Hey hey! The first place Cubs downed the Cards 8-2 at Wrigley behind an abbreviated start by John Lackey (we'll get to that later), 4.1 innings of scoreless relief from the Chicago bullpen, and 2 RBI apiece from Ian Happ and Kris Bryant.
In addition to the 2 RBI, KB went 3-for-4 and scored twice. Jon Jay had a 2-for-4 day, seven different Cubs scored, and the Cubs' offense was extremely efficient, scoring 8 runs on 8 hits.
Both John Lackey and Willson Contreras were ejected after home plate umpire Jordan Baker called this pitch a ball:
Ball three?!?
Image Credit: twitter.com/cubsump
Understandable, gentlemen. The Cubs responded with a seven-run sixth inning, putting the game away and putting the Cards four games out of first and in sole possession of third place.
Game two of the three-game series is Saturday afternoon in the Friendly Confines.
Go Cubs go!
Image Credit: Chicago Cubs
The Cubs have 15 regular season games left, including six versus the third place Cards and four versus the second place Brewers. The Cubs Magic Number to win the NL Central equals:
163 - (Cubs wins + losses of NL Central rival with fewest losses).
As of now, that's 163 - (81 + 69), or 163 - 150. 163 - 150 = 13.
Thus, the Cubs Magic Number is 13. Follow CMN on Twitter!
4 comments :
With the Brewers and Cards both 3 games back at the start of the day, do they both have to lose today for the magic number to go down another digit?
If the Brewers lose Friday night, the CMN drops to 12.
Strangely, I think yesterday's passion shown by Lackey and Contreras was a good thing. It shows the fire in the belly is back, something lacking in the first half of this year. They look hungry now and I think that incident fired the team up a little.
The Cubs are more aware of the importance of this series (and the upcoming NL Central series) than anyone, and they made it loud & clear on Friday. Go Cubs go!
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