Cub Tracks edges away from the ledge

Well, was that better? Jason Heyward to the rescue? Albert Almora! Anonymous fan taking the ball from Anthony Rizzo’s glove for the goat. Backing in to the playoffs, ick, but hey! Playoffs.

I’m not getting down on the boys anyway, because Cub Tracks doesn’t do ledge. If the time comes, I’ll just jump right out the gamethreading window. But it would take a collapse of epic proportions to do that, as I am enjoying the fact that the Cubs are in a gamethreading pennant race, which hasn’t happened much in my lifetime. Baseball happens.

I believe. I’m all in until the last out is made. I think of the worst moments of my life, and this is better than those. Bring it on. Gimme some more of that blue kool-aid. Let’s rock and roll.

The Athletic crew was out on the ledge today. You can go over there and read that stuff. I’m not going with that narrative. They have Yelich running away with the MVP award, Maddon on the hot seat, and the Cubs just floundering around. That’ll change with a wind. #narrative

Jesse Rogers blames the neighbors. I think he’s right. And nobody else has Javier Baez.

As always * means autoplay on, or annoying ads, or both (directions to remove for Firefox and Chrome).

Cubs News and Notes:

I done got told.

“I did eventually read the post,” Maddon said. “And my stance has not changed. I mean, domestic violence is horrible. It absolutely is. By reading that, you feel her pain, absolutely. But at the end of the day, there’s really nothing that I’m able to do. This is in the hands of MLB and the player’s union, period.

”That was my initial stance and that is my stance. It’s horrible to think what that lady’s gone through, absolutely. But I don’t know enough about the other side, so I’m waiting for the full report to come out and then we can all draw conclusions at that point.” — Tony Andracki.

• Jon Greenberg (The Athletic {$}): If Cubs flail into October, will Joe Maddon feel the heat? “I’ve seen this show before on the West Side.”
• Jared Wyllys (NBC Sports Chicago*): Maddon calls for Cubs to score early, and they respond. “If we could just get on the board early, that would be very helpful,” Maddon said.
• James Neveau (NBC Chicago*): Chicago Cubs snap losing streak, keep slim division lead with win. “The win cuts the Cubs’ magic number to just four to clinch the Central Division championship.”
• Steve Greenberg (Chicago Sun-Times*): Cubs in the home stretch: start of something big or beginning of the end? “We’re in a position to win the division,” Anthony Rizzo said.
• Brett Taylor (Bleacher Nation): John and Kristina Lackey are coming to Chicago – maybe he can scare the team into shape. “Watch out, Cubs Clubhouse.”
• Mark Gonzales (Chicago Tribune* {$}): Christian Yelich catches attention of Cubs’ Rizzo with MVP-caliber second half. “There’s such a mutual respect from team to team and you appreciate what Yelich is doing in the second half,” Rizzo said.
• Michael Cerami (Bleacher Nation): Javy Baez always manages to Javy Baez, even when things are down. Javy Jighlights.
• Paul Sullivan (Chicago Tribune* {$}): MLB reportedly has more ‘credible information’ in Addison Russell abuse case; he’s unlikely to return for Cubs’ postseason. “Russell’s status is in limbo, and another extension of the leave is expected.” Refers to Ken Rosenthal article in the Athletic {$}. Patrick Mooney {$} adds on. So does Gordon Wittenmyer {$}.
• Jeff Sullivan (Fangraphs): The silliest thing about Kyle Schwarber. “...Schwarber’s timing has been lousy.” Evan Altman unpacks.
• Carrie Muskat (MLB.com*): J-Hey’s HR gives Cubs boost in playoff push. “Heyward gave the fans something to cheer about when he launched a 2-1 fastball to the opposite field in left for a 2-1 lead.”
• Sahadev Sharma (The Athletic {$}): A convenient truth: Terrance Gore could be the Cubs’ Dave Roberts this October. “Being fast helps, but it’s not all that matters,” Gore said.
• Carrie Muskat (MLB.com*): Cubs’ 2003 run to NLCS had an unlikely hero. “Randall Simon had a lot of big hits, but he was also important to the team culture,” Doug Glanville said.

Food for Thought:

• Laurel Hamers (Science News): Manta rays have an unusual mouth filter that resists clogging. “Instead of snagging in the filter, plankton ricochets toward the manta’s throat”
• Meagan Cantwell (Science): Neanderthals used their hands like tailors and painters. “...these 3D scans could provide insight into the hand-grip of other early humans, as well as how they used other muscles while alive.”
• Maria Temming (Science News): Fiberglass-spinning robots could be construction workers of the future. “The bots could be used for construction in remote places such as on the seafloor or in space.”