A Review Of A Cubs Playoff Season: July 2015

The Cubs had something happen to them this month that hadn't happened in nearly 50 years: they got no-hit, by the Phillies' Cole Hamels. It seemed that might have been the end for the team's thoughts of playoffs... instead, that was only the beginning.

Team record

15-12, the second consecutive winning month... but that only happened because the Cubs won four of the last five games of July.

Best win

This one was easy: July 27 vs. the Rockies. The Cubs put up six runs in the fourth after trailing 4-0, but the bullpen blew the lead in the top of the ninth, allowing four runs. (Don't worry. The two pitchers responsible for that mess, Jason Motte and Rafael Soriano, won't be anywhere near a playoff roster.)

Dexter Fowler singled with one out in the bottom of the ninth and Kris Bryant walked it off with a two-run homer, the first time the Cubs had won a game on a walkoff homer while trailing since Aramis Ramirez did it against the Brewers June 29, 2007.

Toughest loss

Sadly, this one was also easy: July 8 vs. the Cardinals. Jason Hammel suffered a hamstring injury in the first inning and the Cubs went down 4-0. They took the lead 5-4 on a three-run double by Miguel Montero in the fifth. The sound at Wrigley after that hit was deafening. They were one strike away from victory when Pedro Strop threw a pitch to Jhonny Peralta that wound up deposited in the left-field bleachers for a two-run game-winning homer.

As loud as it had been after Montero's hit, that's how silent it was after Peralta's, even with some Cardinals fans cheering.

Best individual monthly performance

Jake Arrieta began his great run in July, posting a 1.90 ERA in six starts, including a complete-game victory over the White Sox July 12 at Wrigley Field.

Roughest individual monthly performance

Remember how good Starlin Castro has become since August? He was horrid in July, hitting .170/.194/.202, 16-for-94 with 21 strikeouts.

Weirdest happening

It's got to be the no-hitter, July 25 at Wrigley Field in front of a sellout crowd that turned out to be the second-largest of the year (the July 12 White Sox game was the only one larger). Hamels' no-no ended the longest streak of not being no-hit in major-league history. The Streak went 7,920 games dating back to Sandy Koufax' perfect game over the Cubs in 1965.

Tuesday: A look at the Cubs in August 2015.