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Well, it’s official – the Chicago Cubs are the hottest team in baseball after picking up their eighth straight win when they defeated the Chicago White Sox 6-5 behind Chris Coghlan‘s two home runs. Later on that evening, the Toronto Blue Jays had their 11 game winning streak snapped on a three-run big fly off the bat of Carlos Beltran in the eighth inning.
Despite the North Siders drilling three big flies off Jeff Samardzija, the Pittsburgh Pirates were able to sneak away with an extra-innings win over the New York Mets. The Cubs are still 1 1/2 games out of second place in the N.L. Central and the first spot in the N.L. Wild Card hunt.
More from Chicago Cubs News
- Cubs: Adrian Sampson is forcing his way into the conversation
- Projecting the Chicago Cubs bullpen to open the 2023 season
- Cubs fans are beginning to see the light at the end of the tunnel
- Justin Steele has evolved into a frontline starter for the Cubs
- The future of first base is murky right now for the Cubs
First baseman Anthony Rizzo hit his second home run in as many games to go back-to-back with Coghlan in the fifth inning. This team is now 12-0 with Coghlan batting third in the lineup.
Outfielder Dexter Fowler opened up the game with a triple to right field and later scored on a sacrifice fly by Kyle Schwarber. One sour note about this contest was Kyle Hendricks who had some spot on moments that were eclipsed by five earned runs.
Skipper Joe Maddon will send ace right-hander Jake Arrieta to the mound in hopes of keeping the ball rolling. It would be nice to get to at least a nine-game winning streak to gain some more ground before Chris Sale takes on Dan Haren in the series finale on Sunday afternoon.
On a side note, Boston Red Sox manager John Farrell was diagnosed with highly curable lymphoma during a routine hernia surgery on Monday. Both Jon Lester and Anthony Rizzo were members of the Boston Red Sox and each battled and defeated cancer in their lives.
Farrell will begin to undergo chemotherapy at Massachusetts General Hospital with 21 days of chemo with a week off, three times. He’s expected to return to the club by next spring, which will be exciting and great to see.
So many people have wished him well, and we here at Cubbies Crib will do the same.
Here’s more from around the league:
‘Chicago Cubs: Maddon’s handling of players setting the tone‘ – Cubbies Crib
‘Padres News: Matt Kemp hits for first cycle in Padres history‘ – Friars On First
‘Washington Nationals: Nats drop fourth straight to Giants‘ – District On Deck
‘Atlanta Braves sign Edwin Jackson‘ – Call To The Pen
‘Cincinnati Reds fall to Dodgers in John Lamb’s big league debut‘ – Blog Red Machine