Its August!

[rawaction]

And the Cubs are up 5 games.

 

August sees the Cubs in Wrigley for 19 of 28 games (then 3 more to start September). Of these 31 games the Cubs play, 21 are against losing teams, and 18 of those against the bottom teams 5 in the NL. The Cubs have 3 starters in the top 10 in all of baseball in ERA. And at least one of Zambrano, Dempster, and Harden will go in every series if healthy. All 3 are scheduled in what is likely to be their toughest series, on paper, in Florida. And as of right now, the Cubs are scheduled to miss Oswalt vs. Houston, Lohse vs. St Louis, Volquez vs. Cincy, Lannan vs. Washington, and Jurrjens in Atlanta, the best pitcher currently for each team. The toughest matchup, if all stays the same, looks to be vs. Cole Hamels to start the Philly series. However, no rotation changes for either team means a Hamels/Harden matchup.

 

This stretch of games is MUCH more important than the final 2 weeks of the season. If the Cubs play like they should through the next 31 games, the last 2 weeks of the season shouldn't matter nearly as much as it does on paper right now.

[CubinNY]

And the Cubs are up 5 games.

 

August sees the Cubs in Wrigley for 19 of 28 games (then 3 more to start September). Of these 31 games the Cubs play, 21 are against losing teams, and 18 of those against the bottom teams 5 in the NL. The Cubs have 3 starters in the top 10 in all of baseball in ERA. And at least one of Zambrano, Dempster, and Harden will go in every series if healthy. All 3 are scheduled in what is likely to be their toughest series, on paper, in Florida. And as of right now, the Cubs are scheduled to miss Oswalt vs. Houston, Lohse vs. St Louis, Volquez vs. Cincy, Lannan vs. Washington, and Jurrjens in Atlanta, the best pitcher currently for each team. The toughest matchup, if all stays the same, looks to be vs. Cole Hamels to start the Philly series. However, no rotation changes for either team means a Hamels/Harden matchup.

 

This stretch of games is MUCH more important than the final 2 weeks of the season. If the Cubs play like they should through the next 31 games, the last 2 weeks of the season shouldn't matter nearly as much as it does on paper right now.

Good topic and good post.

 

This is exactly the cushion the Cubs need.

[kjfoster 1553]

And the Cubs are up 5 games.

 

August sees the Cubs in Wrigley for 19 of 28 games (then 3 more to start September). Of these 31 games the Cubs play, 21 are against losing teams, and 18 of those against the bottom teams 5 in the NL. The Cubs have 3 starters in the top 10 in all of baseball in ERA. And at least one of Zambrano, Dempster, and Harden will go in every series if healthy. All 3 are scheduled in what is likely to be their toughest series, on paper, in Florida. And as of right now, the Cubs are scheduled to miss Oswalt vs. Houston, Lohse vs. St Louis, Volquez vs. Cincy, Lannan vs. Washington, and Jurrjens in Atlanta, the best pitcher currently for each team. The toughest matchup, if all stays the same, looks to be vs. Cole Hamels to start the Philly series. However, no rotation changes for either team means a Hamels/Harden matchup.

 

This stretch of games is MUCH more important than the final 2 weeks of the season. If the Cubs play like they should through the next 31 games, the last 2 weeks of the season shouldn't matter nearly as much as it does on paper right now.

 

I don't know if I would say it's MUCH more important. I guess it all depends on how the Brewers decide to play. But, given we just got done spanking them in Miller Park, the last series of the year doesn't worry me near as much as I thought it did.

[TruffleShuffle]

i want that last series of the year, and the road trip to shea, to be completely meaningless games.

[Cubfanintheknow]

Amazing how quickly the tide turned this week. Before Sunday's game, the Cubs and Brewers were tied for first. Now the Cubs are five games up.

 

Lou keeps saying the right things--be happy but don't get too excited yet, that there are still two full months of baseball yet. Hopefully he keeps them focused over the coming months as the outside distractions build.

[vance_the_cubs_fan]

I'm trying to get the wife to agree to letting me go to Houston again in September. I think that would be an appropriate time for a clincher.

[CubmanPi]

I'm trying to get the wife to agree to letting me go to Houston again in September. I think that would be an appropriate time for a clincher.

I hope so. It would get me out of going to New York for it.

[Mark_R]

How about we go on a nice long winning streak (with Milwaukee and St. Louis tanking badly) and clinch in front of redbird country September 11?

 

Would be amazingly, albeit unrealistic.

[satxcubfan]

I'm trying to get the wife to agree to letting me go to Houston again in September. I think that would be an appropriate time for a clincher.

 

 

I'm planning on going to the saturday game in sept. in Houston.

[Fro]

We really need to pad up a good lead because the last half of September is going to be tough (6 v.s. Brewers, 3 hosting the Cards, 4 at Shea).

[Tracer Bullet]

We really need to pad up a good lead because the last half of September is going to be tough (6 v.s. Brewers, 3 hosting the Cards, 4 at Shea).

 

So who are the tough teams?

[champaignchris]

24 of the next 34 are against teams with losing records.

 

22 of the next 31 are at home.

 

It's time to put the pedal to the metal.

 

I'd love to go into the last 19 games of the season with a magic number of about 12, and looking at the Cubs', Cardinals', and Brewers' schedules, that's not out of the range of possibility.

[UMFan83]

I'm trying to get the wife to agree to letting me go to Houston again in September. I think that would be an appropriate time for a clincher.

 

I'd love to build up a 16 game lead up to that point!

[Old Style]

Is it really a good thing to miss Oswalt these days?

[Derwood]

the rotation for the final series of the year in Milwaukee should be Kevin Hart, Sean Marshall and Jon Lieber :)

[kjfoster 1553]

the rotation for the final series of the year in Milwaukee should be Kevin Hart, Sean Marshall and Rich Hill :)

 

fixed

[Little Slide Rooter]

the rotation for the final series of the year in Milwaukee should be Kevin Hart, Sean Marshall and Rich Hill :)

 

fixed

 

Now, now, remember what happened when we got too cockey after sweeping the first White Sox series.

[SouthSideRyan]

20-11 over this stretch should be enough for a comfortable September.

[bukie]

31-0 over this stretch should make for a very comfortable August, too.

[Cubfanintheknow]

20-11 over this stretch should be enough for a comfortable September.

 

That's a .645 winning percentage. But it's doable.

[erik316wttn]

Good teams beat up on the teams that they are supposed to beat. If the Cubs are a good team, August should be a cakewalk.

[Derwood]

Good teams beat up on the teams that they are supposed to beat. If the Cubs are a good team, August should be a cakewalk.

 

the Cubs are a good team, but it's not always that easy. Houston and San Fran proved that.

[jersey cubs fan]

I would absolutely love to go to Shea 4 straight nights* with nothing on the line but setting up the playoff rotation.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

*did I just write that?

[BigbadB]

31-0 over this stretch should make for a very comfortable August, too.

 

The Cubs have no days off in August? :shock:

[kujay]

How about we go on a nice long winning streak (with Milwaukee and St. Louis tanking badly) and clinch in front of redbird country September 11?

 

Would be amazingly, albeit unrealistic.

 

I'll be in attendance for that one. Would be very amazing, but yes, unrealistic.

 

The Cubs will have a chance to bury St. Louis next weekend if they don't lose any ground over the next seven, which I can't imagine they would.