Cub Tracks sings sad songs

Dammit! I wanted to be gruntled. I needed a ray of sunshine Wednesday night, let me tell you — I had a worse night and day than I did Monday. My oxygen converter bit the big one last night, and it took all of 9½ hours to get it replaced while I used my portable, which delivers about a third of the usual dosage of O2. The portable is great for going to the store or whatever... and usually it would be fine, but the deal started at 11 p.m. Tuesday and the replacement didn’t arrive til 10:30 Wednesday morning. So I was up all night waiting for a tech that never came. Short of breath, short of sleep, massive anxiety over the way things were being handled — just the way I like to spend my days and nights... let’s just say that oxygen is not over-rated.

Neither is good relief pitching. “I’m just gonna open the window a little to get some air,” he says, getting one foot up on the ledge. “Steve Cishek wtf? This is why I keep trading you off my MLB The Show teams. Stop imitating ‘art’.”

And it was all going so well...

The Cubs clearly need some breathing room. And they’re headed for a weekend showdown with the front-running Brew Crew, who are putting much air between them and the rest of the division, after today’s tilt, the third against the Braves. Yikes!

The solution is simple. Win one, guys. Every streak starts at one.

Here’s today’s Cubs News and Notes. As always * means autoplay on, or annoying ads, or both (directions to remove for Firefox and Chrome).

Willson Contreras’ first home run of the season was a no-doubter.

The Cubs catcher launched a go-ahead two-run homer a projected 452 feet, according to Statcast. The deep shot to center, off Braves left-hander Jonny Venters, followed Kyle Schwarber’s walk to open the top of the sixth and gave the Cubs a 3-2 lead.

The homer had an exit velocity of 112.9 mph. — Jordan Bastian.

Considering the Cubs won the 2016 World Series over Cleveland and have been to the playoffs -- and gone further -- just as much as the Indians, Joe Maddon was asked what he thought of Terry Francona getting a contract extension while Maddon remains on the last year of his deal: “I’ve never compared myself to other people. That’s not a healthy way to go about your business. All this stuff will work its way through in due time. For me, right now, I’m in a pretty good spot. I’ve been treated more than well. I don’t lament or worry about things like that.” — Jesse Rogers.

• Mark Gonzales (Chicago Tribune* {$}): Theo Epstein’s call for urgency doesn’t mean he’s contemplating changes on the Cubs: ‘Every game is not a referendum on the season’. “We’re not thinking in those terms,” Epstein said Wednesday.
• Jon Greenberg (The Athletic {$}): Context is king: Four games in, you can see why the Cubs are making people nervous. “Watching Mark Zagunis start feels like a callback to the random outfielders who would pop in during the Jim Hendry era.”
• Gordon Wittenmyer (Chicago Sun-Times* {$}): Not so fast: Check back on Cubs’ urgency in August because it’s a long season. “... talking about urgency probably should be the first reality check.” Sean Holland adds on.
• Jordan Bastian (MLB.com*): 3 up, 3 down across Cubs’ first four outings. “Instead of looking up to see if any pieces of the sky are falling, let’s run through a handful of positives and concerns that have shown up in Chicago’s first four games.”
• Jeff Burdick (Cubs Insider): Will Cubs’ $100 million rotation gamble eventually pay off? “... the rotation’s cost more than anything has precluded investing in any number of other need areas.”
• Mark Gonzales (Chicago Tribune* {$}): ‘We can’t give so many free baserunners’: Kyle Hendricks is annoyed Cubs pitchers have walked 27 batters in 4 games. “We’ve got to get back to the fundamentals. Good pitches, get ahead of guys, put them away and play good defense,” he continued.
• Ben Weinrib (MLB.com*): Carl Edwards Jr’s delivery pause ruled illegal by MLB. “You can’t hit the ground twice apparently, but for years the guys did the double pump, and their back foot will hit the ground twice,” Joe Maddon said. Brendan Miller also has thoughts about Edwards. So does Gordon Wittenmyer.
• Brett Taylor (Bleacher Nation): Brandon Morrow is just about ready to face live hitters. Expanding on Jesse Rogers tweet.
• Patrick Mooney (The Athletic {$}): Why the Cubs and David Bote made a $15 million deal. “... he’s got a young family at home – he prioritizes security,” said Epstein.
• Emily Waldon (The Athletic {$}): Twelve prospects who impressed in this year’s Cactus League. “... some of my choices may lean more toward projectable intrigue than major-league-ready talent, because isn’t that half the fun when it comes to evaluation?”
• Barry Rozner (Daily Herald {$}): 30 years later, ‘89 Chicago Cubs opener a wild memory. “... as Opening Day hysterics go, the Chicago Cubs’ 1989 opener was one of the all-timers.”
• Cubs birthdays: Joe Brown, Pete Kilduff, Mickey Owen, Willie Ramsdell, Eddie Watt. Also notable: Tris Speaker (HoF), Jim Fregosi.

Food for thought: