The Cubs longest winning streak in 2018 was seven games from August 22 to August 28. When they entered play on August 22 they were 71-53 with a 2.5 game lead over the Saint Louis Cardinals and a 3.0 game lead over the Milwaukee Brewers. By August 28 they had increased that lead to 4.5 games over the Cardinals and 6.0 games over the Brewers. So on the seventh day of Cubsmas let’s take a look back at the most successful streak of Cubs baseball in 2018.
August 22: Cubs 8, Tigers 2
Jon Lester didn’t have his best stuff this day but he grinded out a one-run performance anyway. He threw 100 pitches over 5⅔ innings while only striking out three and giving up seven hits to earn his 14th win of the season. The Cubs scoring barrage started in the fifth and they never looked back. The highlight of this game for me were the back to back home runs Javier Baez and Anthony Rizzo hit in the ninth. Particularly because Javy gave the North Side of Chicago a heart attack after fouling a pitch off his calf [VIDEO].
August 23: Cubs 7, Reds 1
Cole Hamels was an outstanding acquisition by the Cubs at the trade deadline and this was one of his finest performances of the season. He had a rocky first inning giving up a lead off double to Cubs nemesis Billy Hamilton, a single to Jose Peraza and a two out RBI single to Phillip Ervin before retiring the side after throwing 24 pitches. I was pretty sure it was going to be a short outing for Cole. But he had other plans. He threw a four-pitch second inning and didn’t give up another run in this complete game [VIDEO].
The Cubs’ bats were not silent on August 23 with Rizzo and Baez both homering again, including Javy’s longest home run of the year at 481 feet [VIDEO].
August 24: Cubs 3, Reds 2
This was another David Bote walkoff to start players weekend off right. It was also an impressive outing from Alec Mills who threw 5⅔ innings with a line of 4H 1R 1ER 1BB 8K. He also managed to get his first MLB hit. All in all a great win at Wrigley.
David Bote walks it off (again) with an absolutely monster home run in the 10th [VIDEO].
August 25: Cubs 10, Reds 6
Jose Quintana didn’t have his best stuff on this day but the bats were awake. The Cubs took an early lead on a Daniel Murphy home run and never looked back [VIDEO].
In fact, if you like dingers, this was the game for you. Kyle Schwarber followed that up with a no doubter in the fourth inning (I particularly love the bullpen limboing after this blast) [VIDEO].
And not to be outdone, Javy joined in the fun in the fifth [VIDEO].
August 26: Cubs 9, Reds 0
Everything was coming up Cubs on August 26. Kyle Hendricks and Randy Rosario combined for a three hit shutout of the Reds [VIDEO].
Meanwhile the Cubs bats stayed hot on Players’ Weekend. Bote hit a blast that cleared Wrigley Field, Jason Heyward went four-for-four with a triple and Kyle Schwarber hit a 444-foot home run. Take a look at Bote’s blast below [VIDEO].
August 27: Cubs 7, Mets 4
This was one of the Cubs many comeback wins in 2018. Jon Lester threw another quality start with a line of 5H 3R 3ER 3BB 3K. He also took matters into his own hands to tie the game in the second [VIDEO].
But the day belonged to Anthony Rizzo who hit a ground rule double down the line for his 1,000th hit and then added a 425 foot home run for good measure. Take a look at Rizzo’s 1,000th hit [VIDEO].
August 28: Cubs 2, Mets 1
The Cubs finished off their longest winning streak with an 11-inning comeback win against the Mets. Cole Hamels followed up his complete game with a five-inning outing where his line was 4H 0R 0ER 3BB 8K and the Cubs managed to tie the game in the eighth off of eventual Cy Young winner Jacob deGrom when Bote drove in Albert Almora Jr. with a sacrifice fly. Bote also flashed some leather at third base making this play that very few other third basemen can make [VIDEO].
The game was suspended in the 10th for rain and had to be finished the next day. The Cubs loaded the bases in the eleventh on a rare unintentional Baez, an error on Paul Sewald and an intentional walk to Schwarber. Almora struck out, but that brought up Ben Zobrist to face the new pitcher, Daniel Zamora. As you all know, there is no one I’d rather see up in a moment like that than Zobrist, after all, you can’t spell Zobrist without RBI [VIDEO].
On the seventh day of Cubsmas my true love gave to me a seven game winning streak, six Rizzo steals (and so much more), five comeback wins, four postseason appearances in a row, three epic relief appearances, two walkoff grand slams, and a Javy MVP candidate.