115

Holy cow! The Cubs shut out the best team in baseball on Monday, downing the Rays 1-0 behind a complete game from Marcus Stroman (9 IP, 1 BB, 1 H, 8 K).

One day after former Cub and Hall of Famer Fergie Jenkins declared the complete game to be dead, Stroman notched his first since 2017 by dominating the league's most productive offense.

A Tauchman sacrifice fly drove in Suzuki for the game's only run.

The series continues Tuesday at Wrigley. 53 games down, 109 to go. Go Cubs go!

Image Credit:  Chicago Cubs

120

Hey hey! The Cubs returned to Wrigley to down the Mets 7-2 on Tuesday behind a nice start from Smyly (5 IP, 2 ER, 5 K) and HRs from Suzuki, Mervis, and Morel.

Morel is on fire, now sporting a 1.384 OPS with homers in five consecutive games (and 9 of his 12 games this season).

Fulmer notched his first scoreless inning since May 13 to finish the game, and Leiter continued his dominance, striking out two in 1 1/3 innings of work and lowering his season ERA to 1.86.

The series continues Wednesday at the Friendly Confines.

Go Cubs go!

Image Credit:  Chicago Cubs

145

Holy cow! The Cubs shut out the Dodgers 13-0 at Wrigley on Friday behind a dominant start from Smyly (7.2 IP, 1 H, 0 BB, 10 K) and 4 RBI from Hoerner.

 

Smyly had a perfect game through 7 innings until Peralta's broken bat infield dribbler led to a collision between Smyly and Gomes and the only hit of the game. Hoerner went 4-for-5 (.365 BA), Mancini went 3-for-5 (3 RBI), and Bellinger, Suzuki, and Wisdom each had two hits. 

 

Bellinger, Mancini, Wisdom, and Hoerner each homered for the North Siders.

 

The series continues on Saturday at the Friendly Confines.

19 games down, 143 to go. Go Cubs go!

Image Credit:  Chicago Cubs

146

Holy cow! The Cubs shut out the Dodgers 13-0 at Wrigley on Friday behind a dominant start from Smyly (7.2 IP, 1 H, 0 BB, 10 K) and 4 RBI from Hoerner.

 

Smyly had a perfect game through 7 innings until Peralta's broken bat infield dribbler led to a collision between Smyly and Gomes and the only hit of the game. Hoerner went 4-for-5 (.365 BA), Mancini went 3-for-5 (3 RBI), and Bellinger, Suzuki, and Wisdom each had two hits. 

 

Bellinger, Mancini, Wisdom, and Hoerner each homered for the North Siders.

 

The series continues on Saturday at the Friendly Confines.

19 games down, 143 to go. Go Cubs go!

Image Credit:  Chicago Cubs

157

Saturday in the NL Central:  Cubs win, Brewers lose, CMN drops twice!

7 games down, 155 to go. Go Cubs go!

161

An Opening Day win and a Saturday loss vs. the Brewers have the first place Cubs at 1-1 to start the 2023 campaign.

The rubber game of the series is Sunday.

2 down, 160 to go. Go Cubs go!

163

Opening Day is right around the corner!

A fireballing Hayden Wesneski, along with soon-to-be-healthy World Series Champion Kyle Hendricks and Seiya Suzuki, will join returning Cubs Ian Happ, Nico Hoerner, Marcus Stroman, Patrick Wisdom, Christopher Morel and newcomers Dansby Swanson, Jameson Taillon, and Cody Bellinger, among others.

This revamped Cubs lineup is a big departure from the 2022 squad, which really struggled in the first half before righting the ship with a .557 winning percentage after the All-Star break. Although many of those second half games were against struggling teams, the struggling Cubs seemed to turn things around quite a bit.

Here's hoping that the additions to the club make for an exciting 2023 season.

The Cubs start the season on Thursday as they host the Brewers at 1:20 Central Time. Stro will take the mound for the North Siders.

162 games to go - GO CUBS GO!