Cub Tracks comes up a little short

Extras! Extras! Read all about it! Cubs fall in ten.

Seven of the next ten against the Cardinals. This season’s pennant chase comes ‘right down to the wire’...

Standings:

‘nuff said?

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.

Craig Kimbrel threw 16 pitches in a simulated game on Monday as he continues to recover from elbow soreness. He threw mostly fastballs but dropped in a couple curveballs at the end of his session. Joe Maddon was one of those watching him and says he could be activated by this weekend. It all depends on how he feels tomorrow: “He looked really good. There was no hesitation with his arm. He wasn’t guarding whatsoever. The fastball was alive. Maybe the command of the curve was off but I thought the break was there. It was very encouraging.” — Jesse Rogers

• Craig Edwards (ESPN + {$}): The best move every contender made this season. Enter your guess below.
• Phil Rosenthal (Chicago Tribune* {$}): Cubs fans eventually found last night’s bumped game on CW-26. And then, they complained about it. “... the CW-26 telecast with Len Kasper and Jim Deshaies — produced by ABC-7 — began with a series of technical glitches, including audio of someone on microphone booing something or other.”
• Will Leitch (MLB.com*): A rare Cubs-Cards race comes down to the wire. “There is so much on the line between the teams over the next week-plus that it’s almost overwhelming.” Paul Sullivan moves him over.
• Rick Morrissey (Chicago Sun-Times* {$}): With the Cards coming to town, the Cubs need something special to make the playoffs. Anybody seen special lately? “Given the softness of the Brewers’ remaining schedule, taking three of four from the Cardinals at Wrigley seems almost mandatory.”
• Mark Gonzales (Chicago Tribune* {$}): Injuries force Joe Maddon to change the script on giving Cubs players advance notice of lineups. “It’s gotten to the point where things are so fluid and have changed so much that I didn’t feel comfortable giving them out for the whole series,” Maddon said Wednesday.
• Tony Andracki (NBC Sports Chicago*): Alec Mills emerging as a quiet contributor in Cubs’ late-season bullpen. “Give the guy credit, man. Every time he shows up, he does something good for us. And does it in a very quiet, professional manner. He’s outstanding,” said Joe Maddon.
• Brendan Miller (Cubs Insider): This small change made Kyle Ryan one of MLB’s best relievers. Ryan shifted his starting position a few inches towards the center of the rubber.
• Sahadev Sharma (The Athletic {$}): Weird Science: The Cubs’ ‘Pitch Lab’ is turning fringe relievers into high-leverage, spin-rate monsters. “... what’s saved the Cubs from disaster is their bullpen.”
• Patrick Mooney (The Athletic {$}): Mr. Cub 2.0: Through good times and bad, Anthony Rizzo has become the face of the franchise. “He is a bedrock. And he’s going to be missed,” said Maddon.
• Mark Gonzales (Chicago Tribune* {$}): Nico Hoerner and Tommy Edman, teammates at Stanford in 2016, are now in the thick of the Cubs-Cardinals rivalry with the NL Central at stake. “... injuries on the major-league rosters have placed them in important roles... “
• NBC Sports: Cubs locate young fan who wore homemade Hoerner shirt to Wrigley Field. “We want to get him a Nico Hoerner jersey!”
• Evan Altman (Cubs Insider): Kyle Schwarber raking entire yard with balanced batting approach. “.... it’s becoming more clear that this isn’t some fluke.”
• Paul Sullivan (Chicago Tribune* {$}): Does Nicholas Castellanos care that he’s on the verge of doubles history? ‘Why should I?’. “Do you think Chicago would rather me get this record and we lose and then we don’t make the postseason?” he asked. Joe Posnanski is seeing doubles {$}.
• Evan Altman (Cubs Insider): Cubs expect Marquee to fuel one of baseball’s highest payrolls again next season. “I don’t anticipate us having any real big changes on the downside to our baseball spending going forward because of the (Marquee Sports) network,” said Crane Kenney. Brett Taylor speculates on this also.
• Cubs birthdays: Buddy Schultz, Phil Stephenson, Randy Myers, Scott Baker. Also notable: Duke Snider (HoF), Joe Morgan (HoF).

Food for thought:

Thanks for reading.