Cubs Week In Review: The North Siders Feel The Heat & Largely Beat It

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Image courtesy of © David Banks-Imagn Images

To this point in the 2025 season, even the most trepidatious Cubs fans had grown accustomed to viewing a baseball club that is easy to love because it has been winning at a high rate. In the past two weeks or so, while that feeling hasn't completely dissolved, it's become more apparent the challenges this squad must overcome to secure the division, and maybe even baseball's ultimate prize. This sentiment informed a tough week of contests from the Friendly Confines. 

An uncharacteristic dip in offense thrust the Cubbies into some curious one-run tilts. That's how their contest ended up in the finale of a four-game set with the Pirates. The North Siders eked out a 3-2 victory on the strength of another magnificent appearance from Chris Flexen. On the whole, the bullpen has taken a step back, but Flexen hasn't. 

To be the best, you have to beat the best, and while I say this begrudgingly in unison with scores of Cubs fans, the Milwaukee Brewers are still the class of the National League Central until Craig Counsell's squad dethrones them. The first of what was scheduled to be a three-game set with the Brewers at Wrigley Field suggested that the Cubs are perhaps ready for their coronation ceremony. The Cubbies broke through against Brewers starter Chad Patrick with a three-run blast off the bat of Seiya Suzuki. What happened in the eighth inning of this contest will replay in front of thousands at Pete Crow-Armstrong's Hall of Fame induction, should he make it there. After making one of the more jaw-dropping catches you'll ever see, Crow-Armstrong launched a ball deep into the right field bleachers that bounced off near the apex of the scoreboard. It was the signature moment of Cubs baseball thus far in the 2025 campaign and will be remembered far longer than the 5-3 final in favor of the North Siders. 

A sweeping monsoon across the Midwest postponed the middle game between the two interstate rivals, but the action resumed with two aces taking the bump for each team: Freddy Peralta of the Brewers and Jameson Taillon of the Cubs. Peralta is one of the more consistent Cubby killers in recent memory, and on an off day for Taillon, that was just about enough. Despite getting out to an early lead, the North Siders couldn't solve the Crew's elite righty. Taillon fell victim to a barrage of home runs as he often did in his more pedestrian campaigns. The Cubbies' furious late-game rally fell short in an 8-7 loss. 

The Cubs' three-game weekend set with the Seattle Mariners arrived with a clean slate and dangerous, near record-setting heat. The much-anticipated bullpen decline arrived in the first game of this series with an atrocious outing from Ryan Pressly. Still one of the more surprising success stories of this season, Pressly labored through a consequential inning of baseball, surrendering three hits and two crucial earned runs. Scattering nine hits, the Cubbies' seafaring abilities were no match for Seattle in a 9-4 defeat. 

Off the heels of one of the season's most deflating losses, there was a feeling the Cubs had to bounce back in the oppressive summer heat situated at 1060 West Addison, and luckily, they did. With a blustery wind howling out to the last row of bleachers, the Cubs were reunited with their thunderous offense. Ian Happ and Kyle Tucker led off the game with back-to-back bombs that sent the Wrigley faithful into a complete frenzy. The onslaught of home runs, including another from Happ as well as from Michael Busch and Pete Crow-Armstrong, staved off Seattle's considerable pop from the likes of Cal Raleigh. On the hottest day of the year, the Cubs promise burned brightly. Craig Counsell's club earned a 10-7 victory. 

Entering Sunday's rubber match with the Mariners, the Chicago Cubs are the closest they've been to a complete package. Weathering more injuries to players like Matthew Boyd seems neutralized by the long-awaited return of Shota Imanaga. When it comes to the eventual, climactic outcomes of this year's campaign, nothing was decided this past week, nor will it be for some time. But with the All-Star Break approaching, what the Cubbies have done is at least find a level of consistent play, which suggests that they will avoid a serious fortune-altering slide, as they have suffered in recent years. This team has all of its goals in front of it, and even better, an opportunity to attain them. 

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