The Rundown: Offensive Stall Continues in Colorado, Boyd Suffers Setback, Surging White Sox Take AL Central Lead

“The traffic’s stuck and you’re not moving anywhere. You thought you’d find a friend to take you out of this place, someone who could lend a hand.”Beautiful Day by U2

I’m sure the Cubs have all y’all down today, just like me, but if you need something to make that chopped liver a little more palatable, don’t forget it’s National Corn on the Cob Day. It’s also Make Life Beautiful Day, so head over to Dick’s Sporting Goods (not a plug), buy a Cardinals hat, and throw it in tonight’s Thirsty Thursday bonfire. The rest of the planet thanks you, and yes, I speak for everybody.

Speaking of hats, a tip of the cap to Rockies starter Michael Lorenzen for last night’s effort. His one-run, two-hit effort with seven strikeouts lowered his ERA to 7.54. Lorenzen looked like vintage Justin Verlander against Chicago’s anemic lineup.

With last night’s loss, the Cubs have gone 10 straight series without winning any of them. They’re also sitting at .500 for the first time since April 15. How the heck did this team hit a 20-3 heater with two 10-game winning streaks?

That’s food for discussion below, but let’s just move on. We all know now what it feels like to be a Mets fan.

Cubs News & Notes

Ball Four

Get this man a Viagra commercial, stat.

Central Intelligence

How About That!

Mason Miller owns the nastiest pitch in baseball, and metrics prove it. I’ve seen Miller pitch and analytics aren’t needed.

The White Sox have surged into first place. The sore loser in me would love to see the South Siders pummel the Brewers in this year’s World Series.

Rookie Bryce Eldridge punctuated an epic comeback by the Giants with a walk-off grand slam. San Francisco trailed the Nationals 9-1 heading into the 8th inning before scoring 10 unanswered runs.

Seth Lugo was hit in the head by a 106.6 MPH line drive off the bat of Brandon Nimmo. Lugo immediately fell, but was able to get up without assistance shortly after.

Max Scherzer became the 11th player in baseball history to reach 3,500 strikeouts.

Extra Innings

Have moonshine, will travel.

Apropos of Nothing

Some of you may remember the 1977 Cubs. They were 25 games over .500 on June 28th and finished 81-81. That team couldn’t win on the road, but this year’s Cubs can’t win anywhere since the Brewers broke their 15-game home winning streak.

They Said It

  • “We’re not having much fun. You don’t want to necessarily have fun when you’re losing, but you do need to find ways to enjoy the day and enjoy each other. I think you hear a lot of guys say, ‘When we’re struggling, it’s easy to focus inward, and you need to focus a little more outward.”Jameson Taillon

Thursday Walk-Up Song

Baseball is no bueno for Cubs fans these days.