66

After a rough close to the first half of the season, the Cubs used their bats to silence doubters in the first game of the second half. The Cubs scored six runs on seven hits against the Rangers who were held to zero by Hendricks and the bullpen.

The fireworks happened in the sixth inning when the Cubs sent ten Cubs to the plate and scored five runs. The solid inning of baseball was what the Cubs hitters needed to show that they could still make the opposing teams pay for mistakes.

The Cardinals helped out the Northsiders by losing to the Marlins later in the evening - bringing the magic number down to 66. The Cubs will finish out the weekend with the Rangers before welcoming the Mets to Chicago.

Photo Credit: Chicago Cubs

NL Central Standings

Team        W   L    PCT    GB

Cubs       54  35   .607    --

Cards      46  43   .517   8.0

Pirates    46  44   .511   8.5

Brewers    38  50   .432  15.5

Reds       33  57   .367  21.5