Cub Tracks howls at the moon

Cubs lose in 9. Javier Baez has a hairline fracture in his left thumb. So let’s just give up.

NAH. Dylan Thomas had it right. Rage, rage against the dying of the light. Yeah, that game felt like an own goal. So what? In two months you’ll be missing baseball. I’m old — I’m burning and raving at the close of the day. I’m an animal!

Thanks, Sven. Spooky Berwyn!

Yu Darvish pitched well. The Cubs pitched to Christian Yelich.

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.

The Cubs will be without SS Javy Baez after an MRI revealed a hairline fracture in his left thumb. He’ll see a hand specialist on Monday to determine a timeline but he could miss the rest of the reg season. It means Addison Russell will play full time at shortstop, a position he manned when the Cubs won the World Series in 2016. “We have faith in Addy,” Jon Lester said. “We have to rally around each other now. We can do it.” Baez injured himself on a head first slide last Sunday. — Jesse Rogers.

”It’s not like we’re just a one-man band. Other guys have to take care of their component of the game also. Everybody’s gotta do their job and you win.

”It’s not easy. It’s no fun without him, but you don’t go home, you keep playing and you look for other people to maybe rise to the occasion. I don’t want them to try to do more. I just want them to do their jobs.” — Joe Maddon.

• Jesse Rogers (ESPN*): Cubs’ rotation problems piling up, putting their playoff hopes at risk. “Time is ticking and this is why I’m here,” a frustrated Cole Hamels said.
• Mark Gonzales (Chicago Tribune*{$}): Quitting was never an option for new Cubs reliever Danny Hultzen, whose call-up completes an eight-year journey to the majors: ‘I never thought I was done’. “Moments like this make it all worth it.” Mike Axisa adds on. Hultzen talks about it [VIDEO].
• Gordon Wittenmyer (Chicago Sun-Times* {$}): Bruise control: Cubs Anthony Rizzo halfway to becoming baseball’s all-time king of pain. “... the only thing that might stop Rizzo from breaking the record is breaking something else.”
• Jordan Bastian (MLB.com*): Baez out with thumb fracture; return TBD. “It’s really unfortunate. Javy’s the heart of this team,” Contreras said. Tony Andracki explores the ripple effect. Ryan Thomure explores treatment options. Gordon Wittenmyer isn’t positive. Jeff Arnold has thoughts.
• Evan Altman (Cubs Insider): Addison Russell becoming unplayable as offense evaporates. “This Cubs team should be too good to be depending on negative-WAR players in key positions at this point.” Ouch.
• Patrick Mooney (The Athletic {$}): Ben Zobrist is still setting the example, but shouldn’t the Cubs’ offense have evolved by now? “We just haven’t turned into that offensive juggernaut that we expected in 2015,” Jed Hoyer admitted this week.
• Cubs birthdays: Al Demaree, Johnny Schulte, Casey Wise.

Food for thought:

Thanks for reading.