Cub Tracks’ one-upsmanship

“Every time the Giants walk a Cub, it comes back to bite them.” — Len Kasper.

Cub Tracks is of course into biting things. Armour Hot Dogs, Soylent Green, bring it on (beets and Brussels sprouts and lutefisk excepted). Cub Tracks in in the best shape of their life — round, and is officially on the See Food diet. But we digress.

Yu had his issues. There has to be a happy medium, but that sixth inning was like putting in Kreskin and getting Uri Geller. My Sox fan friend Mark opined that his “curve ball looked like a bent spoon.” The spoon was apparently holding meatballs. Ugh.

And then:

It’s getting kind of hard to swallow the idea of this team going far in the playoffs, should they make it. — Debbie Downer.

Shut your pie-hole, Debbie. I’m trying to believe that the Cubs are upper-crust. Look at how they came back!

“Stand tall, kick high, swing hard.” — Jim Deshaies

How did it all turn out? KB was clutch! Al will have full details of that wild game in his recap. The Cubs are back in first.

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). {$} means paywall. {$} means limited views. Italics are often used here as sarcasm font.

“We were pretty confident that he was going to pitch at a really high level when he was out there. And he did the first half last year. I don’t know. I look back, and maybe we should’ve had even more conservative sort of guidelines with him or maybe there’s nothing we could do. It’s impossible to say, you know?

”Obviously, he’s a guy with significant injury history, which makes it a calculated risk when you sign somebody like that. You sort of know -- how good he was -- you know you’re going to get quality when he’s out there, but there’s a risk of not getting the quantity. And that burned us for the last year and a half, and that’s on me.” — Theo Epstein, on Brandon Morrow.

• Patrick Mooney (The Athletic {$}): Do the Cubs have another gear? We’re about to find out. “September provides its own energy,” Joe Maddon said.
• Steve Greenberg (Chicago Sun-Times* {$}): Cubs’ Yu Darvish — no hard luck this time — falls apart in sixth inning against Giants. “It wasn’t the way it was supposed to go for a guy who’d seemingly taken large steps to turn around his fortunes with the Cubs.”
• Jordan Bastian (MLB.com*): Latest setback ends Morrow’s 2019 season. And likely his career. Josh Timmers delivers the news. Steve Greenberg concurs. Mark Gonzales agrees and talks about Willson Contreras too. Evan Altman gets in on the conversation. Patrick Mooney tops things off.
• Brett Taylor (Bleacher Nation*): Contreras getting in some drills on the field today as he rehabs his hamstring. “... if Contreras is able to return in six weeks, considering the history and circumstances, that would be just fine.” Tony Andracki elaborates.
• Matt Snyder (CBS Sports*): Why Craig Kimbrel’s drama-free save vs. the Giants was so encouraging for the Cubs and their closer. “Kimbrel’s fastball averaged 97.54 and topped out at 98.1.”
• Mark Gonzales (Chicago Tribune* {$}): Ben Zobrist will resume his comeback bid on Thursday for Double-A Tennessee, then Friday with Triple-A Iowa. “The Cubs anticipate Zobrist rejoining the team by Sept. 1.”
• Evan Altman (Cubs Insider): Daniel Descalso admits playing through ankle injury contributed to derailed season. “If he’s actually back to full strength, Descalso could fatten up the Cubs’ admittedly thin depth down the stretch.” Tommy Birch wrote it up originally. Brett Taylor has additional thoughts.
• Mark Gonzales (Chicago Tribune* {$}): Joe Maddon says David Bote and Albert Almora Jr.’s time with Triple-A Iowa will benefit them — and the Cubs. “You’re sending them back to a limited amount of time to work on some things that specifically is going to benefit them and us moving forward,” he said.
• Jordan Bastian (MLB.com*): Kris Bryant’s blast caps 23-run slugfest with Giants. “With the win, the Cubs pulled ahead of the Cardinals atop the National League Central, after St. Louis lost to the Brewers in a rain-shortened game.” Bryant talks about it on ESPN [VIDEO].
• Mark Gonzales (Chicago Tribune* {$}): ‘Every time he’s doing damage’: Nicholas Castellanos gives the Cubs a sizzling bat ― and much more. “It’s awesome to see the energy he’s bringing,” pitcher Cole Hamels said. “It’s outstanding. In the clubhouse, he’s fit right in.” Brett Taylor has thoughts. Brett Taylor has more thoughts.
• Jordan Bastian (MLB.com*): Anthony Rizzo, Castellanos keep on surging. “You just stay the course, you know?” Rizzo said.
• Stephen J Nesbitt (The Athletic {$}): For the Cubs and Pirates, a day in Williamsport is a delayed dream come true. “I felt like I was on the hill back home,” Maddon said.
• Cubs birthdays: Martin Mullen, Al Carson, Oscar Fuhr, Frank Ernaga, Bob Speake, Jose Arcia, Ray Burris, Darrin Jackson, Gary Scott. Also notable: Ned Hanlon (HoF), Carl Yastrzemski (HoF), Paul Molitor (HoF).

Food for thought:

Thanks for reading.