[jksander]

May 21, 2026: We come into this first game against the Cubs with a five-game win streak and having won our last three games by one run apiece, all of them brutally close until the very end. So we’ve been riding the edge of a sharp knife, which makes it hard to know if we can really trust how good we’ve been this month ... are we truly a contender, or just on a lucky streak? Any time you can go 14-5 in a month you’re doing something right, but we have to keep finding ways to win, and to get our starters to actually play deep into games. Still, though their ERAs don’t necessarily show it, our bullpen has come through when needed:

Ben Joyce (3-1, 4.63 ERA, 11.2 IP, 14 K’s, 1.89 WHIP, 0.6 WAR)
Jose Alvarado (2-0, 5.82 ERA, 17.0 IP, 25 K’s, 1.41 WHIP, 0.5 WAR)
Jonathan Cannon (2-0, 5.49 ERA, 19.2 IP, 17 K’s, 1.37 WHIP, 0.2 WAR)
Ryan Helsley (1-2, 4.35 ERA, 20.2 IP, 23 K’s, 1.02 WHIP, 0.1 WAR)
Julian Merryweather (0-3, 3.26 ERA, 19.1 IP, 25 K’s 1.50 WHIP, 0.1 WAR)
Eduard Bazardo (2-0, 3.32 ERA, 21.2 IP, 16 K’s, 1.11 WHIP, -0.2 WAR)
Ryan Weber (0-0, 3.52 ERA, 7.2 IP, 3 K’s, 1.70 WHIP, -0.2 WAR
Noah Syndergaard (2-2, 7.50 ERA, 24.0 IP, 15 K’s, 1.46 WHIP, -0.5 WAR)

Dylan Cease (3-3, 3.02 ERA, 50.2 IP, 49 K’s, 1.05 WHIP) got the ball in game one against the Cubs, his ninth start of the season, and through his first eight starts he’s pitched six quality starts, so he’s been our most consistent starter. Tonight at Wrigley he went up against Buck Farmer (0-2, 5.84 ERA, 12.1 IP, 10 K’s, 1.38 WHIP) in front of more than 38,000 screaming Cubs fans ... even when they’re merely average, our north side foes know how to draw a crowd, especially for rivalry games like this. Cease came out strong, striking out the side in the bottom of the first, but Dansby Swanson scored from third off a sac-fly by Carson Kelly to put the Cubs on the board in the bottom of the third, up 1-0. Ian Happ hit a solo homer in the fourth to add on, but we got on the board in the top of the sixth with an RBI single by Chase Meidroth. Cease got us into the stretch still trailing just 2-1, and Cody Bellinger hit an RBI single to tie it in the top of the eighth, ensuring Cease would get no decision tonight. With the score tied 2-2, Bazardo took over in the bottom of the eighth, but a pair of singles and a wild pitch put runners on the corners with one out. With Matt Shaw coming to the plate we brought out Ryan Helsley, who struck Shaw out swinging and then got Jeimer Candelario to ground into a fielder’s choice, keeping us tied up heading into the ninth. Still tied in the bottom of the inning, former Cub Julian Merryweather came out to pitch, and he did his job, forcing this one into extra innings. Ryan Weber came out in the bottom of the 10th, Kelly on second as the pinch-runner, and all it took was a hit by Michael Busch, bouncing off the ivy at center to bring Kelly home ... Cubs win 3-2, snapping our winning streak and giving us our fourth game in a row to finish within one run. Cease pitched seven innings with three hits, four walks and 10 strikeouts, allowing just two earned runs, while Weber got dinged with the loss with a hit and an unearned run, falling to 0-1 with a 3.52 ERA. We matched them with six hits, led by Meidroth and Bellinger who each had two hits and an RBI ... but only those two and Kim managed hits, while three others had a walk each.

May 23, 2026: Nobody’s got anywhere to hide during this ten game road stretch, and we won’t have another day off until the 4th of June so careful bullpen management is going to be critical, along with getting more offense so our starters have room to breathe. Zac Gallen (5-1, 3.38 ERA, 56.0 IP, 49 K’s, 1.16 WHIP) pitched in game two against the Cubs, facing Shota Imanaga (3-4, 2.90 ERA, 62.0 IP, 57 K’s, 1.05 WHIP), with this place packed to the limit with Cubs fans. Mears got a solo homer to lead off in the top of the second, but moments later Vargas got ejected in the second inning for arging a strike call, which forced us to shuffle Bellinger to first, Mears to right field and Tauchman to left, giving up the designated hitter for the remainder of the game ... so going forward our pitcher will be seventh in the lineup. Joshua Mears hit an RBI double in the top of the sixth to buy us a little insurance, but the Cubs got on the board with an RBI double by Owen Caissie, and a two-run homer moments later by Dansby Swanson put the Cubs into the lead 3-2 as we came up to hit in the top of the seventh. Juan Alvarado took over in the bottom of the inning, and in the top of the eighth with two outs, Bellinger hit a solo bomb out of right to tie the game up at 3-3. Ryan Helsley got the ball with one out and men on second and third in the bottom of the eighth, stranding both runners with quick outs as we came up to hit in the top of the ninth. Pinch-hitter Brooks Lee singled Ceddanne Rafaela into scoring position with a single with one out against us, but we couldn’t get him around to score, so Noah Syndergaard took over hoping to push us into extras again. He pitched around two runners on base, getting Josh Rojas to hit into a 4-6-3 double play to do just that as we held on for dear life.
 
With speedster Yordys Valdes on second, Ha-seong Kim took the count to 2-2 and on a run and hit play, Valdes stole third! Kim then hit one into center, taking first and driving in the go-ahead run for us, drawing boos from the crowd. Chase Meidroth hit one into the left field corner, legging out an RBI triple, and they intentionally walked Bellinger, unintentionally walking Moore who loaded the bases with no outs. They then hit Tauchman with a pitch on one out, walking in a third run, and we went into the bottom of the 10th leading by three! Syndergaard stayed out to get us through and protect the pen, but the plan failed as Happ walked and then Matt Shaw hit a three-run homer out of left to tie it up again ... Jesus! Ben Joyce took over with no outs but clear bases, and he did the job, getting us into the 11th inning now tied up at 6-6. Yordys Valdes hit a leadoff single into right to drive in a go-ahead run in the top of the 11th, and again they loaded the bases, Meidroth beating out an infield grounder and Bellinger walking. So with one out, Mears came to the plate ... he struck out swinging, but Ceddanne Rafaela had had enough ... he power-bombed one over the right field wall, a GRAND SLAM HOMER, giving us a five-run lead heading into the bottom of the inning! Joyce got two strikeouts and a pop-fly to left to finally end this one as an 11-6 extra-innings blowout for us ... all it took was eight runs across the 10th and 11th, easy peasy, right? Joyce improved to 4-1 with a 3.95 ERA, pitching two innings with four strikeouts and nobody allowed on base. Each team had 13 hits, ours led by Rafela, who was 4-6 with a run and four RBIs thanks to his 11th inning heroics.

May 24, 2026: Sean Burke (3-2, 4.84 ERA, 35.1 IP, 36 K’s, 1.39 WHIP) pitched against Justin Steele (2-5, 5.71 ERA, 52.0 IP, 47 K’s, 1.35 WHIP) in the rubber match against the Cubs, and Burke was perfect until, with two outs in the bottom of the fourth, he plunked PCA on the elbow to put his first runner on base. We got out of the inning with the runner stranded, and it was our White Sox who broke the stalemate, when Valenzuela hit an RBI double in the top of the fifth to put us up 1-0. Jonathan Cannon took over in the bottom of the seventh, still leading by the one run, and he got us through two outs in the eighth, when Weber took over to face PCA, with Suzuki on first. Pop-fly to center, a quick and easy out for Rafaela, and we went into the top of the ninth with a chance to put it away, but we weren’t able to buy an insurance run. So Weber, who had thrown one pitch for his out in the eighth, stayed out to finish it. With two outs and Owen Caissie on third base, Michael Bush grounded out to second, and a quick throw to first base ended this one as a 1-0 win ... we got out of Chicago with a series win amid thunderous boos from Cubs fans everywhere! Sean Burke got a rare starter win for us, improving to 4-3 thanks to a hit, a walk and eight strikeouts during his six shutout innings. Cannon and Weber got through the other three innings to preserve it, as we outhit the Cubs 7-2 to hold the razor-thin margin. Tauchman led the offense with two hits and a run scored, while Valenzuela batted it in with a hit and a walk

We’ll take our 26-20 record into Detroit where a three-game series against the free-falling Tigers awaits. They’re currently 17-29, and though they’ve lost 16 games this month against just six wins, the most recent win was in their last game on the road in Pittsburgh, which took them 10 innings to win 4-3. So they’re coming into this one hoping to build momentum, and we’re looking for a chance to take control of the division now that we’re tied up with the Guardians for first place. Pinch me, I must be dreaming!