Cub Tracks gets out alive

Well that was better. It took til the seventh but the bats woke up. Five to one, baby.

“We needed the breakthrough,” Cubs manager Joe Maddon said. “Hopefully that’ll relax everybody.”

Hopefully. But we’ve heard that song. It is all about the base though. Al’s right!

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.

• Sahadev Sharma (The Athletic {$}): Playing the blame game: Going over Joe Maddon’s decisions from the Cubs’ first loss of September. “... the reality is, those doing the second-guessing don’t have the same information as the manager.”
• Brett Taylor (Bleacher Nation): The real 2019 Chicago Cubs are not real. “The yo-yo of emotions that we’ve adopted this year is just the way it’s going to be.”
• Jordan Bastian (MLB.com*): 7th heaven: Rally ends Cubs’ scoreless streak. “... the Cubs’ 73.6 percent contact rate is the second-lowest single-season showing on record...”
• Tony Andracki (NBC Sports Chicago*): In desperate need of consistency, Cubs finally catch a break: ‘We needed that’. I’m not gonna proclaim anything, we just won the game today,” said Maddon. Gordon Wittenmyer adds on. Mark Gonzales has words too.
• Pagrick Mooney (The Athletic {$}): Even the Cubs know it will take more than The Kyle Schwarber Bounce to change their season. “The Cubs can feel the pressure.”
• Jordan Bastian (MLB.com*): Yu Darvish’s skipped start a chance to manage workload. “We’re in September now, too, so we have a lot of arms,” said Tommy Hottovy. Gordon Wittenmyer has more.
• Mark Gonzales (Chicago Tribune* {$}): Cubs newcomer Brad Wieck is getting results with his nasty new curveball. “I look forward to every opportunity I get on the mound to prove myself,” said Wieck.
• Tony Andracki (NBC Sports Chicago*): How Adbert Alzolay fits into Cubs September pitching picture. He would be primarily long, but game late, if other guys have been utilized, would not run away from him,” said Maddon.
• NBC Sports Chicago: Joe Maddon shares funny story on Anthony Rizzo breaking HBP record [VIDEO].

• Gordon Wittenmyer (Chicago Sun-Times* {$}): Cubs look down barrel of much-needed leadoff fix as Ben Zobrist returns to lineup Tuesday. “The Cubs have the worst on-base percentage (.282) from the leadoff spot in the majors...” Evan Altman bats second. Jon Greenberg is up next. Bruce Levine cleans up.
• Kelly Twardziak (NBC Sports Chicago*): Lee Smith honored at Wrigley for his induction into National Baseball Hall of Fame. “I just want to say thank you very much for the love I have received from my family and this city,” Smith said at the event.
• Doug Glanville (The Athletic {$}): What we’ll lose by limiting September rosters after this season. “A dream shared.”
• Cubs birthdays: Mike Kahoe, Dusty Miller, Eddie Stanky, Frank Jelincich, Morrie Martin, Steve Boros, Dave Clark, Ced Landrum, Luis Gonzalez, Chad Fox, Carl Edwards Jr.

Food for thought:

Thanks for reading!