55

The Chicago Cubs were able to defeat the Cardinals 5-2.  After a rough first inning Kyle Hendricks was able to settle down and retire the last 17 batters he faced going 7 innings while striking out eight and walking none.  The Cubs offense came to life as Anthony Rizzo continued a recent tear with his 15th HR and Ben Zobrist was 4-4 including his seventh HR of the season.  Javy Baez added a 2 RBI double and that's all the Cubs would need.  Monday is an off day as the Cubs will resume play Tuesday in Pittsburgh where Jon Lester will be on the hill.

56

Greetings from Busch Stadium. The Cubs and Cardinals are in a rain delay, but the Giants helped us out by defeating the Brewers 8-5.

57

Cubs beat Diamondbacks 7-6.

Now that is a comeback! With two outs left in the 9th, David Bote knocked a two run, game tying, home run. Then, on his 1,000th game in the majors, Rizzo crushed a 467 foot walk off homer.

The Cubs have now gone over two months without losing a series at home. They now head to St. Louis for a pivotal series with the Cardinals!

58

The Cubs took down the Diamondbacks 2-1, and the Nationals defeated the Brewers, so the number drops twice!

Your first place Cubs have one more game in Arizona before heading to St. Louis for the weekend.

60

Holy cow! The first place Cubs downed the Cards 7-2 on Sunday to take the series and move 3.5 games up in the NL Central. That’s Cub.

Jose Quintana threw a dominant start (7 IP, 6 K, 2 ER) and the offense pounded out 12 hits including a Schwarbomb.

The Cubs host Arizona starting on Monday.

Go Cubs go!

63

The comeback Cubs showed that even the All-Star break couldn't slow the offense down.  They were able to overcome an early 2-0 deficit.  Rizzo had 2 doubles in the leadoff spot and J Hey added 3 hits as the Cubs overall had 13 knocks to score 9 runs.  The series continues tomorrow as Jon Lester will take the mound against Jack Flaherty.

65

Everybody in! 

Photo Credit: Chicago Cubs

The FIRST PLACE Cubs complete the sweep of the Padres with a 7-4 victory in San Diego. They end the first half of the season 17 games over 500 and 2.5 games above the  Brewers.

Every starter in the lineup either scored a run or earned an RBI in this final game of a winning West Coast road trip!

Lester gets his 12th win. Javy gets his 72nd RBI as he heads to DC for the HR Derby. Last year he made a season high 75 RBIs... Yes, you read that right...

All-Star Break Comparisons

Since 2015, the Cubs have made it to at least the NLCS every year, so let's take a look at the each of the past four years at the break.

MAGIC NUMBER:
2015 - 83
2016 - 67
2017 - 79
2018 - 65

GAMES ABOVE 500:
2015 - 7
2016 - 19
2017 - -2 (below 500)
2018 - 17

In short... It's looking really good on the North Side!

66

The Pirates finish the five game sweep of the Brewers, so the magic number takes another drop!

The FIRST PLACE Cubs are in San Diego looking for their own sweep. Watch this space.

67

The Cubs offense came to life behind home runs from Ian Happ, Kyle Schwarber, and Javy Baez who had a 5 RBI night.  The Cubs trailed early but Kyle Hendricks was able to lock in and go five.  The pen was able to handle the remaining four innings.  Javy now has 71 RBI's before the All Star Break and has a shot to reach his career high of 75 with one game left in the first half.  Jon Lester will take the mound as the Cubs are now guaranteed to be in first place in the Central after Milwaukee was swept by Pittsburgh in a day/night doubleheader.

70

Cubs win! Cubs win! Cubs win! The comeback Cubs beat the Friars in 10 on Friday to move into first place in the NL Central!

The series continues Saturday at Petco Park.  Go Cubs go!

72

The Chicago Cubs were able to win today on a walk off walk taken by rookie David Bote in the 10th inning with the bases loaded.  Jon Lester went 6 and a third innings giving up 4 runs all earned but Jon also found out he'll be going to his 5th All Star game in DC.  Addison Russell had 3 RBI's and Javy Baez had 2.  The latter will be joining Jon Lester and Willson Contreras as the two infielders also made the All Star team, their first career selections.  Brandon Morrow blew the save by allowing a solo HR to Adam Duvall, only his 2nd blown save of the year.  The Cubs went 7-1 on the homestand and will now travel out west to face the San Francisco Giants.  Kyle Hendricks will face off against Andrew Suarez at 9:15 CST.

77

The Comeback Cubs did it again as they managed to overcome a 6-2 deficit including 4 runs in the 8th to win 8-7 against the Reds.  Brandon Morrow notched his 20th save and Ben Zobrist had a huge 2 run double to make it 7-6 before the Javy Effect took over.  After homering in the 7th to make it 7-4 Reds, Javy singled to pitcher Jared Hughes on a ball he couldn't corral to tie it at 7.  Then with Javy running on the pitch Rizzo was able to score Zobrist with a ground out that put the score in it's final place.  The series continues tomorrow with Jon Lester facing off against Luis Castillo at 1:20 CST.

79

The Chicago Cubs won their 6th game in a row which moved them to 14 over .500, their best win streak and highest amount of games over .500 on the 2018 season.  The Cubs got the win with a combination of Javy Baez making things happen on the bases as always along with some stellar defense and a theme we've seen a lot of lately in timely hitting.  Willson Contreras hit his 7th home run and had a 2 RBI double late and that's all the Cubs would need.  They were able to sweep the short 2 game series and will have Thursday off before returning to action against the Reds when Mike Montgomery will square off against Tyler Mahle.

80

The Comeback Cubs struck again Tuesday erasing a 3-0 deficit with a big three run 5th that included doubles by Tommy La Stella (3AM!) Albert Almora Jr and Jason Heyward.  Anthony Rizzo singled in a run also and then later beat out a slow infield grounder to give the Cubs a 4-3 lead before Kyle Schwarber added an insurance run in the 8th with his 17th HR on the season.  The Cubs bullpen also combined for 4 scoreless innings and Pedro Strop got his second save on the season.

81

Cubs sweep the Twins in a wild series that ends with a hot, wet, and wild 11-10 win! The Twins would take an early lead in each of the three games before the Cub's hot bats took each of the three wins.

Jon Lester takes the win - his 11th of the season - while helping himself out with a three run 406 feet homer - the second home run of his career!

Photo Credit: Chicago Cubs

The Brew Crew took the loss in Cincinnati, so we are just 0.5 games out from first! The Cubbies have Monday off before welcoming the Tigers to Wrigley on Tuesday.