Cubs Week in Review: Club Celebrates Return of a Legend, with "Magic" in the Air

[RavenCub30]

Image courtesy of © Matt Marton-Imagn Images

It's a funny thing, being a writer tasked with describing the indescribable. After all, that's what you come for, isn't it? We're a fortunate lot, us Cubs fans—treated to decades of friends and memories more indelible than the bricks which line the walkway on Waveland Avenue. With just a fortnight remaining, the 2025 season is at its ultimate tipping point. Perhaps that's the reason why Anthony Rizzo's return, juxtaposed against the backdrop of enormous baseball games, exceeded our impossibly high expectations. It was hard to put his homecoming into words. 

This new week of Cubs baseball opened up with a road trip to Georgia. You'd be a hopeless optimist plucked directly from a G-rated Disney movie to think it an easy task to beat a team for a second series, after having just played this very same club a week prior at the Friendly Confines. But even though game one of this set didn't indicate it, that's exactly how things played out. There are a handful of top-tier pitchers whose overall records fail to really take off in a given season, because they simply do not get run support from their offense. Shota Imanaga, who spent a good chunk of time on the injured list this spring and early summer, is one of those pitchers. The Pitching Philospher did almost exactly what you've come to expect from him, giving up early runs but settling down to near-shutdown levels. Going six innings and surrendering just three earned runs, that's the type of start Imanaga had. Scattering a meager five hits, though, the Cubs managed just one run of their own. Atlanta took the series opener by a score of 5-1.

At this exact moment in time, Cade Horton is the best pitcher in baseball, and the reasons why were on full display as his squad evened the series 1-1 with a convincing 6-1 victory. While the North Siders enjoyed a gratifyingly steady day of offense fueled by the likes of Matt Shaw and Pete Crow-Armstrong, Horton's dazzling performance stole the spotlight. Going a commanding 6 1/3 innings. Horton picked up win No. 10 on the year, giving up one run on just four hits. One of the hottest new pieces of merchandise from the fine folks at Obvious Shirts reads: "Horton Earns A W", a clever reference to the Dr, Seuss book "Horton Hears A Who". If things keep up the way they've been for this young man, I surmise that will be a difficult piece of apparel to come by. 

With the bullpen enjoying a run for the ages, the Cubs scooped up a gargantuan series victory with a 3-2 triumph in the finale. Squaring off against the mighty Chris Sale, the North Siders played one of their most stunning and confident games of the 2025 campaign. Made possible by another clutch blast from Carson Kelly, the Cubs used a 4 1/3-inning performance from Jameson Taillon as a springboard for this storybook bullpen. Collecting the last 14 outs of the ball game, Chicago relievers slammed the door shut and locked it. The win capped an impressive all-around performance against this Atlanta squad over the past two weeks, but more importantly, it seemed to answer questions about the relief corps's readiness for October.

The Cubs came home to host the road-weary Rays. Battling back from another alarmingly pedestrian outing from Matthew Boyd, the home team picked up a 6-4 victory in Friday's opener. It was the squad's third straight win, and featured fabulously impressive days from Ian Happ and Moisés Ballesteros. Ballesteros, the upstart youngster occupying Kyle Tucker's place in the lineup, laced a huge RBI triple into the far corner of right field. The comeback conjured up visions of the club's first half of the season, full of tenacity and offensive heft. If that weren't enough, it solidified the perfect road map for getting on without the squad's superstar slugger. At least for now. 

There was a time (possibly returning soon) when watching the iconic ivy take on an orange fall tint brought on emotions of postseason promise. On a summer-like afternoon, all of that happiness and jubilation returned to Wrigley Field, as it welcomed back the living Cubs legend Anthony Rizzo. In a stunning turn of events on an unassuming Wednesday, Rizzo and the Cubs organization announced that the former Platinum Glove Award winner would be retiring a Chicago Cub after a 14-year career, 10 of them in a Cubby uniform. As tears streamed down the faces of the Wrigley faithful. Cubs fans were handed a heartfelt reminder of what makes this franchise great: family. Though the 5-4 Cubs loss was not a fitting ending to this cinematic day, there was no shortage of Hollywood-worthy moments. While becoming the impromptu architect of his very own beer snake, Rizzo was nearly the recipient of Ballesteros's first major-league home run. The 39,000-plus in attendance were in an absolute uproar the whole afternoon, but moments like this one—not to mention a seventh inning stretch singing of "Take Me Out to the Ballgame" with fellow Chicago legends Eddie Vedder and Cindy Crawford—created an all-time cornerstone memory for everyone who loves Chicago Cubs baseball.

It was a sensational weekend in Wrigleyville from a vibes standpoint, but what about from a baseball standpoint? Their rubber match with Christopher Morel's squad offered the North Siders a chance to stride to the precipice of locking up a playoff spot, perhaps by the next time we gather for this weekly recap. Imanaga again toed the rubber in this critical tilt, in search of a better result from his previous outing. But despite striking out nine Rays over five innings, he didn't find it. Once again, the lefty succumbed to first inning woes, allowing Tampa on the board early. The North Siders had the bats rolling from jump, yet couldn't deliver the sequence of knocks to give them the upper hand versus the club formerly known as the Devil Rays.

Until they could. Down 3-2 in the bottom of the seventh inning, the outstanding Nico Hoerner laced a ball into the left-field corner, giving the Cubs a 4-3 lead. There's no way to overstate how instrumental Hoerner has been to his squad's final push to the postseason. If Chicago is to host playoff games at Wrigley in a couple short weeks, he'll have been a major reason why. So will the bullpen, and once Hoerner gave the North Siders the late lead, Caleb Thielbar and Andrew Kittredge shut down the scrappy, eager Rays hitters. The 4-3 victory gave the home side their second straight series win, as they head to Pittsburgh to battle the Pirates. 

Earlier this summer when I spoke with Alex Cohen, he emphasized how special this baseball team is. They don't look at the odds, they don't panic in the most dire situations, and they sure as hell don't back down from a fight. Alex is right, and indeed, it was a special week in Chicago, Illinois. With more to come.

View full article