des Moines Register* {$}): As Chicago Cubs clinched a spot in the postseason, Miguel Amaya quietly celebrated in Iowa. “My heart was there,” Amaya said.
- Zoe Grossman (Marquee Sports Network*): Michael Busch becomes fourth Cubs first baseman with 30-homer season. “Busch now sits at a table with Cubs royalty.“
- Brandon Glick (North Side Baseball*): Turns out, Moises Ballesteros might be really good at baseball. “Ballesteros was an exception from the moment the Cubs signed him as a teenager…”
- James Neveau (NBC Sports Chicago*): Nico Hoerner aims for NL batting title, a rare Cubs feat. “Hoerner trails only Philadelphia’s Trea Turner in the battle for the National League batting title…“
- Ji-Seo Kim (IDTech*): Chicago Cubs face biometric privacy lawsuit over facial recognition at Wrigley Field. “Similar disputes have emerged in other industries…” Front Office Sports* {$} has more.
Food for thought:
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