In the previous episode of Cub Tracks, the Cub were about to sweep the Pirates' ship out of Lincoln Park and the environs. Since then, they have indeed scuttled that craft, and they prepared to entertain the low-flying Cardinals in a three-game set.
You all know the result: Box score of yesterday's game.
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Expecting to fly.
- CBS Chicago: Jason McLeod: Need to do better cultivating homegrown pitchers. Proper lighting, temperature control, hydration..."everything is rolling on the North Side." McLeod wasn't blowing smoke when he appeared with Mike Mulligan and David Haugh on The Score.[AUDIO]
- ESPN*: Week 11 Power Rankings. The Cubs have officially taken over. Giants and Nationals trying to keep pace, Rangers riding herd on the AL.
- Buster Olney (ESPN-INSIDER=$): Fair or not, Cubs will have "Warriors-like" expectations on them. Right, we know how that ended.
- Lindsay Berra (MLB.com): Joe Maddon has the Cubs more selective in shifting. "It's a function of the team you're playing against," Maddon says.
- Robert Villarreal (Baseball Essential): Cubs running away with NL Central. Yes. This is what happens when you have the best team.
Stovetop stuffing.
- Doug Mittler (ESPN): MLB rumor central: Javier Baez not trade chip. Ken Rosenthal thinks it more likely that the Cubs deal minor-leaguers.
- Ken Rosenthal (Fox Sports): The Cubs have trade chips, but Javier Baez is not one of them. "He is not a trade chip. He's a fun, exciting, gifted player, a burgeoning star."
- Sean Holland (Cubs Den): Les is more. In some ways, Jon Lester has become the forgotten man of the Cubs rotation.
- Jesse Rogers (ESPN): What must Willson Contreras do to become Cubs full-time catcher? "You’ll see him often. I promise you that," said Joe Maddon.
- Today's Knuckleball: Willson Contreras to receive additional playing time. According to a report from Jesse Rogers.
Birds of a feather.
- Wayne Cavadi (Today's Knuckleball): Eloy Jimenez finally showing off his talent. "Jimenez may turn out to be the 'next big thing' in Chicago."
- Adam Nisen (Sports Mockery): Cardinals All-Star shows ultimate confidence (or stupidity) with recent comments about the Cubs. If I were a Carpenter, I'd hold my tongue.
- Bruce Miles (Daily Herald): Back with Cubs, Chris Coghlan feels part of the family. "With all due respect to Oakland, I was grateful," he said about his trade.
- Josh Terry (Chicago Tribune): In defense of bandwagon fans. "Sports, like all hobbies, is about community..."
Chatter box.
- ESPN*: Ben Zobrist talks to Buster Olney. [AUDIO]
- ESPN*: Kyle Hendricks talks to Dave Kaplan. [AUDIO]
- CSN Chicago: Kevin Millar thinks the Cubs should stick with what they have. [VIDEO]
- Daniel Kreps (Rolling Stone): Watch Eddie Vedder perform at All-Star Cubs benefit concert. [VIDEO]
Food for thought:
- Stephanie Hayes (The Atlantic): The science of beer goggles. "A couple of scientists walked into a bar and…began posing moral quandaries."
- Erica Tennenhouse (Science Explorer): Mammals nearly went extinct along with the dinosaurs. Approximately 93 percent of mammalian species perished in the event at the end of the Cretaceous, far higher than previously estimated.
- Science News: Scientists engineer tunable DNA for electronics applications. Symptom of the universe or insane radio?