Faithful, Too: “Game 27 W - Baby Blues Return”
Added 2025-04-26 15:46:57 +0000 UTCAfter a two-hour rain delay on a dreary Chicago Friday early afternoon…the sun came out, the day flipped, and it was time for the Cubs to commence their home series against the Phillies. Pat Hughes and Ron Coomer were on the radio for me as I finished up work.
Colin Rea continues to be a reliable spot starter in this post-Steele season. In 13 1/3 innings over three short starts, he’s given up a lot of hits (12) but escaped jams by only walking 3 and striking out…17! The team will need to address finding an everyday starter in the long run, but Rea has made a huge difference in the meantime.
Berti made up for his “golden sombrero”* on Wednesday by filling up his box score with a single, an RBI-double, and a scoring a run of his own. Only one of his plays involving runs mattered, because the Cubs shutout the Phils 4-0.
Hard to complain about a win, but the Cubs left a lot of players on base at the end of innings, 10 were in scoring position (2nd and/or 3rd base). They need to shore this up. But in the meantime, a win’s a win. Those Baby Blue Friday uni’s look glorious, as does this team at the moment.
Four games up on the Brewers in the Central is a nice place to be after such a tough schedule to start the season. Would love to see a sweep of these struggling Phils this weekend. Here’s to sunny days ahead (literally).
FUN FACT: Hughes informed the radio audience that the Philadelphia Phillies are the longest-standing American professional sports team to have the same team name in the same city. Their founding year? 1883. The president of our nation? Chester A. Arthur, who took over after Garfield’s assassination. Garfield ran in the same Republican party against Ulysses S. Grant, who was going for a later-third term in 1880. I learned a lot of this after finishing up Ron Chernow’s incredible biography Grant. Baseball has been around a long-ass time! Civil War generals were still trying to be president!
* Four strikeouts in one game.
