Cub Tracks scuttles Pirates

Welcome to today’s episode of Cub Tracks news and notes™, a greatest-hits collection of Chicago-style beat writers and bloggers, ground from #Cubs, #MiLB, and #MLB baseball, overheated, steeped in writers’ tears, and then cold-brewed overnight for maximum flavor.

RIP George Frazier.

Dansby Swanson and Codi Heuer both suffered injuries Tuesday. Heuer’s sounds more serious — Swanson got his X-rays and there’s no breakage, Ross says he should be back by Saturday. Heuer threw a pitch a mile over the backstop and doubled up in pain.

The Reds will lose someday. And, if the Cubs keep playing like this, they’ll be in the passing lane.

In all of the above cases, we await developments.

Rich Hill forsook his wheelchair for the mound Wednesday, opposed by The Professor, Kyle Hendricks. Runs were hard to come by. Harder for the Pirates than the Cubs, who put up a crooked number in the third and added insurance in the sixth.

Ian Happ extended his on-base streak, tying the club record of 52. 10,000 BCB points for whoever names the player or players that Ian tied.

Team RBI leader Nico Hoerner added on. Nicky drove in two.

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• Tony Andracki (Marquee Sports Network*): An emphatic Marcus Stroman puts the Cubs on his back again. “You can’t lose if you don’t give up any runs,” Cubs catcher Tucker Barnhart said in a postgame interview with Taylor McGregor.
• Paul Sullivan (Chicago Tribune* {$}): Could Chicago Cubs ace Marcus Stroman start for NL in the All-Star Game? “Stroman has the numbers, but the best stats don’t always decide who starts the game.”
• Tony Blengino (Forbes* {$}): Cubs have a major decision to make regarding Ace Starter Marcus Stroman. “What’s a team to do?” NBC Sports Chicago has more.
• Patrick Mooney (The Athletic {$}): Adbert Alzolay is breaking the typical Cubs pitching prospect pattern. “It’s just attacking them right away,” Alzolay said. “Don’t let them get ahead in the count.”
• Andy Martinez (Marquee Sports Network*): Watches, Wines and Outs: Inside the dynamic, fruitful relationship between Cubs’ Marcus Stroman and Tucker Barnhart. “It’s just as much of a testament to him as it is myself,” Stroman said.
• Patrick Mooney (The Athletic {$}): Cubs see Miguel Amaya as the real deal — a huge development for right now and the future. “He’s going to be great for a long time,” said Kyle Hendricks. Tony Andracki has more.
• Brett Taylor (Bleacher Nation*): Nick Madrigal has been getting on base a whole lot lately. “Madrigal’s season on-base percentage is up to .318, or just about league average.”
• 670 The Score*: Nico Hoerner shares what he has learned from Cubs middle infield partner Dansby Swanson. “... oftentimes what you need is just to keep it simple and be fresh mentally and physically to play.”
• Evan Altman (Cubs Insider*): Dansby Swanson’s advice on minor adjustment helping Christopher Morel surge again. “... he was loading too late and rushing his swing, hence the diminished results.”
• Steve Greenberg (Chicago Sun-Times*): Cubs radio man Pat Hughes has a Hall of a speech coming up — and it’s already making him cry. “Speaking about Mary and Vergil Hughes — Mom and Dad — will tug at his heartstrings the most.”
• Adam McCalvy (MLB.com*): A Cubs fan once saved a Brewers fan’s life. Then they became friends. “There’s a thing called a chain of survival for someone who goes into cardiac arrest,” Jim Saletta said.

Food for Thought:

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