Cub Tracks’ Yu who?

The simCubs brought home a victory behind Yu Darvish and his hundred-eleventy pitches and a 4-out save by Brad Wieck, backed by long balls from Javier Baez (13), Jason Heyward (11), and Kyle Schwarber (14). Marlins starter Pablo Lopez stymied the Cubs until the 4-run sixth and was tagged with the loss.

All three of the Cubs homers and several of Yu’s 10 strikeouts are featured in the highlights.

Today, the simCubs will be trying to preserve the meatloaf against the simMarlins in the final game of a three-game series at beautiful simWrigley simField. Jordan Yamamoto (5-2, 2.92) will face the Professor, Kyle Hendricks (6-2, 2.76), and his experience, in the Ricketts’ castle made of sand.

Al will have more in the game post (at 2:30 p.m. CT, for our 3 p.m. start). I’ll drop the specific URL to the contest in the game thread, but you can lurk at the BCB Media Center and catch it there as well. All past games and highlights reels are available there too, if you want the full #simCubs experience.

And now, here’s Cub Tracks News and Notes, the only links column that really matters. 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.

• Brett Taylor (Bleacher Nation): Joe Maddon’s one World Series regret. ““I should not have sent [Aroldis Chapman] back out in the ninth [in Game 6],” Maddon told Bob Costas.” Tim Stebbins adds on.
• Ronald Blum (AP via Chicago Tribune* {$}): MLB players call the sliding-scale proposal from the league ‘extremely disappointing’. “In addition to its reaction on the economics, the union said “the sides also remain far apart on health and safety protocols””
• Evan Altman (Cubs Insider*): MLB facilities re-opening, empty games could feature fake crowd noise. “One thing we do know for certain is that there won’t be any fans in attendance when games start back up ...”
• Gordon Wittenmyer (NBC Sports Chicago*): MLB’s biggest problem in negotiations: ‘I just don’t trust those guys’. “Just don’t forget who was running the ship if it hits the iceberg.”
• Sahadev Sharma and Patrick Mooney (The Athletic {$}): Why the Cubs believe David Ross can lead them through an uncertain season. “I’m not the smartest guy in the room,” Ross said.
• Jordan Bastian (MLB.com*): Cubs’ Top 5 righty starters: Bastian’s take. “This was perhaps the most daunting list to create, given the considerable number of deserving candidates for the top five.”
• Jordan Bastian (MLB.com*): Oh, baby! Len Kasper looks back at favorite call. “It is the call that Cubs fans mention the most when meeting Kasper.”
• Cubs birthdays: Bobby Smith, Randy Martz, Tom Grant, Mike Maksudian, Craig Kimbrel.

Food for thought:

Thanks for reading! Please ... drive home safely.