Rays (Houser) vs Cubs (Imanaga): 9/14/25, 1:20pm

[Tryptamine]

This umpire, laff.

[Tryptamine]

Ball in the bottom of the zone called a ball. Next pitch below the zone is a strike. Next pitch even lower out of the zone is also a strike.

[JHBulls]

Good series W! Very fun series as well. We got a big splash of Rizz. 

[Tryptamine]

At least one Chicago team can win.

[Tangled Up in Plaid]

[Derwood]

Could've been a sweep, but 2 out of 3 is pretty pretty pretty good

[UMFan83]

We’ve won our 47th 4-3 game this season

[Gjfificifjdej]

Good battle to take a series

[Illiterate Scholar]

Of all the game thread takes this season, the one awhile ago about wanting the Cubs to act more like the Bears might be my favorite 

[Bertz]

Kittredge has been a monster.  I don't have a good way to sort for this but of relievers moved at the deadline it looks like really only Duran and Mason Miller have been better?

[BKHoo]

Who owns the tie breaker between the Cubs and Padres?

[Illiterate Scholar]

Also Ballesteros off to a fun little start. I didn't realize how stark his splits were in AAA. A guy with that approach I figured would be a little more even. I don't even hate that though, just don't let him face any lefties in meaningful situations. But he's certainly ready to face RHP.

[Illiterate Scholar]

3 minutes ago, BKHoo said:

Who owns the tie breaker between the Cubs and Padres?

Depends on record vs own division, so still to be decided. They've gotten a lot of Colorado recently which has helped them.

[Bertz]

6 minutes ago, Illiterate Scholar said:

Also Ballesteros off to a fun little start. I didn't realize how stark his splits were in AAA. A guy with that approach I figured would be a little more even. I don't even hate that though, just don't let him face any lefties in meaningful situations. But he's certainly ready to face RHP.

This caught me by surprise too.  He was really good against them last year: .302/.356/.408.  My hope/guess is that the veteran lefty relievers hanging out at AAA are eating him alive due to his inexperience, and that he'll get better quickly.

But yeah in the short term he's a pure platoon bat.

[chibears55]

Thank you cubs for not totally ruining my watching my favorite teams sports day...

Nico awesome 

Cubs updated magic numbers

Clinch playoff spot: 5 over the Giants who are currently losing.

Clinch no.1 WC seed: 10 over the Padres who are currently winning

5 back of Brewers in loss column for 1st place.

13 Games to go

Edited September 14, 2025 by chibears55

[Papa Cub]

21 minutes ago, BKHoo said:

Who owns the tie breaker between the Cubs and Padres?

Good question - I’m gonna look that up. I wanna say we do, but that was so early in the year

[Bertz]

Willi Castro has really gotten going.  His first few weeks here were abysmal, but if you go back to the start of the Brewers series he's been solid and if you just look at September he's been great.

[I owned a Suzuki]

1 hour ago, Papa Cub said:

Good question - I’m gonna look that up. I wanna say we do, but that was so early in the year

Isn't it who has the best record against division? Which is weird for WC

[BKHoo]

2 hours ago, Bertz said:

Willi Castro has really gotten going.  His first few weeks here were abysmal, but if you go back to the start of the Brewers series he's been solid and if you just look at September he's been great.

7/26 in September = “great”?

[Bertz]

8 minutes ago, BKHoo said:

7/26 in September = “great”?

He has a .441 OBP, so yes?

[Andy]

1 hour ago, I owned a Suzuki said:

Isn't it who has the best record against division? Which is weird for WC

The first tiebreaker is head to head but the teams were 3-3 against each other so it moves on to the next one

[Irrelevant Dude]

47 minutes ago, Bertz said:

He has a .441 OBP, so yes?

His helmet hasn't made it to first base yet.

[I owned a Suzuki]

2 hours ago, Andy said:

The first tiebreaker is head to head but the teams were 3-3 against each other so it moves on to the next one

I meant since their head to head was 3-3, the next tiebreaker is division record. I think. Which really doesn't make sense since they play in different divisions

[bukie]

Cubs have clinched a better record than the Angels and Orioles. That's all the teams that had basically written off the season in July. Everyone else is currently within 4 games of a playoff spot, and the next team the Cubs will clinch a better record than will be fun.

Also, magic number down to 4.

[Geographyhater8888]

14 hours ago, UMFan83 said:

We’ve won our 47th 4-3 game this season

6 of their last 16 wins have ended in just score. They’re remarkably consistent.

Edited September 15, 2025 by Geographyhater8888