5 biggest Chicago Cubs moments from the month of August

The Chicago Cubs have had a good month of August where they posted a 18-9 record. This is the first August in a while where the Cubs played competitive games after becoming buyers at the trade deadline. There were several memorable moments, but here is my top 5 to recap a very successful month where the team put themselves in a good position to make the playoffs.

5. Cubs take 2/3 from the Atlanta Braves

One of the most important series of the year came at Wrigley Field from August 4th-6th, and the Cubs came to play. The Atlanta Braves, for all intents and purposes, are the best team in baseball. They have the best win/loss record (86-45 at the time of this writing), a group of several elite hitters, and a capable pitching staff to lean on. But the Cubs took care of business against them and showed that they can compete with good teams. Although Chicago dropped game 1 by a score of 8-0 after Kyle Hendricks surrendered 7 earned runs, the Cubs were able to score 14 runs over the next two games. They handed losses to Atlanta starters Bryce Elder and Charlie Morton, who are two of the best pitchers in the National League this year.

Taking this series was a big statement for the Cubs and it continued the dominant stretch that solidified the Cubs as buyers at the deadline. And they kept that momentum going in August since they only dropped one series in the month to the New York Mets.

4. Cubs score a 36 runs against the Reds

The first two games in August were held at Wrigley Field against the Cincinnati Reds, who were vying hard for the division lead at the time. But the Cubs took 3 out of 4 games against the Reds in that series, including a pair of absolute beat-downs that saw the Cubs put 20 and 16 runs on the board in back-to-back games. This was a record-breaking 36-run onslaught that was the best two-game stretch by the franchise since 1897.

The most encouraging part of these wins was the fact that the entire lineup contributed from top to bottom. Those games featured three home runs from shortstop Dansby Swanson, two from left fielder Ian Happ, and one each from Christopher Morel, Miguel Amaya, Mike Tauchman, Patrick Wisdom, Cody Bellinger Nico Hoerner, and Seiya Suzuki.

With 37 hits in two days, the Cubs sent the Reds into a tailspin for the next month as they dropped five of their next eight series. Although they are still hanging on in the Wild Card race, the Reds hopes of winning the division have looked bleak since their pummeling at Wrigley Field.

2. Justin Steele dominates the Brewers

At the end of the month, the Cubs faced off against the first-place Milwaukee Brewers in a nail-biting three-game series. The Cubs dropped game one 2-6 and the team's hopes for a sweep died with the loss. Luckily ace Justin Steele took the mound in game 2, where he tossed 6 dominant innings and struck out 8 with no earned runs allowed. The bullpen was able to hold the lead with the lone run driven in by an RBI groundout from Cody Bellinger and the Cubs took game 2.

This was probably the best major league game Justin Steele has thrown in his career. He almost single-handedly kept the hope of the Cubs winning the division alive with this start, and he solidified himself in the Cy Young conversation by lowering his season ERA to 2.69. Julian Merryweather, Mark Leiter Jr., and Adbert Alzolay were able to silence the Brewers in the last three innings and secure the win.

The Cubs went on to take the series by shutting down a late-game rally by the Brewers and put the team three games behind in the division race. Had Milwaukee taken two out of three or swept, the Cubs would be in a horrible position to win the division. Although it still looks hard at three games back, it looks better than it did when the Brewers came to town riding high on a nine-game winning streak.

1. Christopher Morel's walk off against the White Sox

The Cubs were not looking good two weeks ago after dropping the last game of the series in Toronto, where they fell to the Blue Jays 4-11. The very next game was the first of two matches at Wrigley Field against the White Sox, which the Cubs also lost 3-5. Game 2 saw the Cubs offense put up another lackluster 1 run effort against a bad White Sox team with Mike Clevinger tossing seven shut-out innings. That is until the 9th inning, where Cody Bellinger slapped a double and Dansby Swanson reached on a walk. This set the stage for Christopher Morel to launch a walk-off three-run homer.

This home run was reminiscent of David Bote's grand slam against the Nationals in 2018 and Javier Baez's Mother's Day dinger in 2016. The Cubs were about to drop three in a row and split the season series against a truly embarrassing White Sox team. But Morel saved the day with an impressive opposite-field home run that sent the vibes at Wrigley Field to a season-high. With a single swing of the bat, Morel seemingly signaled that the Chicago Cubs are the real deal again and Wrigley Field has been having near-sell-out crowds ever since.

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