bukie

Petition to change Derwoods title to "It's just...unnecessary"

Famously the only player in the league that gets that benefit.

Tyler right now:

Although now I'm a little disappointed his name isn't Will Turner to get the full Nottingham experience.

Well he should see plenty of action there.

They lose the tiebreakers with the Phillies, Marlins, and Dodgers, need to pick up one game against the Reds and Brewers, win the tiebreaker vs the Padres, and lead the tiebreaker against the Braves.

Correct, first tiebreaker is head to head, second tiebreaker is division record (even if both teams are not in the same division), third tiebreaker is league record, fourth tiebreaker is last half of interleague play record. From there they go back one game of interleague play at a time until ties are resolved.

Not an ideal 9th inning for new Diamondbacks closer Paul Sewald against the Twins. Clinging to a 3-2 lead, he gave up a first pitch tying HR, a walk, and then a walkoff HR. Diamondbacks fall a game behind the Cubs.

Fortunately, the Cubs are 1 of 2 teams int he NL playoff race with two top 10 starters.

I don't want to jinx anything, but I think the Cubs are officially in the playoff race this season (considering they currently hold the 3rd wildcard spot by a percentage point). Considering that, it's a good time to look at the NL this season and how the playoff race looks to be shaking out over the last 8 weeks of the season. Current teams in order of playoff standings: Atlanta Braves - Best record in baseball, just leaving town now having dropped 2 of 3 to the Cubs, but still a 100% sure thing for the playoffs and the top seed at this time. Only way they don't get the top spot is if the Dodgers go on an insane run AND the Braves tread water for 8 weeks. Best offense in MLB, best run differential in MLB, best team in MLB right now. Los Angeles Dodgers - Spent much of the first half of the season battling with the Dbacks and Giants, but took over the division going into the All-Star break. Currently hold a 3 game division lead, so not a sure thing, but safely the 2nd best team in the NL at this time and in line for the 2nd playoff bye. Milwaukee Brewers - Currently clinging to the NL Central with a negative run differential and an 11-11 record since the break. Everyone expects them to figure things out and take over the division, but it hasn't happened yet. The offense isn't good at all, having scored the 3rd fewest runs int he NL, just ahead of the Marlins and Pirates. Really in first place by default at this point, which I suppose is better than not in first place. San Francisco Giants - Slowly building up steam since the break, their 13-9 record has seen them climb into the top WC spot, 3.5 games clear of trouble. They've ridden pitching this far, and are 66% likely to get to the playoffs based on current season data. Philadelphia Phillies - Another team starting to create space int eh WC race, the Phillies are 13-10 since the break and are 3 games clear of a playoff spot now. More safe now because many of the teams near them have nose dived, rather than them making a run. 70% odds to make the playoffs based on in season data. Chicago Cubs - Why we're all here, really. Early on a good team with bad results, now a good team with good results. 16-7 since the break, 3rd best RD in the NL, and it's been the offense and defense carrying the load of late. Currently 79% to make the playoffs based on in-season data, and a 59% chance to take the NL Central as things stand now. Cincinnati Reds - Came out of nowhere in June to grab the NL Central lead, holding steady until just after the break, where they've taken a nosedive the past two weeks to fall from first to out of the playoff picture. Negative run differential, and the pitching is atrocious of late. Need to find 3 good pitchers and soon to stay afloat. Currently 37% to make the playoffs. Miami Marlins - In an MLB.com article by Will Leitch written just this morning, he thinks the Marlins will win the last WC spot by default because they're the only team not fading. I'm not sure what season he's watching, because the Marlins are 5-16 since the break and to me are the most likely team to fall out of contention soon here, probably the worst of the teams in the playoff race. Arizona Diamondbacks - Actually still in first place in the NL West going into the break, have gone 5-17 since to fall 8 games back of the Dodgers and a game out of WC contention. Currently projected with just a 16% chance at a playoff berth despite being just a game out right now. San Diego Padres - Along with the Cubs, a potential scary late bloomer, the only team under .500 that didn't sell, and lurk just 2.5 games out of a WC spot as of now. 10 games out of first place, but to me the odds on favorite to nab the last WC spot. Currently a 52% chance at a playoff spot based on projections. Out of contention: Mets, Pirates, Nationals, Cardinals, Rockies So if I had to make an educated guess how things shake out the rest of the year, I'd go with Braves, Dodgers, Cubs, Phillies, Giants, Padres, with the Brewers coming up just short and the Reds, Marlins and Dbacks fading out of contention by the end of the year.

One could say the same about the Cubs lineup at this point, particularly with Amaya in the lineup.

57-43, counted wrong in my head.

Cubs record against teams: Named the Phillies, Angels and Astros: 1-11 Named something else: 57-33

Steele gave up 3 ER over 5 1/3 innings against the best offense in baseball. Saturday was a bullpen day, there really wasn't a starter. Friday, Hendricks had one bad inning.

As we all expected coming into the weekend, the Cubs gain ground on every NL playoff contender with their series win over the Braves.

This offense is relentless.

At least in contrast to the previous games against the Netherlands and Portugal, the USWNT was the dominant team in the game, just couldn't finish. Desperately needed Swanson out there. Shame, but Rapinoe and Morgan did as much to help the USWNT this World Cup as Carli Lloyed did from the booth.

One goal over the last 300 minutes of field play. What is this, the USMNT?

Cubs' win probability chart during the game: There was no point after the bottom of the first inning where it went below 75%.

Side effect of all this winning lately: The Cubs have now caught the Diamondbacks and are within 1 game of the Marlins and 1.5 back of the Reds in the Wild Card race.

Beating up on bad teams and teams with horrible starting pitching for 3 weeks was fun, but the Braves aren’t in the same league with the Cubs. I had a feeling we were going to humble them real quick. Our offense rakes 1-9 and when they really turn it on, my god they are unstoppable.

Arizona, Arizona State and utah to the Big 12, leaving Stanford, Cal, Wazzu and Oregon State looking for friends.

Hang the banner.

Cubs only scored 5 runs last night, got to shake things up in the offense.