Damn the torpedos!
A late night cycle, some Cubs are using the oddly shaped bats, and another embarrassing payroll comp for The Garbage Family™
Last nights' 18-3 drubbing of the A's continues a trend that goes back to 2023. In their last two series in California against the A's, the Cubs have outscored Oakland/West Sacramento 44-6. Everybody needs a hobby, I guess.
After you went to bed, Carson Kelly became the first Cub since Mark Grace in 1993 to hit for the cycle. A cycle is more of a statistical oddity than a real feat. It's hard to get four hits in any game, to be sure, but for this hits to specifically be a single, double, triple and homer is more of a fluke than anything else. Kris Bryant once had three homers and two doubles in game (cue Len Kasper yelling, "Full house, time, baby!" and he was not referring to either of the Olsen Twins). If that seems better than a cycle, well, it is.
Grace finished his cycle with a homer off Padres reliever Rich Rodriguez in a 5-4 loss. (Of course.)
Kelly's came on a triple off of A's lefty TJ McFarland in a win.
Carson's came in a minor league park. Where he feels most at home.
By the way, the Bryant three homer, two double game didn't even come in the infamous "Enough Already" series in Cincinnati. That had happened two months earlier when the Cubs started off a four game set with a 16-0 win in Jake Arrieta's second career no-hitter, then won the second game 8-1 with thousands of Cubs fans chanting, "Let's Go Cubbies."
Thom's second most famous on-air utterance spurred the Reds onto victory on Saturday, but the Cubs won 9-0 on Sunday. The series where Bryant went HAM was a three game sweep, with a memorable second game in which the Reds rallied in the ninth to tie the game only to lose 7-2 in 15 innings. The five run 15th was highlighted by a Javy Baez grand slam that scored Bryant, Anthony Rizzo and pinch hitter Jason Hammel. See, the Reds really were fun in those days.
The Cubs had a crap weekend in Arizona even though they won twice, because they should have won three times, and even in the wins, their persistent Achilles heel, their slapped together bullpen looked shaky.
But hey, at least they weren't the Brewers.
