After dropping their collection opener, the Cubs posted three consecutive wins in opposition to the St. Louis Cardinals to maintain them in place to probably add on the commerce deadline.
Their 7-2 victory Sunday at Wrigley Field capped their collection win versus their division rival to maintain the Cubs (48-51) climbing towards .500.
The Sox accomplished their longest journey of the season Sunday with a brutal 5-4 loss to the Minnesota Twins in 12 innings. They squandered a three-run lead within the ninth on the best way to getting swept.
A visit that started with a excessive of taking two of three from the Atlanta Braves got here crashing to the bottom with the staff shedding two of three to the New York Mets and all three to the Twins.
With commerce rumors swirling, the Sox return dwelling Tuesday for the City Series.
Drew Smyly’s rotation function unclear going ahead
Manager David Ross had performed coy earlier within the week when requested about two “to be determined” entries because the Cubs’ possible pitchers for Saturday’s and Sunday’s begins versus the St. Louis Cardinals.
Jameson Taillon made his on-turn begin Sunday, nonetheless, Ross utilized an opener Saturday for Drew Smyly’s day. Right-hander Michael Fulmer pitched two innings, permitting one run on a house run off his first pitch earlier than Smyly took over.
The lefty allowed 5 runs (4 earned) and 6 hits in 3 2/3 innings within the Cubs’ 8-6 win. Smyly’s spot within the rotation is lined up for Friday in St. Louis, but it surely’s unclear how or if Smyly will probably be used.
“We’ll address that when his time comes,” Ross stated Sunday. “It’ll be TBD again, I can promise you that.”
Smyly, 34, owns a 7.08 ERA over his final 10 outings and has particularly struggled over his final 5 appearances, pitching past the fourth inning solely as soon as. He’s been just a little unfortunate in that stretch with opposing hitters proudly owning an excessive .355 Batting Average on Balls in Play (BABIP) whereas the Cubs’ protection has struggled at instances behind him. Smyly didn’t assist himself, both, Saturday with a defensive efficiency that included a fielding error.
“(Saturday) could have been a lot different if defensively plays a little bit better,” Ross stated. “Again, it’s a results-based second and also you’ve obtained to get some momentum. It’s my job to search out these moments to offer him just a little little bit of size and attempt to construct a few of that confidence again.
“Showing confidence in players, also trying to find something to get them mentally focused when they go out there to distract from ‘oh, there I go getting blooped again’ or ‘the umpire didn’t make this call.’ You can get down these rabbit holes when things aren’t going well and you tend to focus on the negative and continue to look at the positives. He does a pretty good job of that.”
Smyly and the Cubs understand how efficient he could be when he will get locked in and rolls momentum from begin to begin. In his first 10 begins this yr, Smyly posted a 2.60 ERA whereas hitters’ BABIP sat at .243. He has run into bother when falling behind within the depend and struggling to persistently throw strikes.
“He’s a guy that’s been around a really long time and seen a lot of different things, been through a lot of adversity,” Ross stated. “So he sees it for what it is and I think he knows he can be better and he also knows there’s a lot of bad luck involved there.”
Pedro Grifol chooses Eloy Jiménez’s bat over legs
Eloy Jiménez exited the July 16 sport in opposition to the Atlanta Braves after one at-bat due to left groin tightness.
The Sox designated hitter sat the following two video games earlier than returning Thursday in opposition to the New York Mets at Citi Field.
He made a direct impression with an RBI single in his first at-bat. He had two hits Thursday and two extra Friday in opposition to the Minnesota Twins at Target Field.
Jiménez had a single Saturday.
“He’s not running down the line and I choose to put him in there with that kind of effort down the line,” Sox supervisor Pedro Grifol stated after Saturday’s 3-2 loss. “I need his bat over his legs. I wish to make sure that I get that on the market clearly for everyone. I select his bat over his legs. That’s all he may give us.
“I’ll continue to monitor that and if I think it becomes a problem for us where he’s going to get hurt or compromise us in any way running the bases, then I’ll make a change.”
Expanding on the subject earlier than Sunday’s sport, Grifol stated, “I don’t want him to steal a base. I would like him to swing.
“I know Eloy can give us 60% down the line but he can still swing it at a high level. I just think we need offense. We need his bat in there.”
Jiménez homered within the second inning Sunday. Grifol famous Jiménez’s drive to be within the lineup additionally stands out.
“It’s good for him to go and play through some of this stuff,” Grifol stated.
What we’re studying this morning
Week forward: Cubs
When Nick Madrigal started his rehab project Friday with Triple-A Iowa, the hope was taking part in in three video games over the weekend would set him as much as rejoin the staff for Tuesday’s collection opener in opposition to the White Sox. Madrigal was scheduled to be in Sunday’s lineup as Iowa’s designated hitter, nonetheless, he was scratched due to basic decrease physique fatigue.
A proper hamstring pressure has sidelined Madrigal the final 16 video games. After going hitless in his first rehab begin Friday, Madrigal posted a two-hit sport Saturday. When requested whether or not Madrigal was nonetheless on observe to rejoin the Cubs following Monday’s off day, Ross wanted extra data on how Sunday went for the infielder, a remark made earlier than he was formally taken out of Iowa’s lineup.
“We’ll see how that goes,” Ross stated Sunday morning. “I’ll talk to the trainers after he plays or after today’s game and see what happens.”
Madrigal had been getting in an offensive groove main as much as the harm to enrich regular protection at third base. In his final 17 video games previous to occurring the injured record July 4, Madrigal hit .359 with 4 doubles, one dwelling run with eight RBIs, a .424 on-base share and .933 OPS in that span.
- Monday: off
- Tuesday: at White Sox, 7:10 p.m., Marquee
- Wednesday: at White Sox, 7:10 p.m., Marquee
- Thursday: at Cardinals, 6:45 p.m., Marquee
- Friday: at Cardinals, 7:15 p.m., Marquee
- Saturday: at Cardinals, 6:15 p.m., Marquee
- Sunday: at Cardinals, 1:15 p.m., Marquee
Week forward: White Sox
Andrew Vaughn estimated he’s watched the video 100 instances.
“What sucks the most is I do wear a shin guard and a foot guard, and the way you swing and rotate, I guess (that’s how he got hit in an exposed spot),” Vaughn stated Saturday at Target Field, describing the foul ball that led to a bruised left foot. “It hits right where there’s no pad.”
Vaughn final performed Tuesday in opposition to the New York Mets. During that sport, he fouled a pitch off his foot which led to the setback. He agreed when requested if it was a 1-in-1,000 shot.
“We wear that to protect ourselves and it didn’t protect me,” Vaughn stated.
Grifol is hopeful Vaughn will have the ability to play Tuesday in opposition to the Cubs at Guaranteed Rate Field, however the Sox are usually not ruling out a visit to the injured record.
“He tried to hit a little bit, but it’s still sore,” Grifol stated Sunday. “We’ll wait and see tomorrow how he’s doing. And then we’ll make a decision. He’s walking around. He’s better. But we’ll see.”
- Monday: off
- Tuesday: vs. Cubs, 7:10 p.m., NBCSCH
- Wednesday: vs. Cubs, 7:10 p.m., NBCSCH
- Thursday: vs. Guardians, 7:10 p.m., NBCSCH
- Friday: vs. Guardians, 6:10 p.m., Apple TV+
- Saturday: vs. Guardians, 6:10 p.m., NBCSCH
- Sunday: vs. Guardians, 1:10 p.m., NBCSCH
This week in Chicago baseball
July 24, 1948: White Sox’s Pat Seerey turns into first participant to strike out seven instances in a doubleheader
The left fielder fanned in all 4 plate appearances versus the Yankees’ Spec Shea in a 6-2 Sox loss. Though he added three extra strikeouts in Game 2 at Yankee Stadium, Seerey redeemed himself with a house run and a single in an 8-4 win.
July 24, 1968: Hoyt Wilhelm breaks Cy Young’s file for appearances
Wilhelm pitched the ninth inning of the White Sox’s 1-0 loss to the Athletics at Comiskey Park for his 907th major-league look. The Hall of Famer retired in 1972 with 1,070 appearances, which now ranks sixth all-time. Jesse Orosco holds the file with 1,252.
July 24, 2022: Minnie Miñoso inducted posthumously into Hall of Fame
Miñoso’s induction, Paul Sullivan wrote within the Tribune, culminated a protracted and complex journey to Cooperstown. The former White Sox nice repeatedly was deemed unworthy from his authentic retirement in 1964 to his demise at 90 in 2015.
The ultimate heartbreak for the “Cuban Comet” got here in 2014, when he earned solely eight of the 12 votes wanted from a 15-member veterans committee, which wound up electing nobody. Miñoso died the following yr.
After the 2020 Golden Era poll was postponed a yr due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Miñoso gained six votes on the 2021 poll, ending with 14 votes from a 16-member committee that included former Commissioner Bud Selig, an influential supporter.
They say life is all about timing, and Miñoso’s time lastly arrived. It was too late for him to revel within the celebration, however a minimum of he made it. Though baseball writers and voting Hall of Fame gamers let him down, ultimately Miñoso was aided by MLB’s reckoning with its shameful, racist previous, which led to the Negro Leagues formally being acknowledged as a significant league in 2020.
July 25, 1956: Roberto Clemente beats Cubs with inside-the-park grand slam
The Cubs had rallied from a 4-0 deficit with seven runs within the eighth and one within the ninth to take an 8-5 lead at Forbes Field in Pittsburgh. After two walks and a single loaded the bases, Jim Brosnan relieved Turk Lown and the 21-year-old Clemente hit Brosnan’s first pitch over the left fielder’s head and to the fence.
“After the ball struck the fencing, it rolled along the cinder warning track toward center field,” based on SABR.org. “The three runners simply scored and Clemente ignored the outstretched arms and cease signal of Pirates supervisor and third-base coach Bobby Bragan because the relay throw got here in from heart fielder Solly Drake to Ernie Banks to catcher Hobie Landrith.
“The last moments of the improbable win were captured in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette: ‘He slid, missed the plate, then reached back to rest his hand on the rubber with the ninth Pirate run in a 9-8 victory as the crowd of 12,431 went goofy with excitement.’”
July 25, 1961: Roger Maris hits 4 homers in doubleheader vs. White Sox
Maris reached 40 homers for the yr en path to his record-breaking 61-homer season. The Yankees took each video games at Yankee Stadium, 5-1 and 12-0, and Maris moved 25 video games forward of Babe Ruth’s 1927 tempo.
July 25, 2015: Cole Hamels throws first no-hitter vs. Cubs in 50 years
The thought of Hamels presumably being traded to the Cubs was on everybody’s thoughts, Paul Sullivan wrote within the Tribune, when the 31-year-old veteran stepped onto the mound at Wrigley Field on a sweltering Saturday afternoon within the ultimate days earlier than the commerce deadline.
It did change into Hamels’ final begin as a Phillie, although he was traded to the Rangers, not the Cubs, 5 days later. (The Cubs ultimately acquired him from the Rangers in July 2018.)
It was a memorable approach to exit.
With the followers on their ft and Cubs rookie slugger Kris Bryant at bat with two outs within the ninth, Hamels watched helplessly as Bryant cracked a protracted fly to deep heart that appeared headed to the bleachers.
Center fielder Odubel Herrera drifted again, got here in, misplaced his footing and made a diving catch on the warning observe, kicking up a ton of mud and rising with the ball to avoid wasting the no-hitter.
“That was definitely the one pitch I was glad I got away with,” Hamels stated. “You have a great hitter up there in Kris Bryant, and to be able to keep that in the ballpark and for Herrera making that amazing play … a surreal moment.”
It was the primary time the Cubs had been no-hit in 7,920 video games, since Sandy Koufax threw an ideal sport in opposition to them on Sept. 9, 1965, at Dodger Stadium.
July 26, 2005: Greg Maddux information 3,000th profession strikeout
A lingering storm at Wrigley Field delayed Maddux’s quest for practically three hours, however the inevitability of the milestone made 1000’s of followers wait patiently for an opportunity to witness just a little historical past.
After the rain subsided, Maddux took the mound in opposition to the Giants at 9:48 p.m. within the newest begin time since evening video games had been launched at Wrigley in 1988. But the followers’ persistence was rewarded.
Maddux obtained Omar Vizquel to take a look at a known as third strike to finish the third inning as he grew to become the thirteenth member of the three,000-strikeout membership and the ninth pitcher with each 3,000 strikeouts and 300 victories. He obtained a loud standing ovation and hugs from his teammates as he walked off the mound, and catcher Michael Barrett calmly handed him the ball.
Maddux then ventured out of the dugout for a curtain name earlier than getting again to enterprise. In the long term, the Cubs’ 3-2 loss in 11 innings was extra necessary to Maddux than any milestone.
“I would much rather have gotten no strikeouts and won. Trust me,” Maddux stated. “But it’s pretty cool to get there. Not that many guys have done it.”
July 27, 1950: Phillies’ Del Ennis drives in seven runs in seventh and eighth innings vs. Cubs
Ennis doubled with the bases loaded within the seventh and hit a grand slam within the eighth within the Phillies’ 13-3 victory at Shibe Park.
Quotable
“I think just being professional and still showing up. There’s never any excuse not to give everything you have,” — Dylan Cease on the place the Sox go after falling 18 video games underneath .500 on Saturday.
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Source: www.bostonherald.com