The second-half of the season starts with wins for three of the four full-season teams.

Some pitching transactions today:

The Cubs released LHP Conner Menez so that he could sign with the Nippon Ham Fighters of NPB.

Right-hander Blake Whitney was promoted from Tennessee to Iowa.

Left-hander Adam Laskey was promoted to South Bend from Myrtle Beach.

South Bend LHP Riley Martin was sent to the Development List.

Iowa Cubs

The Iowa Cubs beat on the Louisville Bats (Reds), 9-3.

It was only Wyatt Short’s third career start and it was the longest outing of his career. Short did very well as he gave up just one run on four hits over four innings. The one run off Short came on a home run in the second inning by Stuart Fairchild. Short struck out three and walked one.

The win went to Eury Ramos because Short didn’t got five innings. Ramos pitched two scoreless innings, allowing just one hit. He walked one and struck out two.

Bryan Hudson retired all six batters in his two innings of relief. He struck out three.

Right fielder Darius Hill extended his hitting streak to ten games as he went 3 for 5 and scored two runs.

First baseman Narciso Crook also had three hits, going 3 for 4 with a walk. Crook scored three times and drove in one.

Left fielder Jackson Frazier hit a two-run double in the top of the first inning to give the I-Cubs a lead that they’d never relinquish. Frazier went 2 for 4 with a walk. He scored one run.

(Also, he’s now officially Jackson Frazier on his MiLB profile.)

DH John Hicks was 2 for 5. He had an RBI single in the seventh inning and scored in the sixth inning.

Tennessee Smokies

The Tennessee Smokies couldn’t hide from the Chattanooga Lookouts (Reds), 4-2.

Riley Thompson pitched the first two innings of this game and gave up one run on two hits and two walks. He did not strike anyone out.

Chris Clarke turned in a solid relief effort that was really more of a start, but it didn’t save him from taking the loss. Clarke pitched 5.2 innings and gave up two runs on five hits. The two runs Clarke allowed came on solo home runs in the seventh and eighth inning. Clarke struck out four and walked one.

First baseman Matt Mervis had an RBI triple in the third inning. He was 1 for 3 with a walk.

Jake Slaughter went 2 for 4 with a walk and he scored one run.

South Bend Cubs

The South Bend Cubs burned down the Peoria Chiefs (Cardinals), 13-4.

Kohl Franklin started and allowed three runs on four hits over three innings. Only one of the three runs was earned, but Franklin’s own error contributed to those unearned runs. Franklin walked two and struck out three. He also had two wild pitches.

Joe Nahas pitched the final five innings of this contest and got the win. Nahas surrendered just one run on four hits. He did walk four batters while striking out six.

DH Jake Washer had a two-run home run in the fifth inning, his seventh of the season. Washer was 1 for 5 and it was his seventh home run this year.

Center fielder Yohendrick Pinango connected for a 401-foot two-run home run in the seventh. It was Pinango’s tenth home run this season. Pinango went 2 for 5 with three RBI and two runs scored.

Left fielder Owen Caissie hit two doubles, both to the opposite field, in a 2 for 5 night. Caissie scored one run and drove in three.

Catcher Caleb Knight had quite a night as he was 4 for 5 with two doubles. He scored three runs and drove in three.

Shortstop Fabian Pertuz was 2 for 5 and scored twice.

Second baseman Yeison Santana went 2 for 4 with a double and a walk. He scored two runs.

Right fielder Jonathan Sierra was 2 for 5 with one run batted in.

Myrtle Beach Pelicans

The Myrtle Beach Pelicans blasted the Kannapolis Cannon Ballers (White Sox), 10-4. It was the Pelican’s fourth-straight win.

Tyler Schlaffer started and had some control issues, but he managed to limit the damage. Schlaffer allowed two runs over four innings. He only gave up one hit, but he walked five, hit one batter and uncorked two wild pitches. Schlaffer struck out four.

Since Schlaffer didn’t go five, the win went to Chase Watkins, who threw one inning and allowed no runs on one hit. Since he got a double play, he faced the minimum three batters. Watkins did not have a strikeout.

Shortstop Reivaj Garcia singled and scored in the first inning, but left after one inning. He was replaced by Kevin Made, who hit a two-run home run in the fourth inning, his fifth on the year. Made went 2 for 4 with a double, the home run and a walk.

Second baseman Josue Huma was 3 for 5 with a walk. He scored twice and had two RBI.

Third baseman James Triantos went 2 for 5 with a walk and one run driven in.

All ten players with a plate appearance in tonight’s game got at least one hit.

Here’s Made’s homer.

ACL Cubs

Were losing to Giants Black 5-0 in the eighth.

——

Go get ‘em, Kyle.

If you seek Friday’s game threads, look no further.

The Cubs had a good series vs. St. Louis at Wrigley Field. Hopefully they can do the same this weekend.

Today’s roster move: Here

Friday notes...

• ICYMI:

• RELIEF NOTES: The Cubs bullpen has posted a 2.97 ERA in 33⅓ innings pitched since June 16. In that span, opponents are batting .200 (25-for-125) and Cubs relievers are averaging 9.2 strikeouts per nine innings.
• SATURDAY’S GAME: Adrian Sampson will start for the Cubs Saturday afternoon.
• THE MOREL FILE: Since Christopher Morel’s MLB debut May 17, he is second among all MLB rookies with 22 RBI (Bobby Witt Jr. leads with 23.)

Here are today’s particulars.

Cubs lineup:

Note: Jonathan Villar is in this lineup; he’s been DFA. When the Cubs post a new lineup, I’ll update this game preview.

Cardinals lineup:

Also of interest for this game/series:

Kyle Hendricks, RHP vs. Andre Pallante, RHP

USA TODAY NETWORK

USA TODAY NETWORK

Kyle Hendricks is having a rough year. This, you already know.

He has not faced the Cardinals yet this year. Historically, he has pitched well against them — 24 starts, 2.82 ERA, 1.070 WHIP in 153x innings. His numbers are even a bit better at Busch Stadium — 10 starts, 2.53 ERA, 1.107 WHIP in 62x innings. Even in his bad 2021 season, Kyle threw well against St. Louis: Four starts, 2.49 ERA, 1.105 WHIP in 25x innings.

So that’s all I’ve got here — history. Kyle once nearly threw a no-hitter in Busch Stadium (it was broken up in the ninth, September 12, 2016).

Hopefully this game is where Kyle starts back on the road to success.

Andre Pallante made 17 relief appearances for the Cardinals before they put him in their rotation at the beginning of this month. His first start was June 4 against the Cubs at Wrigley Field, and he allowed one run in four innings.

His three other starts have ranged from mediocre to good, and his pitch count has maxed out at 78, so I’d expect him to be somewhat limited with pitches tonight, too.

Statcast

Statcast

Today’s game is on Apple TV+ (how to watch). Announcers: Melanie Newman, Chris Young, Hannah Keyser and Brooke Fletcher.

Here is the complete MLB.com Mediacenter for today.

MLB.com Gameday

Baseball-reference.com game preview

Please visit our SB Nation Cardinals site Viva el Birdos. If you do go there to interact with Cardinals fans, please be respectful, abide by their individual site rules and serve as a good representation of Cub fans in general and BCB in particular.

The 2022 Game Thread procedure will be like last years, similar to what we’ve used for Spring Training.

You’ll find the game preview posted separately on the front page two hours before game time (90 minutes for some early day games following night games).

At the same time, a StoryStream containing the preview will also post on the front page, titled “Cubs vs. (Team) (Day of week/date) game threads.” It will contain every post related to that particular game, including the First Pitch Thread and the overflow thread, as well as the recap when it’s published. The recap will also live on the front page as a separate post.

You will also be able to find the preview, First Pitch Thread and the overflow thread in the box marked “Chicago Cubs Game Threads” at the bottom of the front page (you can also find them in this section link). The StoryStream for each game can also be found in that section.

The First Pitch thread will post at five minutes before game time, then an overflow thread at 90 minutes after the scheduled game time.

Discuss amongst yourselves.

He’s back, and he’s gone.

Many of you have been asking for the Cubs to dump Jonathan Villar.

Today, you got your wish:

Villar hit .222/.271/.327 (34-for-153) in 46 games for the Cubs with six doubles, two triples and two home runs.

David Bote hurt his shoulder in May 2021 and was never quite right the rest of the year. He finally had offseason surgery and that delayed the start to his 2022 season.

Bote hit .284/.351/.403 (19-for-67) in 18 games in a rehab assignment at Triple-A Iowa this year, with six doubles and a triple.

Villar was originally listed in the Cubs’ starting lineup for tonight, and that’s the lineup that will appear in today’s game preview, which will post in a few minutes at 5 p.m. CT. When a revised lineup is out, I’ll update the game preview post. (My assumption is that Bote will simply take Villar’s spot at second base.)

As always, we await developments.

It’s the Cubs’ first visit to St. Louis this year.

The Cubs played the Cardinals pretty well when they visited Wrigley Field earlier this month. They were in four of the five games and could have won all four of those.

That’s about the best I can do here.

For more on the Cardinals, here is Josey Curtis, manager of our SB Nation Cardinals site Viva el Birdos.

The Cardinals will welcome the Cubs to Busch Stadium this weekend for their first series of the season in St. Louis. The Cardinals are tied with the Brewers for first place in the Central, with identical 40-32 records.

The Cubs will face Cardinals rookie starter Andre Pallante in Friday’s matchup, followed by Miles Mikolas on Saturday and Jack Flaherty on Sunday afternoon. Third baseman Nolan Arenado is heating up at the plate. In his last seven games, Arenado is 10-for-27 with three homers. First baseman Paul Goldschmidt enters the weekend leading the league in several offensive categories with a .340/.423/.625 slashline.

Tommy Edman leads all MLB position players with 4.3 bWAR.

Fun fact

Since these teams last met, the Cardinals are 8-9... but the Cubs are 3-12.

That’s not much fun for anyone, but they are facts.

Probable pitching matchups

Friday: Kyle Hendricks, RHP (2-6, 5.43 ERA, 1.353 WHIP, 5.18 FIP) vs. Andre Pallante, RHP (2-2, 1.69 ERA, 1.336 WHIP, 4.02 FIP)

Saturday: TBD vs. Miles Mikolas, RHP (5-5, 2.64 ERA, 0.970 WHIP, 3.52 FIP)

Sunday: Matt Swarmer, RHP (1-3, 5.84 ERA, 1.338 WHIP, 8.19 FIP) vs. Jack Flaherty, RHP (0-0, 6.00 ERA, 2.167 WHIP, 7.96 FIP)

NOTE: The “TBD” starter Saturday could be Alec Mills.

Times & TV channels

Friday: 7:15 p.m. CT, Apple TV+ (how to watch)

Saturday: 1:15 p.m. CT, Marquee Sports Network

Sunday: 1:15 p.m. CT, Marquee Sports Network

Prediction

These pitching matchups do not look favorable for the Chicago National League Ball Club. Just don’t get swept, please.

Up next

The Cubs have Monday off and then return to Wrigley Field for a three-game series against the Reds, beginning Tuesday evening.

Here are the odds for the Cubs vs. the Cardinals tonight. As you can imagine, the Cards are favored.

The Cubs and DraftKings held a ceremony for the under-construction sports book at Wrigley.

The image above is a rendering the Cubs revealed Friday at Wrigley Field at an event noted as a “beam signing ceremony” (you’ll see in the photos below) for the DraftKings sports book currently under construction at the ballpark.

In attendance at this ceremony were the following:

Crane Kenney, Cubs President of Business Operations
Jason Robins, DraftKings co-founder and CEO
Scot Pepper, President, Pepper Construction
Aleksandar Sasha Zeljic, Principal, Gensler
Andy Lansing, President and Chief Executive Officer, Levy

Kenney and Robins spoke before all five men signed a steel beam as part of the project. You can see all of that here:

After the ceremony, Kenney answered a few questions. The one I was most interested in was about President of Baseball Operations Jed Hoyer and his baseball budget. Kenney said that all the money — less various operating expenses — that comes from the sports book will go to the baseball operations budget. Kenney said that Hoyer has not spent all the money budgeted for baseball payroll this year — which I suspect most of us had guessed anyway. Whether this “overage” will roll over into 2023 is unknown at this time.

I was also told at this event that the sports book won’t open until the second quarter of 2023 (not the first quarter as I noted in this construction update earlier this week). Given that, and since there then won’t be any revenue from football gambling this fall or March Madness next year, I asked Kenney if that meant the first baseball payroll that money could affect would be 2024. Here’s his answer:

I suppose all we can hope, then, is when the big money the team hopes to bring in via this sports book begins to come in, that it will be put to the baseball budget and the team will spend on baseball players. They’re a big-market team. At some point they should start spending like one. As always, we await developments.

Here are some other photos from Friday at the ballpark, including several other renderings of what the sports book will look like.

A comeback! But still, another loss

If you’ve followed my writings over the years, you’ll be familiar with what I think of as either “it was the best of times, it was the worst of times” or “The glass is half empty AND half full” recaps. I guess you could just call it a mixed emotions game. On Thursday afternoon, the Cubs dug themselves a significant hole (again!). We’ve seen this story play out all too many times this season.

One of the things that has made this season really challenging to write about is the number of games the Cubs are just getting wiped out. Bad isn’t much fun in any circumstances, but just getting your brains beat in night in and night out is pretty much awful. Sometimes when a team isn’t good you’ll hear phrases about wondering what way the team will find to lose. This team doesn’t have much trouble finding a way to lose.

I remember a line I saw once about a football game. The phrase went something like this. We didn’t block anybody but we made up for it by not tackling anyone. That’s been a summation of all too many games this season. The Cubs didn’t score many runs, but made up for that by allowing lots of them.

And so, it was a breath of fresh air when the Cubs rallied. I’ll be honest, I enjoyed this game more even before they eventually took the lead in this one. I was willing to accept that they rallied to make the game close. But then, they actually had the lead for a few minutes. Things have gone so bad that I’m not even frustrated with David Robertson over this one.

The “worst of times” in this one was absolutely the defense. The Cubs made four errors on their way to allowing two unearned runs and losing the game. In my early days around Bleed Cubbie Blue, I used to talk to Tim Huwe a lot. We were focused then on rebuilding the organization from the ground up and I was paying all of my attention to the minor league squads. We’d belabor that some poor pitcher hit a pitch limit because some outfielder misplayed a ball in the outfield into a double or some infielder muffed a double play grounder.

Those types of things have an effect way beyond unearned runs. Errors extend innings and they make your pitcher work extra hard unnecessarily. Justin Steele coaxed two different ground balls with two outs in the fifth inning. Both ended in errors, an unearned run was charged, but the net result was Steele facing five batters in what could have been a 1-2-3 inning. Steele came one batter shy of finishing six innings and also allowed two fifth-inning runs. Maybe if the errors don’t happen, he finishes six innings with three runs allowed. And maybe the Cubs win.

Even in defeat, we can find three positives from this one.

1. I’m going with the Heroes and Goats on this one. Alfonso Rivas. Rivas has hit safely in five of six games since returning to the big league club. He had the big hit in Thursday’s game. We’ll talk more about that in a bit.
2. Nico Hoerner continues to impress. He had three more hits, including a double, drove in two and scored two on the day.
3. Chris Martin worked a scoreless seventh inning, facing only three batters despite an error behind him.

And now, we turn our attention to the Heroes and Goats from Thursday’s loss.

Game 70, June 23: Pirates 8, Cubs 7 (26-44)

Reminder: Heroes and Goats are determined by WPA scores and are in no way subjective.

THREE HEROES:

• Superhero: Alfonso Rivas (.449). 1-1, 2RBI, SB
• Hero: Nelson Velazquez (.132). 1-2, BB, 2B, R
• Sidekick: Nico Hoerner (.117). 3-5, 2B, 2RBI, 2R

THREE GOATS:

• Billy Goat: Justin Steele (-.336). 5⅔ IP (26 batters), 7H, 6R (5ER), 8K
• Goat: Jason Heyward (-.233). 0-1
• Kid: Christopher Morel (-.201). 2-5, R, K, CS

WPA Play of the Game: Alfonso Rivas pinch hit with the bases loaded and two outs in the eighth inning, the Cubs trailing by one. He singled and two runs scored. (.442)

*Pirates Play of the Game: Michael Chavis homered leading off the eighth inning against David Robertson. (.304). The walkoff single an inning later was worth .293, also credited to Chavis.

Rizzo Award Cumulative Standings: (Top 3/Bottom 3)

The award is named for Anthony Rizzo, who finished first in this category three of the first four years it was in existence and four times overall. He also recorded the highest season total ever at +65.5. The point scale is three points for a Superhero down to negative three points for a Billy Goat.

• Nico Hoerner +16
• Christopher Morel +13
• David Robertson +11.5
• Daniel Norris -7.5
• Kyle Hendricks -10
• Jason Heyward -13.5

Up Next: The road trip moves to St. Louis for a three-game weekend set. The Cardinals are 40-32 and tied for first place in the NL Central. The Cubs will start Kyle Hendricks (2-6, 5.43). Kyle has struggled quite a bit here in 2022. The Cardinals are a team that Kyle has historically done very well against. The Cardinals will start Andre Pallante (2-2, 1.69). The rookie has been brilliant for the Cardinals so far, making 21 appearances, three of them starts.

It’s the second of two Cubs games on the streaming service before the All-Star break.

EDITOR’S NOTE: This is an updated version of this article, which ran before the Cubs’ first Apple TV+ broadcast on May 13.

In March, MLB and Apple announced an exclusive streaming deal for games on Friday nights. The schedule has been released through July 29 and the league and the company say the games are available for free through that date.

One Cubs game has already been broadcast on Apple TV+, against the Diamondbacks at Phoenix May 13. There were complaints from some during and after this game about having to sign up for another service. Honestly — it’s not that hard (see below) and at least for now, it’s free.

Tonight is the second such broadcast, against the Cardinals at St. Louis at 7:15 p.m. CT (Apple’s broadcast begins at 7). Announcers for tonight’s Cubs/Cardinals game are Melanie Newman, Chris Young, Hannah Keyser and Brooke Fletcher. Apple’s pre- and post-game coverage is hosted by Lauren Gardner and Anthony Recker.

While access to these games is free (through July 29, anyway) and with no blackouts, you’ll still have to jump through a couple of hoops to watch.

Here’s your guide to watching tonight’s game (and two other Cubs games, July 22 at Philadephia and July 29 at San Francisco).

You don’t have to pay (for now), but you do need an Apple ID

If you have an iPhone, iPad or Mac computer, you almost certainly have an Apple ID. The same is true if you have an Apple Music, Apple News or Apple Podcasts account, iCloud account or any one of several other Apple services.

After all of those choices, if you still don’t have an Apple ID you can sign up for one here. It’s free to do so.

What kind of device do I need to watch this game?

You can, of course, watch on an Apple TV if you have one. But you can also watch on any modern smart TV where you can download the Apple TV+ app. Most TVs made within the last five years have this capability.

You can also watch on your iPhone or iPad, but you can also watch on an Android phone by mobile browser.

Lastly, you can watch on any internet-capable computer on any browser. You can find the MLB game streams at tv.apple.com.

If you don’t have the Apple TV+ app on your smart TV but you do have a Chromecast device (and if you don’t, you should get one, they’re inexpensive and they allow you to stream almost anything to your TV), you can stream the game to your TV from any Chrome browser. If you have a HDMI port on your TV, you can install a Chromecast device. Many current smart TVs have built-in Chromecast.

Here’s some more detailed information from Apple.

There are no blackouts

No, seriously, there are no blackouts. However, for the present time, these games are available only in the following regions:

• United States
• Canada
• Australia
• Brazil
• Japan
• Mexico
• Puerto Rico
• South Korea
• United Kingdom

That should cover, I would think, the overwhelming majority of Cubs fans wanting to watch tonight.

Streaming games is new to MLB and, let’s be honest, they are doing this for the money. Here are some things I DON’T want to hear about these games:

“The Cubs promised all the games in one place with Marquee!”

No, no they did not. Granted, from 2014-19 Cubs games were on three local channels (WGN, NBC Sports Chicago and ABC-7) and it was sometimes difficult to keep up with what games were on those three channels. The Cubs TV schedule was the single highest-traffic article on this site every year four straight years in that time frame.

But putting Cubs games on Marquee did not prevent MLB from taking some games for national broadcast. This was the case even before Marquee’s launch in 2020, when up to about 12 games a year were carried by ESPN and Fox. This is essentially the same thing, only now there are a couple of streaming services added to the mix, Apple TV+ and Peacock.

In the end, about 150 Cubs games will be carried on Marquee Sports Network this year, which is pretty much standard for all teams these days — that many on a local RSN, the rest on national channels. I’ll always put the TV channel for each game in every series preview and every game preview for you.

“I can’t get this game!”

Yes, yes you can. If you have an internet connection you can watch this game. And for now, it’s free. After July 29 you’ll likely have to sign up for an Apple TV+ subscription, which costs $4.99 a month, or for an Apple One subscription, if you want to continue to watch these games. At this time it’s impossible to tell whether any Cubs games will be part of the service after July 29, but I do know this: They don’t do Friday afternoon games, so Cubs Friday games at Wrigley, which for now are all day games, won’t be on Apple TV+.

Granted, there are some people whose internet connections are too slow for streaming. In the year 2022, though, that’s a tiny minority of internet users.

“I don’t want to pay more for baseball on TV!”

Okay, this one is a legitimate complaint. MLB, by opening more streaming services, is (eventually) going to ask fans to pay more to watch games. In the end it’s up to you as to whether you want to do this. Marquee is considering launching its own standalone streaming service and just this week, Sinclair deubted a standalone streaming service covering games for (for now) the Royals, Rays, Brewers, Marlins, and Tigers. Earlier this month the Red Sox network, NESN, launched a direct-to-consumer streaming service.

It’s not ideal for people who are likely already paying a ton for many streaming services, but that’s the way baseball is heading, perhaps to its detriment.

In any case, you can watch tonight’s game for free using the method(s) described above.

If baseball can change rules, why can’t it change the ASG?

In today’s links we get into some thoughts on the preliminary All-Star voting results, and one thing is clear: year after year, fans make popular choices rather than the right choices, and when players retire, we cite their All-Star appearances as if they’re meaningful.

The All-Star Game is about spotlighting the best and brightest of the game, but are they really the best, or are they the most popular with local fans?

I’m not here to offer an alternative, just wondering with you all about how we could potentially change the process going forward. Would the wRC+ or WAR leaders by position be automatically placed on the starting lineup, then fans could vote in the alternatives? Would players voting for each other make the results more fair?

It just seems like a flawed system as it currently is, and the All-Star Game should represent the genuine best talent of the game rather than which team’s fans have the most patience with an online voting system.

On to the links!

• Wonder how much every team is worth? Check out the 2022 franchise value for each club.
• Ben Clemens hypothesizes about expanding the strike zone.
• Everyone was talking about Riley Greene’s debut with the Tigers, but Jason Beck wants to show how well catching prospect Dillon Dingler is doing with his development.
• Shohei Ohtani continues to make history as a two-way player, writes Thomas Neumann.
• Joc Pederson is hoping that his past interactions with Tommy Pham won’t impact the way Giants fans treat Pham. (ESPN)
• Corbin Burnes shares a glimpse at the notebook that helped him become the pitcher he is today. Story by Will Sammon.
• The Rays have something to look forward to soon...

• Are the Yankees heading for a career-best wins season? Mike Petriello looks at what’s getting them there.
• Dan Szymborski brings us the most irreplaceable players in both the American League and National League.
• Aaron Judge is red-hot this year and just helped the Yankees net a dramatic walk-off win, shares Bill Ladson.
• Will Laws reviews the first round of All-Star voting.
• Dan Hayes looks at a particularly nasty loss for the Twins. (The Athletic subscription required.)
• This might be the earliest I’ve ever seen an ejection.

• Christopher Kamrani spotlights Bernice Gera and her attempt to become MLB’s first umpire. (The Athletic subscription required.)
• Justin Choi looks at what the future might hold for Juan Soto when he bounces back.
• It’s hard to hear the name Jeter Downs without thinking of that other famous Jeter, and Derek took to Twitter to namedrop the new prospect. Story by Nick Selbe.
• Looks like Jose Siri changed his mind about a particularly poorly thought-out tweet. (AP)
• Evan Drellich shines a spotlight on how extended spring training is failing minor league players. (The Athletic subscription required.)
• I don’t think I’ve ever watched a catcher and batter have an exchange like this. Weird week for interactions.

And tomorrow will be a better day, Buster. Make it so.

A thrice-weekly digest, replete with #Cubs, #MLB, and #MiLB factoids gathered from allegedly reputable sources. Happy birthday Christopher Morel!

On Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, Bleed Cubbie Blue is pleased to present a light-hearted, Cubs-centric look at baseball’s colorful past, with plenty of the lore and various narratives to follow as they unfold over the course of time. Here’s a handy Cubs timeline, to help you follow along. We also include Cubs’ player birthdays and a bit of world history, for context.

Today in baseball history:

• 1894 - The Chicago Colts score five runs in the top of the 9th to take the lead over Baltimore, but the National League leaders respond with three runs in the bottom of the inning to claim an 11-10 win. (2)
• 1905 - Chicago Cubs rookie right-hander Ed Reulbach wins an 18-inning marathon duel with the Cards’ Jack Taylor, 2-1, in St. Louis. First baseman Frank Chance has 27 putouts and two assists for Chicago. (2)
• 1910 - In eight innings in the field at Pittsburgh, Cubs 1B Solly Hofman sets a National League record with no putouts. His only assist opportunity is fumbled for an error as Chicago loses, 6-5. (2)
• 1953 - The Braves sign 17-year-old Joey Jay from Middletown, Connecticut, making him the first Little League player to make it to the major leagues. (2)
• 1955 - In an 18-7 loss to the Tigers, Senators 18-year-old rookie third baseman Harmon Killebrew hits his first major league home run off Billy Hoeft. “Killer” will finish his 22-year Hall of Fame career with 573 homers. (1,2)
• 1955 - Already down six, en route to an 8-2 drubbing by Milwaukee, the Dodgers debut Brooklyn-born bonus baby, Sandy Koufax. Working a scoreless but labor-intensive fifth and sixth, Koufax puts Braves on every base—via hit, walk and error (his own)—before recording his first major league out by blowing a 3-2 fastball past Bobby Thomson. Writing more than a decade later, Koufax will recall this undeniably thrilling moment as “probably the worst thing that could have happened to me, getting my first out by striking out a big hitter; because that became my pattern for five years, trying to get out of trouble by throwing harder and harder and harder.” (Conversely, the four-pitch walk which immediately preceded Thomson — issued to one Henry Louis Aaron — will, in almost the same breath, be viewed by Sandy as “probably the smartest thing I did all year. There have been many times since when I wished I had been wild enough to walk Henry Aaron. I’m usually backing up third as I am wishing it.”) (2)
• 1979 - Rickey Henderson makes his major league debut for Oakland in a 5-1 loss to Texas in the first game of a doubleheader. Henderson has a single and double in four at bats, and steals the first base of his career. (1,2)
• 2021 - Four Cubs pitchers combine on the seventh no-hitter of the season, one shy of the all-time record, in a 4-0 win over the Dodgers. Zach Davies pitches the first six innings, then Ryan Tepera, Andrew Chafin and Craig Kimbrel add one inning each to complete the feat. The Cubs issue eight walks in the game, with each of the four pitchers allowing at least one. (2)

Cubs birthdays: Jake Stenzel, Jack Katoll, Bill Hanlon, Rollie Hemsley, Ken Reitz, Doug Jones, Christopher Morel*.

Today in world history:

• 451 - 10th recorded perihelion passage of Halley’s Comet.
• 1314 - Battle of Bannockburn; Scotland regains independence from England.
• 1509 - Henry VIII is crowned King of England in Westminster Abbey, London.
• 1664 - Colony of New Jersey founded when Duke of York grants Lord Berkeley and Sir George Carteret ownership of land between the Hudson and Delaware Rivers.
• 1778 - David Rittenhouse observes a total solar eclipse in Philadelphia.
• 1853 - US President Franklin Pierce signs the Gadsden Purchase, buying 29,670 square-miles (76,800 square km) from Mexico for $10 million (now southern Arizona and New Mexico).
• 1882 - National League expels umpire Richard Higham from baseball for dishonesty after his links with gambling on games are confirmed.
• 1922 - Charter NFL club Chicago Staleys renamed Chicago Bears by team founder, owner and head coach George Halas.
• 2013 - Stanley Cup Final, TD Garden, Boston, MA: Chicago Blackhawks defeat Boston Bruins, 3-2 for 4-2 series victory; Blackhawks’ 5th Championship.

Common sources:

• (1) — Today in Baseball History.
• (2) — Baseball Reference.
• (3) — Society for American Baseball Research.
• (4) — Baseball Hall of Fame.
• (5) — This Day in Chicago Cubs history.
• For world history.

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The Pelicans stage a big late-inning comeback to win the first-half title. Tennessee and South Bend end the first-half with wins as well.

We’re going to start with Myrtle Beach tonight because that’s tonight’s big story. It was also tonight’s best game.

It’s the end of the first half for the lower three full-season teams.

Myrtle Beach Pelicans

The Myrtle Beach Pelicans defeated the Kannapolis Cannon Ballers (White Sox), 8-7 in ten innings. With the win, the Pelicans won the Carolina League South Division first-half title.

Staff ace Luis Devers picked a bad time to have his worst start since early April and to give up his first two home runs of the season. Devers put the Pelicans in a 6-1 hole after allowing six runs on nine hits over six innings. He allowed two solo home runs to TJ Gladney. Devers struck out six and walked one.

The Pelicans trailed 6-1 after six innings, but they scored twice in the top of the seventh and four times in the top of the eighth to take a 7-6 lead. Felix Stevens hit a two-run home run in the eighth and then later in the inning, Josue Huma doubled home two more. Huma had also singled home a run in the seventh.

Angel Hernandez started the ninth inning and walked the first batter. After he struck out the next batter, he exited for Johzan Oquendo. Pinch-runner James Beard stole second on Oquendo and after a strikeout and a walk, Oquendo uncorked two wild pitches to bring home the tying run. Oquendo then struck out the final batter of the inning to send it to extras.

After the Pelicans scored in the top of the tenth, Oquendo stayed in the game and got the win, despite giving up a blast to Gladney that would have been his third home run of the game and a walk-off winner had it not gone foul. Oquendo then struck out Gladney and another batter with the automatic runner on third base to clinch the title.

The final line on Oquendo was no runs on no hits over 1.2 innings. He did allow one crucial inherited runner thanks to two wild pitches. He struck out three and walked one.

Ezequiel Pagan gave the Pelicans an early 1-0 lead with a solo home run in the second inning. It was his sixth home run this year. Pagan went 3 for 4 with a double and a walk. He had just one RBI, but he scored three runs, none of which were more important that this one in the top of the tenth after he started the inning on second as the automatic runner.

That one makes my head spin.

Stevens’ two-run home run in the eighth inning was also his sixth this year. Stevens went 1 for 5.

Second baseman Huma was 3 for 5 with a double and the three RBI.

The Pelicans needed this comeback win because the Charleston RiverDogs beat the Columbia Fireflies 3-2. Columbia actually led this game 2-0 with two outs in the bottom of the ninth and no one on, but a double, a single and a walk-off two run home run put the pressure on Myrtle Beach late.

The Pelicans will now play in the Carolina League playoffs at the end of the season. They finished the first half with a record of 47-19. the best in minor league baseball.

Iowa Cubs

The Iowa Cubs were shattered by the Louisville Bats (Reds), 3-0.

Starter Robert Gsellmen threw five scoreless innings, allowing just two hits. He struck out three and walked no one.

Brendon Little gave up two runs in the bottom of the seventh inning and took the loss. Little pitched two innings and allowed the two runs on three hits. He struck out two and walked no one.

David Bote played six innings at second base and was 1 for 2 and was hit by a pitch. His single came off rehabbing Nick Lodolo.

Tennessee Smokies

The Tennessee Smokies clouded over the Chattanooga Lookouts (Reds), 6-2.

Javier Assad started and got his fourth win of the season against just one loss. Assad allowed just one run on eight hits over 5.1 innings. (But really, he allowed the one run on a third-inning home run. The other seven hits were irrelevant.) Assad walked two and struck out three.

The Smokies took an early 2-0 lead in the bottom of the second inning on a home run by DH Bryce Ball. It was Ball’s eighth home run of the year. He went 1 for 3 with a walk tonight.

Left fielder Yonathan Perlaza added to the Smokies lead with a two-run home run in the fifth inning. It was also Perlaza’s eighth home run of 2022. Perlaza went 3 for 4. He scored twice and had the two runs batted in.

The Smokies finished the first half in second-place, four games behind first-half winner Rocket City with a record of 36-30.

South Bend Cubs

The South Bend Cubs turned the hoses on the Peoria Chiefs (Cardinals), 9-6 in ten innings.

Starter Jordan Wicks got into trouble in the second inning and didn’t make it out of the inning. His final line was three runs on four hits over 1.2 innings. One of the three runs was unearned. Wicks walked one and struck out two.

Walker Powell pitched the top of the tenth inning and got the win. He gave up a one-out single that scored the automatic runner, but then ended the inning with a double play. Powell’s line was one unearned run on no hits. He did not walk or strike anyone out.

Catcher Pablo Aliendo hit a three-run walk-off home run in the bottom of the tenth inning. It was Aliendo’s third home run this season. He was 2 for 5.

DH Jake Washer hit a two-run home run in the second inning, his sixth of the season. Washer also hit a game-tying double in the bottom of the tenth and scored on Aliendo’s home run. He was 2 for 5.

Right fielder Johnathan Sierra was a perfect 4 for 4 and was intentionally walked in the tenth inning. Sierra scored twice and had one RBI.

Left fielder Owen Caissie was 2 for 4 with a walk and three runs scored.

With the win, South Bend finishes the first half with a winning record of 34-32. That earned them third place in the Midwest League West Division, nine games behind first-place Cedar Rapids.

Here are the highlights. Aliendo with an epic bat flip and walk around the bases.

ACL Cubs

Beating Diamondbacks Black 8-2 in the sixth inning.

The Cubs put together a nice late-inning rally, but lost anyway.

Just after the Cubs put together their really nice five-run eighth-inning rally to take a 7-6 lead over the Pirates Thursday afternoon, I asked myself the question: “Can this team get six outs without giving up a run?”

Turned out they couldn’t even throw one pitch without giving up a run. Michael Chavis hit David Robertson’s first pitch in the bottom of the eighth out of PNC Park to tie the game, and a bloop single to right off Scott Effross in the 10th gave the Pirates an 8-7 win and the Cubs their 14th loss in their last 17 games. The loss also dropped the Cubs to 2-6 in extra innings this year and 7-15 in one-run games.

Sigh.

Let’s start at the beginning, shall we?

The game was delayed about six minutes in the bottom of the first inning. Here’s what we saw [VIDEO].

Here’s what we learned about that late in the game:

And here’s the update:

Glad he’s okay, hope for a speedy recovery.

Returning to the game: Bryan Reynolds homered off Justin Steele in the bottom of the first, but the Cubs took a 2-1 lead in the third inning. Nico Hoerner singled, Nelson Velázquez walked and P.J. Higgins singled to load the bases. One out later, this force out tied the game [VIDEO].

Ian Happ gave the Cubs a 2-1 lead [VIDEO].

Ke’Bryan Hayes smacked a two-run homer off Steele in the bottom of the inning to give the Bucs the lead back at 3-2. In the fifth, a pair of Cubs errors gave Pittsburgh a 4-2 lead and they made it 6-2 in the sixth with three straight hits, all after the first two Pirates were routine outs. Another Cubs error happened in that inning, extending the inning even though no more runs scored.

The Cubs are going to have to do something about this, because even though these misplays don’t necessarily result in runs, they do result in pitchers having to throw extra pitches, putting more pressure on the bullpen. This might be the worst Cubs defensive team I’ve ever seen.

During this time, even though it did not lead to a run, Velázquez did something that you need to see. Here, watch [VIDEO].

There’s no way Velázquez should have tried for second base on that play. But he did, and he made a Javy Báez-style swim move and was safe.

Talent and baseball smarts like this deserve more playing time. Play him. Every day. Bringing up a guy like this from Iowa and sitting him on the bench to only face lefties — I simply don’t get it.

Anyway, it’s 6-2 Pirates heading to the eighth and I was thinking sad thoughts about having to write about another loss (which did happen anyway!) when the Cubs put together one of their best rallies of the entire season.

Christopher Morel led off with a single and Willson Contreras walked. Ian Happ hit into a force play, putting runners on first and third. Patrick Wisdom made it 6-3 with this hit [VIDEO].

One out later, Jonathan Villar walked to load the bases, and Nico Hoerner singled in a pair [VIDEO].

Well. Now it’s 6-5 and actually interesting, and Rafael Ortega then walked to re-load the bases.

Alfonso Rivas batted for P.J. Higgins and gave the Cubs the lead [VIDEO].

If you’re keeping track, that’s three hits with runners in scoring position in that inning alone, two of them with the bases loaded. That’s good! The Cubs going 5-for-18 overall in this game with RISP? That’s... not good.

Anyway, here’s where we came in, with the Cubs with the lead and six outs to go, only that lead disappeared one pitch into the eighth. No one else scored in the eighth or ninth and so they went to Manfred man extras.

The Cubs had a chance in the top of the 10th. Placed runner Wisdom advanced to third on a fly to right, and then tried to score on a ground ball to the right side [VIDEO].

The Cubs challenged the call and I thought they were right — if you look closely, it looks like Wisdom’s foot touches the plate before he was tagged — but the replay crew disagreed, and so the game went to the bottom of the 10th, where an intentional walk was issued to Reynolds to try to set up a force play. Scott Effross struck out Diego Castillo, but then Chavis blooped that ball beyond first, and the game was over.

The five-run Cubs eighth was the seventh time this year they have scored five or more in an inning, per the Marquee broadcast. Six of those seven have been against the Pirates (the other was in an 11-4 win over the Reds May 24). The Cubs are now 5-8 against the Pirates this year, but have outscored them 74-54 in the 13 games.

New 2022 Cubs slogan: “Go Figure!”

ICYMI, there were two bits of Cubs news earlier Thursday which I did not put in separate articles here:

• Ethan Roberts will have Tommy John surgery, ending his 2022 season. He’s got lots of talent, here’s to a quick rehab process and return.
• The Cubs recalled Adrian Sampson from Triple-A Iowa and placed Daniel Norris on the 15-day injured list with a strain in his left index finger.

The road trip continues Friday evening in St. Louis with the opener of a three-game series. Kyle Hendricks will start for the Cubs and Andre Pallante will go for St. Louis, and “Andre Pallante” was a French Impressionist painter from the 1880s, right? (No? Sounds like he should be.) Game time Friday is 7:15 p.m. CT and TV coverage will be via Marquee Sports Network.

——

Go get ‘em, Justin.

Should you be searching for Thursday’s game threads, you can find them all here.

The Cubs go for the series split.

• ICYMI:

Other Thursday notes...

• ALFONSO RIVAS: ... hit his first career grand slam Wednesday night and tied his career high with five RBI (also the most RBI by a Cub in a single game this season).
• CHRISTOPHER MOREL: ... his .463 SLG is third and his .327 OBP ranks sixth in the National League among all rookies (minimum 130 at-bats).
• DAVID ROBERTSON: ... by recording his first career at-bat in his 696th career game, Robertson surpassed Mariano Rivera (687 games) for the most games pitched in major league history before his first plate appearance. (H/T: Elias Sports Bureau)
• UPS AND DOWNS: The Cubs began the season 9-18 through their first 27 games, scoring 3.8 runs per game and hitting 20 homers. The club then went 14-12 in its next 26 games, hitting 35 homers while scoring 135 runs. Since then: 3-13 with 53 runs scored and 14 home runs.

Here are today’s particulars.

Cubs lineup:

Pirates lineup:

Justin Steele, LHP vs. Jose Quintana, LHP

USA TODAY NETWORK

USA TODAY NETWORK

Today’s all-lefty matchup is the second start of the year for Justin Steele against the Pirates. April 24 at Wrigley Field, he lasted only three innings and allowed four hits, four walks and three runs. Cutting down on the walks has helped him. Since June 1: three starts, 1.89 ERA, 1.263 WHIP, six walks in 19 innings. His K rate is also down (only seven in those 19 innings), but if he’s getting outs, that’s all that matters.

No, you did not predict that Jose Quintana would recover his pre-Cubs level of performance with the Pirates this year. No one did. It will bring the Bucs a good return when they trade him next month.

His last five starts, though... 5.67 ERA, 1.667 WHIP, five home runs in 27 innings.

Maybe the Cubs can take advantage. Q vs. the Cubs this year: two starts, 2.70 ERA, 1.300 WHIP.

Statcast

Statcast

Today’s game is on Marquee Sports Network. Here’s a list of providers currently carrying Marquee.

Here is the complete MLB.com Mediacenter for today.

MLB.com Gameday

Baseball-reference.com game preview

Please visit our SB Nation Pirates site Bucs Dugout. If you do go there to interact with Pirates fans, please be respectful, abide by their individual site rules and serve as a good representation of Cub fans in general and BCB in particular.

The 2022 Game Thread procedure will be like last years, similar to what we’ve used for Spring Training.

You’ll find the game preview posted separately on the front page two hours before game time (90 minutes for some early day games following night games).

At the same time, a StoryStream containing the preview will also post on the front page, titled “Cubs vs. (Team) (Day of week/date) game threads.” It will contain every post related to that particular game, including the First Pitch Thread and the overflow thread, as well as the recap when it’s published. The recap will also live on the front page as a separate post.

You will also be able to find the preview, First Pitch Thread and the overflow thread in the box marked “Chicago Cubs Game Threads” at the bottom of the front page (you can also find them in this section link). The StoryStream for each game can also be found in that section.

The First Pitch thread will post at five minutes before game time, then an overflow thread at 90 minutes after the scheduled game time.

Discuss amongst yourselves.

A NICE win. Gotta love it

I’ll leave it to Al to decide if the complaint department is open or not. The Keystone Kops routine in the ninth inning was less than ideal and I know that there are many that aren’t super excited with the Daniel Norris experience. Though in fairness, Daniel’s line doesn’t look out of the ordinary despite the ninth-inning carnage that made this game look at least a little closer than it actually was.

I’m taking credit in this space for predicting the last three Cubs wins. There is some creative accounting here, but I’m the arbiter in this space and I’m going to take it. I did suggest before the series in Pittsburgh that the Cubs would definitely take one and that I wouldn’t be surprised if they took two. Yeah, none of the rest of you are scoring this as an accurate prediction, but I’m taking it. Just the same, I absolutely wrote this yesterday:

Up Next: Game three of the four-game set between these two teams. Keegan Thompson (6-2, 3.27) starts for the Cubs. He’ll look to make it two positive starts in a row. It looks like the Pirates will start Jerad Eickhoff, who has been pitching for their Triple-A affiliate this year. The 31-year-old has previously pitched for the Rangers, Phillies and Mets in the major leagues. Dare I say it? This one looks like it could be a win. You can’t lose ’em all, right?

If you follow my predictions at all, only do so for amusement’s sake. I assure you, I’m pretty bad at this. Also, even though I was right about this one, I’ll assume that this was pretty low-hanging fruit. Keegan Thompson has ben far and away the Cubs best pitcher and the Pirates were starting a 31-year-old journeyman. This was absolutely a winnable game. Kudos to the Cubs because we all know teams do far worse than winning all of the winnable games. Especially the really bad teams.

More than anything, this game was probably a reminder that the Pirates are also a bad team. They looked like world-beaters on Monday and Tuesday, but they came into this series struggling as badly as the Cubs. Someone had to win.

The other reminder was that we can’t have nice things. Even after battering the Pirates to the point that we got to see an opponent’s position player pitch, the Cubs allowed four ninth-inning runs. All of them were unearned because the defense completely melted down. Well, mostly P.J. Higgins melted down, but he was in fact part of the defense.

Still, we also had Norris issuing a walk and hitting a batter with a 13-run lead. I last played organized baseball about 30 years ago. Even then, we were told one thing with a huge lead. Don’t give them any free runners and let them get back into the game. In the end, there is no difference between a 14-1 and a 14-5 win. But it would have been nice to clean it up and get it over.

For once, I have some good options for the three positives of the day.

1. Keegan Thompson gets my top spot. Cubs pitching has been getting pummeled. Not only did Thompson give the Cubs some length, throwing six innings, but he was highly effective.
2. Rafael Ortega. Three hits (including a double) and a walk, two RBI and two runs scored.
3. Patrick Wisdom. Two hits, one of them a homer, drove in four and scored twice.

With that, we turn our attention to Heroes and Goats for Wednesday night’s win.

Game 69, June 22: Cubs 14 at Pirates 5 (26-43)

Reminder: Heroes and Goats are determined by WPA scores and are in no way subjective. The exception to this occurs in blowouts. In this game, multiple players finished with .000 and I had to decide a tie breaker. In this one instance, I do use discretion.

THREE HEROES:

• Superhero: Rafael Ortega (.150). 3-5, 2B, BB, 2RBI, 2R
• Hero: Alfonso Rivas (.080). 2-4, HR, HBP, 5RBI, 2R, 2K
• Sidekick: Nico Hoerner (.078). 1-3, RBI, R, SF

THREE GOATS:

• Billy Goat: Willson Contreras (-.069). 0-5, 2K
• Goat: Yan Gomes (.044). 1-5
• Kid: P.J. Higgins/Daniel Norris (.000). Higgins: 0-1; Norris IP (8 batters!), H, BB, 4R (0ER), 2K, HBP

WPA Play of the Game: Rafael Ortega batted with the bases loaded and no outs, the game scoreless in the second inning. He doubled and the Cubs had all of the runs they would eventually need. (.110)

*Pirates Play of the Game: Bryan Reynolds tripled to lead off the bottom of the first. (.068)

Rizzo Award Cumulative Standings: (Top 3/Bottom 3)

The award is named for Anthony Rizzo, who finished first in this category three of the first four years it was in existence and four times overall. He also recorded the highest season total ever at +65.5. The point scale is three points for a Superhero down to negative three points for a Billy Goat.

• Nico Hoerner +15
• Christopher Morel +14
• David Robertson +11.5
• Daniel Norris -7.5
• Kyle Hendricks -10
• Jason Heyward -11.5

Up Next: Game four of this series between the Cubs and Pirates. Justin Steele (2-5, 4.27) starts for the Cubs. Old pal Jose Quintana (1-4, 3.66) will start for the Pirates. Both of these pitchers have performed a little better than their numbers might indicate. Quintana’s one win? It came against the Dodgers. Baseball is unpredictable sometimes.

The Cubs got hits! And runs! And won!

When the Cubs pulled out of their offensive torpor of recent days and had a seven-run inning, my first thought (and yours too, be honest) was, “How are they going to blow this lead?”

But they didn’t. Not only that, they added seven more runs and blew out the Pirates 14-5, paying them back in part for the two blowout defeats Monday and Tuesday.

There are lots of highlights to look at here, so let’s get to them.

After a scoreless first, the Cubs loaded the bases on a Jonathan Villar double, Nico Hoerner single and Jason Heyward being hit by a pitch in the top of the second. Alfonso Rivas was then also HBP to make it 1-0 Cubs.

With the bases thus still loaded, Rafael Ortega cleared them [VIDEO].

One out later, Patrick Wisdom made it 5-0 [VIDEO].

That was a nice pice of hitting by Wisdom, going with the pitch and lining it up the middle instead of trying to do too much and smash the ball. (He did do that later on.)

Ian Happ completed the seven-run inning with this two-run homer [VIDEO].

That ball went a long way:

After a Diego Castillo solo homer off Keegan Thompson in the bottom of the second, the Cubs added two more in the fourth. Ortega led off with a walk and one out later, Wisdom did crush a baseball [VIDEO].

As the video shows, that ball landed in almost the exact spot Happ’s did, only with a higher launch angle:

The Cubs made it 10-1 in the fifth on a sac fly by Nico Hoerner [VIDEO].

Those 10 runs were all off Jerad Eickhoff, who was called up from Triple-A Indianapolis to make this start. I assume that was to help save the Pirates bullpen — see, the Cubs aren’t the only team doing this. Fun fact about Eickhoff’s start:

Also, per the Marquee broadcast. this was the third time since 2009 the Cubs had scored 10 runs off a single pitcher. The other two were also Pirates: Steven Brault (September 13, 2019) and Charlie Morton (August 14, 2009).

While all this was going on, Keegan Thompson was breezing through the Pirates lineup. Apart from Castillo’s homer, really the only mistake he made, Thompson allowed just three other hits and a walk and struck out seven. After a couple of rough outings earlier in June, Thompson’s last two starts: 12 innings, six hits, one run, 16 strikeouts. Keep up the great work!

The Cubs added four in the ninth off Castillo, another position player pitching. I’ve made my position on this clear, though the “mercy rule” I suggest wouldn’t have ended this game until after Alfonso Rivas hit a grand slam off Castillo [VIDEO].

After that slam, reliever David Robertson took his first professional at-bat (the Marquee broadcast said it was his first MLB at-bat, but he didn’t bat in the minor leagues, either). Predictably, he struck out [VIDEO].

A pitcher batting against a position player. Was that amusing? Or was it farce?

With a 13-run lead, Daniel Norris was entrusted to finish things off, which he did, though not until he had to throw 33 pitches (only 11 for strikes). Granted, he didn’t have any help from his defense (two errors), which made the four runs he allowed all unearned. Here’s the final out [VIDEO].

So the complaint department is closed regarding this game, which was the first Cubs win by more than five runs since they beat the Reds 11-4 on May 24.

But that department isn’t closed regarding Marquee’s broadcast. I’ve also made my position clear about that, but the bottom of the fifth inning was just ridiculous. They spent the entire inning interviewing Pittsburgh-area native Ian Happ’s high school coach, showing photos of Happ in HS, and completely ignoring the action on the field. I heard from a friend of mine, a Mets fan, who occasionally watches Cubs games because he knows I’m a big Cubs fan. He told me he turned the game off because of this interview and switched to another game. There’s also this reaction:

And they completely missed Nelson Velázquez coming into the game, replacing Happ, because of this interview.

I’ll grant that the interview appeared to have some interesting info about Happ. But this is the sort of thing you put in a pregame show, not interrupting the actual game. Literally no other regional sports network does this. When I tune into a live game, I want to see and hear about the game. Period. No sideshows. In addition, I found on Twitter this criticism of Marquee broadcasts, with which I concur:

I could go on, but you get the idea. As I wrote in the article linked above, these broadcasts border on unwatchable.

The Cubs will go for a series split in a day game today, Thursday. It begins at 11:35 a.m. CT, just in time for an early lunch. Justin Steele will start for the Cubs and our old friend Jose Quintana gets the call for the Pirates. TV coverage is via Marquee Sports Network. The BCB game preview will post here at 10 a.m. CT.