Cubs Lose Momentum On West Coast Trip

GOOD MORNING, CHICAGO FANS

Happy Labor Day! A day off from work means we can take a day off from Chicago sports chaos…right? The Cubs got swept in San Francisco within minutes of Micah Parsons getting traded to the Packers. What next?

CHICAGO CUBS

L - GIANTS 5 CUBS 2

A VERLANDER VICTORY

• 42-year old future Hall of Famer Justin Verlander continues to own the Cubs (6.0 IP, 7 H, 2 ER, 2 BB, 5 K)

• Matthew Boyd gave up a 2-1 lead with 4 runs allowed in the 5th and 6th

L - GIANTS 12 CUBS 3

WHEN THE LIGHTS GO DOWN IN THE CITY

• Momentum slipped away EARLY: Cubs hit into 2 bases loaded double plays (1st & 5th) and the defense made some key mistakes

• Nico Hoerner hit a 3-R HR and hit the ball hard all game

L - GIANTS 4 CUBS 3

SWEEP ON THREE

• Dansby Swanson and Michael Busch hit solo HRs, but the offense had nothing else going (3 ABs with RISP)

• Defense made highlight reel plays, but baserunning was a mess (2 caught stealing, 1 pickoff)

• Daniel Palencia gave up 3 hits and the walk-off single in a tie game

W - CUBS 11 ROCKIES 7

DENVER DANSBY DINGERS

• Swanson led the home run charge with 11 total bases and 6 RBI (3rd Cub in history to have 2+ HR, 1+ triple, and 6+ RBI in one game)

• Ian Happ had 3 hits, including 1 HR, and Busch hit a 466-foot moonshot!

W - CUBS 4 ROCKIES 3

HANGING ON BY A THREAD

• Cubs pitching staff held on at hitter-friendly Coors Field as the Cubs failed to capitalize on opportunities

• The 1-through-4 hitters each had 2 hits! The rest of the lineup only had 1 hit combined

• Bullpen threw 3 scoreless innings, including a shutdown 9th by Palencia

L - ROCKIES 6 CUBS 5

NEAR-HERO MOMENT

• Happ’s game-tying 3-R HR in the 8th was electric, but Palencia gave up the game-winner in the 9th

• Cubs hitters struck out 12 times, including 9 against Tanner Gordon who had a 6.44 ERA coming into the game

STAR OF THE WEEK ⭐ Ian Happ

8-for-20 (.400 AVG), 2 HR, 7 RBI, 4 2B

PLAY OF THE WEEK 🎥 Ian Happ diving catch

The 2026 schedule was released! Check it out here. The season opener will be at a chilly Wrigley Field on March 26th vs. the Nationals!

Claimed RHP Aaron Civale off waivers from the White Sox - Civale was traded from the Brewers for Andrew Vaughn earlier in the season 😬 He will most likely pitch out of the bullpen. Hopefully, he wants to get some revenge against the Brewers!

Signed veteran 1B/DH Carlos Santana

• Santana was released last week by the Cleveland Guardians

• He’s a 39-year old switch-hitter with a very impressive resume - 16 years in the big leagues, a career .778 OPS, and a Gold Glove just last season

• The Cubs bench has struggled all season, and they’re still looking for more contributors heading into the playoffs. In his career, Santana has a .274 AVG and .819 OPS vs. left-handed pitchers 👀

• Just like Taylor Rogers, he’s on a bit of an NL Central tour, having previously played for the Brewers and Pirates

Placed Jameson Taillon on the 15-day IL again (left groin injury), DFA’d Tom Cosgrove, recalled Porter Hodge, optioned Jordan Wicks

Leading into today’s game: recalled Kevin Alcantara, optioned Owen Caissie

Cubs finished a 15-14 August. They’re also 21-20 since the All-Star Break, and 5-4 in their last 3 series. The Brewers weren’t going to stay on a historic pace forever, but playing .500 baseball will only get you so far.

DIVISION RACE: 6.5 GB of the Brewers

WILD CARD RACE: 1st Wild Card spot (2.0 games ahead)

SCHEDULE 📅 M/T/W/F/SAT/SUN

CHICAGO BEARS

OFFSEASON

53-Man Roster

• 3 QBs will remain on the roster (Williams, Bagent, Keenum)

• UDFA WR Jahdae Walker made the roster after his impressive preseason!

• 13 of the 25 offensive players are new to the organization this year

• Keeping 10 O-Linemen, including all 4 of the left tackles who were competing for the starting job. Kiran Amegadjie has been getting reps at guard lately.

• Tyler Scott (2023 4th rounder) was cut and is now on the Colts practice squad

• Zacch Pickens (2023 3rd rounder) was cut and is now on the Chiefs practice squad

• The 53 will see a lot of changes before Monday Night Football vs. the Vikings - see the current roster here!

Practice Squad

• WR Maurice Alexander & Miles Boykin & JP Richardson

• RB Brittain Brown

• OL Jordan McFadden & Ricky Stromberg

• TE Stephen Carlson & Nikola Kalinic

• DL Xavier Carlton & Jonathan Ford & Tanoh Kpassagnon & Jamree Kromah

• LB Power Echols

• DB Tre Flowers & Dontae Manning & Gervarrius Owens

Micah Parsons is a Green Bay Packer 🤮 The Packers sent 2 1st round picks and DT Kenny Clark for possibly the best defensive player in all of football and paid him $188M! A brutal division just got even tougher for the Bears. Or we can enjoy the incoming downfall of the Packers circa Bears 2019-2020 after acquiring Khalil Mack, running out of cap space, and realizing your quarterback isn’t getting you anywhere.

Placed Austin Booker, Travis Homer, and Amen Ogbongbemiga on IR (designated to return)

Claimed LB D'Marco Jackson and former Bear DB Jaylon Jones off waivers

Rookie CB Zah Frazier will miss the entire season due to an undisclosed personal issue. He’ll still be around the team and attending meetings. Prayers for whatever he’s going through 🙏

Season Opener ➡️ Monday, September 8th vs. Minnesota Vikings (7:15pm)

CHICAGO BLACKHAWKS

OFFSEASON

1st round pick Mason West threw 4 TDs in his high school’s season opener as he finishes out his prep football career before focusing on hockey. It’ll be fun to monitor his stat line as the season continues!

CHICAGO BULLS

OFFSEASON

Nikola Vucevic is playing for Montenegro in the EuroBasket tournament! The team is 0-3, but Vooch is averaging 16.7p/10.7r/3.7a per game.

SAY WHAT?

A CITYWIDE SALUTE

Ian Happ

Happ is the prototypical professional, and his approach has paid off with a BIG August.

This month, he has an .814 OPS and a 130 wRC+. He excelled this week as he looks to stay hot through the rest of the season and help lead the Cubs into the playoffs.

Many Cubs fans are tired of Happ and believe he isn’t a good player (for some reason), but he came up with the Cubs alongside a group of resilient vets who instilled winning baseball into his veins. I’m Happ-y he turned it around again! You can tell his demeanor is shared among many in the clubhouse:

MILD TAKE

Theo Benedet will start the most games at left tackle this season.

Before the NFL Draft, Braxton Jones was the incumbent starter and looked like a shoe-in for the gig in 2025. IF Ryan Poles didn’t make a big move. It turns out the only move was drafting a tackle in the 2nd round. Ozzy Trapilo sounded like a reliable technician who could at least be a solid swing tackle, but nobody immediately thought they hit a home run.

Once training camp started, EVERYONE was raving about Trapilo. He was “like a veteran”, “absorbing everything”, “really sound with his technique”, and so on. There was a glimpse of hope that Poles actually found a new left tackle in surprising fashion.

When Ben Johnson said they wanted the left tackle competition to be over way earlier in the preseason, it was clear that Jones and Trapilo were battling for the job. Either the 3-year vet or the promising rookie would stand out and solidify the left side of the line. Unfortunately, the 2-man battle turned into a 3-man battle, which turned into a 4-man battle.

Ben Johnson STILL won’t declare a starter. I’m assuming Jones is the leader in the clubhouse and will start Week 1. Since they won’t commit to anyone yet and definitely aren’t committing to anyone for the whole season, I think they want Benedet to continue to improve every week until they can put him out there. He has drawn way more attention from the coaching staff lately!

Jason Peters isn’t sitting on a boat waiting for a phone call. Nobody is going to save the Bears at left tackle. Their answer is in-house, and Benedet has taken huge strides when nobody else has. Trapilo is the backup right tackle where he feels more comfortable, Kiran Amegadjie is now a backup guard, and Jones is…well…the same player he’s always been?

Benedet will take over soon.

HITTING THE LINKS

Kevin Fishbain - How Chicago Bears guard Joe Thuney is already making his teammates better (The Athletic)

Sean Hammond - One-on-one with Chicago Bears GM Ryan Poles: ‘You want the team to take an image of the head coach’ (Chicago Tribune)

Michael Russo - Patrick Kane’s last shot: How the U.S. hockey icon plans to play his way onto one final Olympic team (The Athletic)

Dan Wiederer - Why Cairo Santos’ season-ending kick for the Bears meant so much to him (The Athletic)

Chicago Bears - Old School, New School: T.J. Edwards x Mike Singletary, Part 1 (YouTube)

TWO MINUTE WARNING

Thanks for reading! Happy NFL season without any Bears stress (yet)! The Monday Night Football countdown is ON.