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The Rundown: Soroka Hurt in Excruciating Loss, Cubs Offense Struggling En Masse, Schwarber Reaches 40 Homers Again

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“Mean old levee taught me to weep and moan. It’s got what it takes to make a mountain man leave his home.” – When the Levee Breaks by Led Zeppelin

Tough loss Monday evening, and all you can do is put it behind you. The offense is struggling, birthday boy Michael Soroka is going to the IL, and Dansby Swanson lost a game-tying RBI when he failed to touch first base on an infield single. Swanson deserves all the accolades for hustling, but in a division that might come down to one game, last night’s loss is as ugly as it gets.

Things could be worse, as the Cubs still have an opportunity to take two of three from the Reds. The bad news is that the Brewers keep beating down their opponents, and the front three of their rotation looks like the second coming of Don Drysdale, Sandy Koufax, and Johnny Podres.

Chicago’s offense struggles far too often at Wrigley Field, averaging 0.5 runs less than they do on the road in an equal number of home/away tilts. You don’t need an Archimedean analysis to know that that’s going to seem a little more massive once the playoffs start.

The right thing to do is to shake it off and move forward. If you’re looking for a silver lining, Ben Brown pitched well after Soroka left. It’s still tough to trust him, so the returns of Jameson Taillon and Javier Assad loom much larger now. Chicago’s starters have missed far too much time this season once you include Justin Steele and the time Shōta Imanaga was out, but make no mistake, the Cubs need to find their bats again. They’ve avoided the teamwide slumps this season that hurt so bad in 2024…until now.


Cubs News & Notes

Ball Four

This seems to be the prevailing attitude regarding Soroka, which is a little unfair to the guy. I know players do their best to tune out social media, but Chicago’s fanbase can get downright nasty at times, and we’ve seen it with Swanson and Ian Happ, and Kris Bryant before that. Why would somebody like Kyle Tucker sign up for that? David Kaplan went disrespectfully low on Tucker last week.

The front office may have failed at basic due diligence, so that’s on them, but Soroka’s medicals were reportedly clean. The massive dip in velocity, however, was a foreboding sign. Still, we should be feeling empathy for the 28-year-old instead. Soroka was ready to compete by all accounts.


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Central Intelligence

How About That!

Guardians’ reliever Nic Enright, who is battling lymphoma and still undergoing treatment, earned his first career save Monday night.

Kyle Schwarber hit two home runs last night — including a mammoth grand slam — and now has 40 dingers this season.

The Yankees got walked off again, this time in stunning fashion. Joc Pederson hit a game-tying home run in the bottom of the 9th, then Josh Jung launched a two-run shot in extras to win it.

Young sluggers Nick Kurtz and Kyle Stowers were named July’s AL and NL players of the month, respectively.

Apropos of Nothing

One of my favorite Illinois ice cream joints is The Plush Horse in Palos Park, and I’ve genuinely missed it since moving to Milwaukee. I did find something close in Fon du Lac, Wisconsin, however. Check out The Kelley Country Creamery if you find yourself in the area.

Extra Innings

I can’t help but wonder if Jaxon Wiggins can do for the Cubs what Jacob Misiorowski and Logan Henderson have done for the Brewers. Brandon Birdsell could be another revelation if given the chance. Milwaukee’s front office understands that every arm has a finite number of pitches, so they get their young starters up as soon as they prove capable of getting outs. I wish the Cubs were a little more aggressive in that respect.

They Said It

  • “[The MRI is] kind of what we did for my peace of mind before my outing against the Astros. We looked at some avenues mechanically, some other things as to where the velocity went. We decided to check that other box off and there was nothing that presented to be an issue at the time there. I didn’t have any discomfort, I didn’t have any pain. There was no reason to believe there was anything wrong. We cleared that. Unfortunately, that changed a little bit in the 2nd inning today.” – Soroka
  • “[Soroka] said he let a pitch go in the second inning and it just didn’t feel good. Came in the dugout and said the shoulder was not feeling good. It’s an IL [stint] and we’ll see what the next steps are.” – Craig Counsell

Tuesday Walk-Up Song

The Cubs really need to find a way to quickly bust their offensive slump.


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