The Rundown: Cubs’ Bats Silenced by…Zach Davies? Pirates Clinch Playoff Spot, Rizzo Nominated for Roberto Clemente Award

Last night was simply one of those nights for the Cubs where you just shrug your shoulders and move on to the next game.

Some guy named Zach Davies started for the Brewers, and he absolutely mystified the Cubs at the plate. Two singles in 6 innings was all the Cubs could muster against the soft-tosser, who stood on the mound at 160 pounds and looked like he was 16 years old.

As a person who is often told I look a lot younger than my actual age, I found myself half-cheering for Davies last night. Score one for the young-faced guys, I guess.

The lone Cubs run came from an absolute laser off the bat of Jorge Soler in the 7th. That, unfortunately, was really the only thing to get excited about last night.

Kyle Hendricks pitched well, but it’s the 2015 Brewers — sans Ryan Braun — we’re talking about. But hopefully it’s a sign of improvement for the up-and-down Hendricks.

The Cubs have the day off today but are back at it for a huge weekend series against the Pirates.

Upcoming starters

Speaking of that series with the Pirates, how great are these pitching matchups?

https://twitter.com/CarrieMuskat/status/646765299669315585

This would be a fun series even without the playoff implications. By the way, with a win last night, the Pirates clinched their playoff berth.

Other notes

* Anthony Rizzo has been nominated as the Cubs’ nominee for the Roberto Clemente Award. You can vote for him here. Really hard not to like this kid. (And how many Cubs players can you say that about?)

* As he did last night, Addison Russell has been finding himself out of the ninth spot in the batting order lately. It’ll be interesting to see if this continues throughout the remainder of the year and into the playoffs, or if it’s simply a game-by-game thing. All along, I think we have expected to see Russell eventually rise in the order as he gets older. Perhaps we’re seeing the beginning of that now.