Cub Tracks is just a biscuit short

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.

The Cubs spilt the series with the pitiable Pale Hose but we shan’t cry over that and instead will look forward to a Royal weeding as the Cubs mow down the Happless Kansas City crew with Ruthless precision, their bats literally en fuego in the Chicago summer heat.

Yeah. You want some of what I’ve been smoking. Mike Lupica, of all people, got ahold of some.

“That Wrigley buzz never gets old.”

Travels well, too. I left a quarter-century ago.

So, how’d the Cubs do?

They scored three in the fourth after staking the Royals to a two-run lead. And they gave it away in the sixth, after a Wisdom miscue. And that was it as far as scoring. The Cubs will have to win the other two games. That one’s gone. Steely J is going today. We got this.

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• AP*: Bobby Witt Jr. hits go-ahead homer and Royals end skid with 4-3 win vs Cubs. “Royals RHP Brady Singer (8-8, 4.91) faces Cubs LHP Justin Steele (13-3, 2.79) on Saturday.”
• Alexander Patt (Cubbies Crib*): For Cubs fans, it was weird hearing Len Kasper on the other side. “Kasper’s call of Christopher Morel’s walkoff home run on Wednesday was anticlimactic and subdued - as expected from a visiting broadcaster.”
• Mike Lupica (MLB.com*): Cubs’ campaign continues to be a ‘wonderful surprise’. “This isn’t just a good team and a hot team. It is a team that has been so much fun to watch.”
• Meghan Montemurro (*Chicago Tribune* {$}): ‘There’s something brewing in this clubhouse.’ Christopher Morel’s walk-off HR caps Chicago Cubs’ wild comeback win. “You can feel there’s something brewing in this clubhouse,” Nick Madrigal said. “Games like this, to pull those out when it wasn’t looking good for most of the game, lets me know you’ve got a special team that wins these kinds of games.”
• M<ike McGraw (Daily Herald* {$}): Cubs can’t let Morel’s home run mask lingering issues. “Right now, I feel pretty comfortable in-house with where we are,” Hoyer said
• Jon Greenberg; Patrick Mooney and The Athletic Staff {$}: Marcus Stroman out. Who could fill in? Meghan Montemurro wonders, too. As does Andy Martinez.

“We’re gonna have to have Rucker step up, [Daniel] Palencia step up,” Ross said. “Hayden can take the ball for some length down there. Who knows? If guys aren’t performing, there’s guys in the minor leagues waiting for their opportunity to help as well. This is why it’s important to have really good pitching and depth throughout your organization and guys continue to get better and grow.

“It’s never just one guy or three guys and the back end.” — Martinez.

• AP*: Chicago Cubs pitcher Marcus Stroman isn’t sure when he’ll be able to take the mound again. “I can barely turn right now. Breathing’s tough at some points and I can’t sit for long periods of time. I’m just taking it day by day.”
• Sahadev Sharma (The Athletic {$}): Marcus Stroman addresses his status and rare injury as his season hangs in the balance. This story keeps developing. My nose is full-on Ralph Dibny.
• Brett Taylor (Bleacher Nation*): Hey, So how much is Cody Bellinger going to cost in Free Agency anyway? “... it’s not hard for me to imagine Bellinger finding a deal that guarantees him $200 million.”
• Brett Taylor (Bleacher Nation*): Top prospect rankings by position are loaded with Chicago Cubs. “It’s just another fun data point to see how the Pipeline crew believes certain prospects stack up against each other.”
• Jordan Campbell (Cubbies Crib*): Pete Crow-Armstrong and Jordan Wicks on radar for September call-up. “Patrick Mooney of The Athletic reported on Thursday {$} that the Cubs have not ruled out the idea of pitching prospect Jordan Wicks being a part of the team’s pitching staff as they make a push for the postseason.” SI also interprets Mooney. Jordan Bastian has PCA.

“We’ll see. He’s been playing great,” Hoyer said. “I think it’s way too early to talk about that. He hasn’t been in Triple-A too long, but he’s playing great. It’s been fun to watch. And obviously he has a skill-set, certainly, that can benefit us in a lot of ways.” — Bastian.

• Larry Hawley (WGN9*): How Cubs, PAWS Chicago used City Series to find a few dogs new homes. “PAWS Chicago held an adoption day in conjunction with the MLB franchise on Wednesday ahead of the second game between the Cubs and the White Sox.”

Song(s) of the day:

Food For Thought:

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