Cub Tracks paints it, black

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.

It doesn’t look good for our stalwarts at this juncture. They face a tall order, and no mistake about it. The Cubs basically need to win out and hope nobody else in the scrum does. It is an extremely unlikely scenario, to be sure, and while there’s always hope given the vagaries of chance, the margin of error is vanishingly small and the occasion magnified by its importance. If you need more information, Al’s series preview is here.

My stoner buds and I used to listen to the Scorpions at times, and the Scorps’ song “Blackout” got to sounding, after a great many listens, as “Play Golf”. I’m sure you can smell what CT is cooking.

I will of course renounce these thoughts should the unthinkable happen. Sadly, I am fairly confident that it won’t.

Friday’s game in the city that beer made famous began with erstwhile savior Kyle Hendricks facing the former Cub Colin Rea. Rea was actually not terrible as a Cub but didn’t pitch much at the MLB level, and the Cubs did not retain his services at the end of the 2020 season. Hendricks of course needs no introduction, and the Professor is the very image of a canny veteran. Hendricks is 10-8 with a 3.40 ERA and 169 strikeouts in 33 appearances against the Brewers in his career. Colin Rea faced the Cubs once when he was a Padre, and he allowed four runs on seven hits with four walks and three strikeouts in five innings. The Cubs lost that game, though, 7-4.

Things went well until the fifth, when Hendricks had a little trouble. The Cubs trailed by three after that.

It stayed that way until the eighth. And then...

Trying to keep pace with the Marlins.

Boog: Víctor Caratini is not a Giant.

JD: No he’s not. He’s a Brewer.

Brewers win in 10. Fade to black. Please Jed, next year, a bullpen. I hear Steve Goodman warming up.

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• Meghan Montemurro (Chicago Tribune* {$}): Chicago Cubs tragic number hits 1 after a 4-3, 10-inning loss to the Milwaukee Brewers: ‘We’ve got to win every game’. “They are on the brink of elimination.” Steve Greenberg has more of this type of thing. Jordan Bastian adds his thoughts.
• Jordan Bastian (MLB.com*): ‘We’ve got no choice’: Cubs must find spark after sweep. “Chicago on outside looking in after tough series vs. juggernaut Braves.”
• Evan Altman (Cubs Insider*): Quantifying Hope: Cubs still clinging to 26.5% postseason odds. “Now all that’s left is a series in Milwaukee and the hope that the Marlins fall flat in Pittsburgh...”
• Paul Sullivan (Chicago Tribune*): The Chicago Cubs’ postseason fate could be decided in overtime — a fitting ending to a turbulent season. “... if the Cubs are up by a half-game after Sunday, the Marlins would have to fly to New York to finish the final inning...”
• Patrick Mooney (The Athletic {$}): Cubs’ late-season fade exposes areas where they need to get better. “We learn from our failures, not our success,” Cubs manager David Ross said.
• Justin Kaufmann (Axios*): Chicago Cubs fans are bracing for the worst in playoff push. “... even with an epic meltdown, they’ve played meaningful baseball until the last weekend of the season.”
• Brett Taylor (Bleacher Nation*): Marcus Stroman, the opt out, the current Cubs rotation, and the 2024 Cubs rotation. “Stroman isn’t commenting on the issue right now, as you would expect.”
• Jordan Bastian (MLB.com*): Cade Horton shines in Smokies’ title run. “He pitched great,” Cubs president of baseball operations Jed Hoyer said.
• Jake Mozarsky (Marquee Sports Network*): Cody Bellinger’s main takeaways from his 2023 season with Cubs. “This game is a negative game, a challenging game,” Bellinger said.
• Brett Taylor (Bleacher Nation*): Jeff Passan offers thoughts on the possibility of a Juan Soto trade. “Passan was not reporting anything at this stage, but his speculation is always informed by background knowledge.”

Food for Thought:

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