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New York Times
5 days ago
- Business
- New York Times
With the wind in their face, Cubs showing they can handle the pressure
CHICAGO — Here's how well things are going at Wrigley Field these days: Before Tuesday's game, a reporter asked manager Craig Counsell if it's 'really tough' on the coaching staff and players to win so many close games because the intensity of it all is so 'wearing.' 'I would call it fun,' Counsell said. Advertisement And that was before it took 11 innings to put away the Colorado Rockies 4-3 on another chilly late-spring evening when the wind was blowing in at Wrigley. Oh, the humanity! Will the Cubs (34-21) survive being … good? 'It hasn't been wearing at all,' Counsell said Tuesday afternoon. 'This is what you want, to be in these situations. No team goes out there and just sits there and it's 7 to 1 in the fifth every day. That's just not how the game works. You've got to scrape and claw to win every big-league game. And it's always going to be that way. But that's the fun of it, trying to do that every night.' You would've thought the Cubs would have a 7-1 lead at some point in the first two games against lowly Colorado, which dropped to 9-46 and 3-24 on the road with Tuesday's loss. But as a former Cubs manager used to say, they can't all be oil paintings. In reality, when the wind is whipping in at Wrigley Field, it's the great equalizer. Cubs executives pray for that weather when good teams like the Phillies and Dodgers come to town. But they want a jet stream to Waveland when the likes of the Rockies are on the other side. Maybe that kind of challenge is good for a team's soul, because the big-swinging, best-offense-in-baseball Cubs showed once again they can win it any way they want. After falling behind by a run in the top of the 11th, they tied it on Michael Busch's check-swing single to left and won it on Matt Shaw's blooper to right. According to the team's game notes, the Cubs are now 10-7 this season when the wind is blowing in at the beginning of the game, compared with 4-0 when it's blowing out and 3-1 when it's a cross-wind. Matt Shaw was FIRED UP after his walk-off single! — Marquee Sports Network (@WatchMarquee) May 28, 2025 Just a few days ago in Cincinnati, the Cubs won a game 11-8 after scoring seven runs over the seventh and eighth innings. On Tuesday, they led 2-0 early and had to wait until the game's end to lead again. The Cubs have 16 comeback wins this season and three walkoff ones through 55 games. No wonder people are so worried about Counsell's heart rate. Advertisement They also improved to 8-4 in one-run games. Last season, they were 23-28 in that scenario. That tracks. In recent years, you've watched Cubs games and expected something to go wrong. Not at a 2024 White Sox level, but still. Frankly, that kind of North Side pessimism goes back to the waning days of the 2018 season, when everything went south just two years after the World Series. This season, you watch and expect the Cubs to win, no matter the deficit and even with some shaky bullpen outings and a variety of injuries. The lineup, which is first in baseball or close to it in most offensive categories, is deep and dangerous. 'I've been with teams with really good offenses, I've been with teams that don't, and it's a bad feeling to know that an early deficit is going to make that game a real challenge,' Cubs president Jed Hoyer said. 'And this team has been unbelievably resilient. I think that builds some character early in the season.' Injuries have been creeping up on the team over the first two months and I suppose that builds character too, or at least reveals how good of a job a front office has done at building depth in the upper levels of a farm system. Justin Steele, who is out for the season after elbow surgery, showed up Tuesday with a brace on his left arm, and Shota Imanaga (strained hamstring) keeps working to get off the injured list sometime in the next month or so. Catcher Miguel Amaya is out for at least six weeks with an oblique strain, and reliever Porter Hodge is dealing with a similar injury. But the Cubs are mixing and matching — Reese McGuire has been a nice addition to the best catching corps in baseball — and still winning. Hoyer described Sunday's game in Cincinnati as one of those 'games that people remember.' More than a lot of sports executives, Hoyer understands the power of narrative, but more importantly, he knows how those kinds of situations make a team stronger. 'You need some moments to build that camaraderie,' he said. 'You need to have heroes who aren't the same heroes over and over.' Advertisement The usual heroes are nice too. Every day we find a new way to rave about the toast of Chicago, Pete Crow-Armstrong — his jerseys are selling so quickly, Sports World on Clark and Addison has to order extra letters to make its own — and even on a night when he didn't get a hit or a walk, he still came through with his speed. He knocked in the second run of the game with a hustling fielder's choice and then scored the tying run in the 11th on Busch's excuse-me single only after stealing third. He was the first guy on the field to celebrate the rookie Shaw's heroics. Shaw was sent down in mid-April after a slow start at the plate, and since he's been back, he's 11-for-31 and the Cubs are 6-2. Hoyer's immediacy in making changes this season hasn't gone unnoticed. Given that he's in the last year of his deal, you might expect his patience to be thin, but it's more than that. Expectations have returned to Wrigley Field and everyone is acting (and playing) accordingly. They say you can't win a pennant in May and June, but the Cubs proved last year that you can lose one. They went 21-34 in those two months while the Brewers went 32-23. Milwaukee ended up winning the division by 10 games. With Tuesday's win, the Cubs are 16-8 this month and have a three-game lead on St. Louis in the division. June arrives on Sunday. Surely, Counsell isn't getting any gray hairs from another close win. He might have to deal with some smile lines.
Washington Post
5 days ago
- General
- Washington Post
Busch, Shaw rally Cubs to 4-3, 11-inning win, dealing Rockies 21st consecutive series loss
CHICAGO — Michael Busch and Matt Shaw hit run-scoring singles in the 11th inning, lifting the Chicago Cubs past Colorado 4-3 on Tuesday night and sending the Rockies to their 21st consecutive series loss. Chicago has won nine of 11 while the Rockies fell to 9-46 and are on pace to finish 27-135. Colorado is 0-18 in series this season and also lost its last three in 2024. The Rockies exceeded the 20 straight lost series by the Chicago White Sox last year.
Reuters
5 days ago
- Business
- Reuters
Matt Shaw's walk-off single pushes Cubs past Rockies in extras
May 28 - Rookie Matt Shaw blooped a walk-off single to right field in the 11th inning Tuesday night to propel the Chicago Cubs to a 4-3 victory over the visiting Colorado Rockies. After Brenton Doyle's RBI groundout gave the Rockies a 3-2 lead in the top of the 11th, Michael Busch tied the game with an RBI single off Tyler Kinley (0-2), who then walked Nico Hoerner and surrendered Shaw's game-winning single. Chris Flexen (3-0) pitched the 10th and 11th innings for the Cubs, allowing an unearned run on one hit. Cade Horton started for Chicago, surrendering two runs on four hits and one walk across six innings, striking out six. Ian Happ and Kyle Tucker each tallied a pair of hits for the Cubs, who have won six of their last seven games. German Marquez allowed two earned runs on seven hits and a walk in six innings for the Rockies, striking out six. Doyle homered and drove in two for Colorado, which has lost nine of its last 10 games. After Horton retired the first nine Colorado batters he faced, the Cubs struck first in the third. Shaw led off with a single and stole second before Happ singled and Tucker walked to load the bases. Seiya Suzuki drove in the game's first run with a single to left and Pete Crow-Armstrong doubled Chicago's lead with an RBI groundout. Colorado cut its deficit in half in the fourth as Ryan McMahon's two-out single scored Jordan Beck, who had been hit by a pitch and stole second. The Rockies evened the score in the seventh on Doyle's fifth home run of the season. Caleb Thielbar then relieved Horton, who struck out Tyler Freeman and retired Michael Toglia before allowing Kyle Farmer's single and Adael Amador's walk. Ryan Brasier relieved Thielbar and retired Beck to end the inning. Jake Bird entered for Marquez in the bottom of the seventh, working a scoreless inning. Freeman worked a one-out single against Ryan Pressly in the ninth but was caught stealing by catcher Reese McGuire. Toglia then walked, but Pressly induced Farmer's inning-ending groundout. --Field Level Media
CBS News
5 days ago
- General
- CBS News
Busch, Shaw rally Cubs to 11-inning win, dealing Rockies 21st consecutive series loss
Michael Busch and Matt Shaw hit run-scoring singles in the 11th inning, lifting the Chicago Cubs past Colorado 4-3 on Tuesday night and sending the Rockies to their 21st consecutive series loss. Chicago has won nine of 11 while the Rockies fell to 9-46 and are on pace to finish 27-135. Colorado is 0-18 in series this season and also lost its last three in 2024. The Rockies exceeded the 20 straight lost series by the Chicago White Sox last year. Brenton Doyle put the Rockies ahead 3-2 with an RBI grounder off Chris Flexen (3-0). Automatic runner Pete Crow-Armstrong stole third with one out in the bottom half and scored when Busch singled past the drawn-in infield and through the shortstop hole against Tyler Kinley (0-2). Pinch-runner Jon Berti stole second off catcher Hunter Goodman and Shaw blooped an opposite-field single into short right that landed just 175 feet from home plate. Colorado built a 2-0 lead in the first against Germán Márquez when Seiya Suzuki had an RBI single and Pete Crow-Armstrong hit into a run-scoring forceout. Ryan McMahon hit a run-scoring single in the fourth and Brenton Doyle homered in the seventh off Cade Horton, who allowed a season-low four hits in six-plus innings. Key Moment Chicago tied a season high with six stole bases and was thrown out twice. Runners have been successful on 23 of 29 tries against Goodman. Key Stat Colorado is 2-13 since Warren Schaeffer replaced Bud Black as manager Up Next Cubs LHP Matthew Boyd (4-2, 3.42 ERA) and Rockies RHP Tanner Gordon (1-1, 4.38) are scheduled to start Wednesday night.
Associated Press
5 days ago
- Business
- Associated Press
Busch, Shaw rally Cubs to 4-3, 11-inning win, dealing Rockies 21st consecutive series loss
CHICAGO (AP) — Michael Busch and Matt Shaw hit run-scoring singles in the 11th inning, lifting the Chicago Cubs past Colorado 4-3 on Tuesday night and sending the Rockies to their 21st consecutive series loss. Chicago has won nine of 11 while the Rockies fell to 9-46 and are on pace to finish 27-135. Colorado is 0-18 in series this season and also lost its last three in 2024. The Rockies exceeded the 20 straight lost series by the Chicago White Sox last year. Brenton Doyle put the Rockies ahead 3-2 with an RBI grounder off Chris Flexen (3-0). Automatic runner Pete Crow-Armstrong stole third with one out in the bottom half and scored when Busch singled past the drawn-in infield and through the shortstop hole against Tyler Kinley (0-2). Pinch-runner Jon Berti stole second off catcher Hunter Goodman and Shaw blooped an opposite-field single into short right that landed just 175 feet from home plate. Colorado built a 2-0 lead in the first against Germán Márquez when Seiya Suzuki had an RBI single and Pete Crow-Armstrong hit into a run-scoring forceout. Ryan McMahon hit a run-scoring single in the fourth and Brenton Doyle homered in the seventh off Cade Horton, who allowed a season-low four hits in six-plus innings. Key Moment Chicago tied a season high with six stole bases and was thrown out twice. Runners have been successful on 23 of 29 tries against Goodman. Key Stat Colorado is 2-13 since Warren Schaeffer replaced Bud Black as manager Up Next Cubs LHP Matthew Boyd (4-2, 3.42 ERA) and Rockies RHP Tanner Gordon (1-1, 4.38) are scheduled to start Wednesday night. ___ AP MLB:
