AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill

The Rundown: Red-Hot Cubs Sweep Angels, Taillon Pulled in Precautionary Move, Raleigh Sets Home Run Record

Photo of Michael Canter Michael CanterAugust 25, 2025

“A million tiny splinters. The axe still swinging. Glue them all together to build a new thing.” – Come Visit Me by The Rosebuds

How sweep it is! Taking three straight from the Angels finds all of us in fine fettle on this wonderful Monday morning.

The Cubs are on a roll and folks are getting a little antsy up here in Milwaukee. The Brewers have played pressure-free baseball for the better part of three months, but heavy lies the crown. Better to be the chaser than the chased, I suppose, but give the North Siders credit for not rolling over and waiting to die. Chicago has won eight of 10 games, tops in the National League. They’re eight games up in the Wild Card race with a two-game lead over the Dodgers and Padres for the top spot. Their magic number for a postseason entry sits at 23. The Cubs also have the third-best record in the NL and fifth-best overall.

It gets better, too. The Cubs won’t face a team with legitimate playoff aspirations until they visit Cincinnati to play the Reds on September 18 before closing out the season at home with three-game sets against the Mets and Cardinals. If that isn’t enough, Chicago’s North Side Baseballers have gained four games on the Brewers in six days. The Cubs are off today before starting a three-game series with the Giants, while the Brewers host the always tough Diamondbacks in a four-game set.

It is time, therefore, to make a stretch run. Isn’t baseball fun? Isn’t it great to not be talking about slumps? The only downside is that Chicago does not control its destiny concerning the NL Central and a potential first-round bye. I’ll provide the remaining schedules for the Cubs and Brewers before moving on. Each team has 31 games left in the regular season.

  • Cubs Home: Braves (3), Nationals (3), Rays (3), Mets (3), Cardinals (3)
  • Cubs Away: Giants (3), Rockies (3), Braves (3), Pirates (3), Reds (4)
  • Brewers Home: Diamondbacks (4), Phillies (3), Cardinals (3), Angels (3), Reds (3)
  • Brewers Away: Blue Jays (3), Pirates (3), Rangers (3), Cardinals (3), Padres (3)

The Cubs have the easiest remaining schedule of all 30 MLB teams, though the Braves intend to activate Chris Sale for this Saturday’s tilt against the Phillies, and he’s lined up to face the Cubs in Atlanta on September 10. That Brewers-Padres series in late September will be huge because both teams are still fighting for division championships. The Brewers also get the Blue Jays and Phillies before either team can clinch. Finally, Milwaukee’s magic number to win the NL Central, which currently sits at 27, is based on a 163-game schedule because the Cubs hold the tiebreaker.

Cubs News & Notes

Ball Four

And boom goes the dynamite.

Central Intelligence

Wild Pitch

“Like sitting on pins and needles things fall apart. It’s scientific.” – Wild, Wild Life by Talking Heads

How About That!

Mariners catcher Cal Raleigh is making history with each home run he hits. The Big Dumper has 49 on the season, eclipsing Salvador Perez for the most by a catcher. He’s now chasing Mickey Mantle for most taters by a switch-hitter (54) and Ken Griffey Jr., who holds Seattle’s team record for most homers in one season with 58.

The Brewers went above and beyond in honoring Bob Uecker this weekend. Uecker remained true to his self-deprecating personality up until the end. “I’m not afraid of dying,” the longtime announcer reportedly said. “I just hope I’m not there when it happens.”

Milwaukee also honored former closer John Axford this weekend.

Skenes has the second-lowest ERA (2.02) in the live ball era through his first 50 starts, trailing only Vida Blue (2.01)

The Field of Dreams game will return in 2026, with the Phillies battling the Twins in the Dyersville, Iowa cornfields.

Marlins reliever Tyler Phillips has an unhealthy dislike for MLB batters, and I love it. Have you ever seen the movie Johnny Dangerously? “I am handicapped, Johnny. I’m psychotic.”

Apropos of Nothing

Cade Horton was not getting enough love in Rookie of the Year discussions until this morning. The right-hander was dominant in his start Saturday against the Angels. Horton did not make the All-Star team, and though Jacob Misiorowski did, the Milwaukee hurler is not a factor in the NL ROY race.

Extra Innings

The Cubs are quietly building a new, youthful core that includes Crow-Armstrong, Horton, Matt Shaw, Owen Caissie, and Moises Ballesteros. You can include Jaxon Wiggins if he can stay healthy, and 2025 first-round pick Ethan Conrad, not to mention Kepley, Jefferson Rojas, and Kevin Alcantara. Wiggins was recognized by MLB Pipeline for his outstanding performance this weekend.

They Said It

  • “I don’t know how tomorrow’s going to go. You try and do your best at it. But at the same time, the guys on the other team get paid pretty well to do their job as well. You just try and take stuff pitch-by-pitch, one at-bat and game-by-game.” – Tucker
  • “After winning [the World Series in 2016], it’s the number of times you get stopped, and people just saying thank you. They don’t want anything. They’re not asking for anything. They just want to tell you the story of where they were, where their grandparents were when it happened. Generational stories. That’s the special, special part of it, just how many people it impacted.” – Hendricks
  • “It was cool — I haven’t faced [Hendricks] as much as you’d think in Spring Training or anything. It’s just so unique. He does such a good job at making all his pitches look similar. I was just really patient today.” – Ian Happ

Monday Walk-Up Song

Let’s make a collective effort to stop waiting for the other shoe to drop, shall we?

Photo of Michael Canter Michael CanterAugust 25, 2025
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