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Cub Tracks sings sad songs

Walk, don’t run, Bote McExtensionface, and other bullets

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Here we go again
Photo by Mike Zarrilli/Getty Images

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.

Food for thought: