The Rundown: Cubs Avoid Sweep in Thrilling Win, Swanson & PCA Earn Redemption, End of Out-of-Market Blackouts May Be Near

“You say, ‘yes.’ I say, ‘no.’ You say, ‘stop’ and I say, ‘go, go, go.’ — Hello, Goodbye by The Beatles

All three games in the Cubs-A’s series came down to the last at-bat, and finally, Chicago emerged victorious by showing some seemingly absent fire in a fast-paced 9th inning to earn the walk-off. Will it springboard this streaky team to a run of consecutive wins? It’s going to have to because the fourth-place Cubs still trail the Brewers by 5.5 games. Last night’s comeback 7-6 win came just as calls for Jed Hoyer’s job reached ear-piercing levels. Craig Counsell is also feeling the wrath of Chicago’s fanbase.

Deep breaths, please, though I’m just as guilty as every other impatient and misguided fan. The Cubs are a 90-win team, and though nobody wants to “sit through the discomfort” of bad baseball, we must understand that the journey is never as important as the destination. They need only go 57-42 (.576) to reach that benchmark, and that certainly seems doable, recent bad streaks notwithstanding.

Last night’s win was an all-time nailbiter. I held my breath just a little when Kevin Alcántara was announced as a pinch runner. You should have seen me screaming at my TV like Morris Buttermaker begging Dansby Swanson to pull a Rudy Stein and “take one for the team.” Swanson, who has been unable to hit himself out of a wet paper bag lately, came through with a game-tying single. Pete Crow-Armstrong, this team’s version of Kelly Leak, walked it off in the next at-bat. Cue Carmen’s Overture by Georges Bizet.

Last night’s win also restored a little confidence that the Cubs can handle the lowly Giants (25-38) and Rockies (24-39). They’ll play the two woebegone NL West entities for the next two weeks. It is therefore time to do work and close that gap. The Cubs will send Edward Cabrera, Ben Brown, and Jameson Taillon to the mound against the Giants this weekend, and a sweep would be a nice way to end this short homestand.

Honestly, I thought the season was over when Shea Langeliers hit that 4th-inning inside-the-park homer. I do love the maturity PCA showed by immediately rebounding. Despite the gaffe, the Cubs never would have won that game without their star centerfielder. His walk-off single was the first of his career, and his 2.7 fWAR is seventh among all position players.

Cubs News & Notes

• Crow-Armstrong’s walk-off night was a perfect encapsulation of this entire season of Cubs’ baseball.
• The Cubs do not view Thursday’s outcome as a way to rinse the bad taste of a 5-18 stretch from their mouths but rather as a reminder that, hey, this team can be pretty good.
• Brown could and should earn at least some consideration to be added to this year’s All-Star Game roster.
• Last night, Anthony Rizzo went tarps off and chugged a beer for the cameras in the Wrigley Field stands.
• Ian Happ serves as a conduit of sorts from Chicago’s 2016 championship team to this one. The 10-year veteran played as a rookie in ’17 with the previous core that included Rizzo, Kris Bryant, Javier Báez, Kyle Schwarber, Jon Lester, Kyle Hendricks, and Jake Arrieta.
• The Cubs are expected to activate Cabrera from the IL ahead of today’s afternoon tilt with the Giants. He has been dealing with a blister on his pitching hand.
• The Iowa Cubs have designed an alternative uniform that honors the city of Des Moines. The team will wear them on Saturdays when playing at home for the remainder of the season.

Ball Four

PCA is playing like he wants a year off from Golden Glove consideration.

Oh no, PCA pic.twitter.com/XktULtosno

— Jomboy Media (@JomboyMedia) June 5, 2026

Central Intelligence

• Milwaukee (37-23): A rotation led by Jacob Misiorowski, Tarik Skubal, and Kyle Harrison might be unstoppable in this fall’s playoffs. Milwaukee’s farm system is loaded in case its front office feels like swinging for the fences.
• Pittsburgh (34-29): The Pirates deservedly surged in the latest MLB power rankings and are suddenly considered deadline buyers.
• St. Louis (32-28): The Cardinals have a reliever in Riley O’Brien that every team wants, and the Dodgers may come calling.
• Chicago (33-30): Fleet Feet Chicago celebrated Global Running Day on Wednesday by hosting its annual The Big Run event alongside Rizzo.
• Cincinnati (31-30): The Reds and Orioles could match up in a trade for outfielder Taylor Ward, but Cincinnati desperately needs bullpen help.

How About That!

The current CBA talks raise the possibility ($) of ending the reviled out-of-market broadcast blackouts. That might conjure an image for some fans of a long-desired, single service to watch all of their favorite team’s baseball games. The reality is different and more complicated, however.

Rob Manfred said that all 30 owners are on board with equally splitting television revenues. The owners as a group are also letting Manfred handle all negotiations on their behalf.

Sports Illustrated named Joe McCarthy as the greatest manager of all-time. He’s also the guy the Cubs let get away after the 1930 season. Tony La Russa was ranked third, and ex-Cub managers Leo Durocher, Lou Piniella, and Joe Maddon just missed the top 12.

Yankees slugger Aaron Judge was diagnosed with a rib fracture and won’t be reevaluated for 4-6 weeks.

The White Sox have the first pick in the upcoming draft and are projected by Prospect Pipeline to select UCLA shortstop Roch Cholowsky. The Cubs have the 23rd selection, and LHP Hunter Dietz of Arkansas is a likely target.

The Brewers are sending Harrison, Robert Gasser, and Brandon Woodruff to Arizona while the rest of the team travels to Colorado to play the Rockies. Pitching coach Juan Sandoval will join them. None are scheduled to pitch in the series with the Rockies, and the Brewers want them to avoid any detrimental effects of Denver’s altitude.

Extra Innings

Interesting, if not a bit of statistical overkill, especially since batting averages continue to plummet leaguewide.

The Cubs are the only MLB team in the last 50 years to have 7 different players who came into the inning batting .250 or worse get hits in the bottom of the 9th in the same game:

Busch (.242)
Happ (.233)
Hoerner (.250)
Ballesteros (.231)
Suzuki (.239)
Swanson (.180)
PCA (.242) pic.twitter.com/bvczizBn8Q

— OptaSTATS (@OptaSTATS) June 5, 2026

They Said It

• “You never know. You just got to wait and see. I don’t think any of us are going to show up tomorrow riding tonight’s high. We do a really good job of moving it forward and keeping it pushing. It’s funny because we could revisit this game and we could have another 10-game winning streak. And then people are going to call us streaky. You never know. We’re just a team that is very capable of staying in the fight.” – Crow-Armstrong

Friday Walk-Up Song

Enjoy your weekend, and try not to take it all too seriously. I know I’m going to work on that.