A Chicago Cubs Fan Community Since February 9, 2005
It’s another week here at BCB After Dark: the hippest hangout for night owls, early risers, new parents and Cubs fans abroad. Come on in and sit with us for a while. We’re always open for a friendly face. There’s no cover charge. The dress code is casual. We still have a few tables available. […]
While the Cubs dropped two of three to the Rangers, it’s hard to be too terribly upset with their performance recently. After all, they are 20-5 over their last 25 games, including two 10-game winning streaks and an active 15-game winning streak at Wrigley Field. All of these streaks are historic. The last time the […]
The Cubs were the hottest team in baseball for most of the past week, winning their first five games of the week against the Reds and Rangers, the last five of their second 10-game winning streak of the year, which also extended their home winning streak to 15 (and an 18-5 record at Wrigley Field […]
The results of these Cubs games are getting more stratified. Four of the last five losses have felt pretty lopsided. Even in that other game, the Cubs allowed nine runs. You do expect to lose nearly 100 percent of the games in which you allow nine runs. Also, the Cubs have only lost five of […]
Happy Monday, everyone, and a belated Happy Mother’s Day to all the BCB moms out there. We have a couple of big bits of news from over the weekend. The biggest is likely the unexpected May trade that sent Patrick Bailey from the Giants to the Cleveland Guardians. There has, naturally, been a fair bit […]
Free of charge for the discerning reader. Happy birthday to Milt Pappas, and a mighty host of others. Today in baseball history, in 1955, Ernie Banks hits a grand slam — the first of five on the year — to lead the Chicago Cubs to a 10-8 victory that snaps the Brooklyn Dodgers‘ 11-game winning streak and other stories as well. […]
The Cubs lost to the Rangers 3-0 Sunday afternoon in Texas, dropping a series for the first time in a month. Well, that’s it! See you here tomorrow! Oh. Wait. You come here for game recaps and by gum, you are going to get one, though there’s not much to recap. Jameson Taillon and Jacob […]
Right-hander Jostin Florentino was promoted from the rookie ball ACL Cubs to High-A South Bend. Iowa Cubs The Iowa Cubs ran aground against the Columbus Clippers (Guardians), 9-4. Ty Blach started and took the loss. An error by shortstop Ben Cowles extended the third inning, and with that extra out Kahil Watson hit the first […]
Go get ‘em, Jamo.
Sunday notes… Cubs lineup: Rangers lineup: Jameson Taillon, RHP vs. Jacob deGrom, RHP Jameson Taillon’s numbers are decent enough, not too far out of line from his career norms — 4.24 ERA, 1.192 WHIP. The problem is home runs — 11 of them in 40.1 innings. Believe it or not, that’s not leading the league. […]
2026 Cubs Heroes and Goats: Game 41 Rangers 3, Cubs 0: Jameson Taillon was good, but Jacob deGrom was better Cubs vs. Rangers, Sunday 5/10, 1:35 CT live! Chicago Cubs vs. Texas Rangers preview, Sunday 5/10, 1:35 CT
It’s a real credit to how well this team has played over the first quarter of the season to see how rarely they’ve come up empty. But on Saturday night in Texas, that’s exactly what happened. Not only was this just the 13th time they’ve lost this year, but it was one of an even […]
Seriously, the headline tells pretty much the story of the Cubs’ 6-0 loss to the Rangers, a defeat that ended their 10-game winning streak, the second such Cubs streak this season. Well, not the entire story. Here’s most of the reason for the loss: I’m not going to complain too much about this, because the […]
Today’s Reflections I would say, “Mr. Brown! You did an excellent job!”, but you would probably think I was talking to myself. So, ….. “Ben-nie, Ben-nie, Ben-nie and the Cubs!” Hmph, cheesy. Ben Brown delivered Friday night, four innings pitched, no runs, no hits, 31-of-46 pitches for strikes, one batter over the minimum. Excellent. What […]
Iowa Cubs The Iowa Cubs sent the Columbus Clippers (Guardians) to Davy Jones’ Locker, 13-6. Jordan Wicks didn’t look great, but he did managed to keep the Clippers from scoring for four innings. So the results were great. His final line was no runs on two hits over four innings. He walked four and struck […]
Go get ‘em, Edward.
Saturday notes… Cubs lineup: Rangers lineup: Edward Cabrera, RHP vs. Jack Leiter, RHP Edward Cabrera has been remarkably consistent this year. After starting with two scoreless outings, he has allowed exactly three earned runs in each of his last five starts. So you pretty much know what you’re getting with a Cabrera start. This will […]
Rangers 6, Cubs 0: Sometimes it’s just not your day. The winning streak ends at 10 2026 Cubs Heroes and Goats: Game 40 Cubs vs. Rangers, Saturday 5/9, 6:05 CT live! Chicago Cubs vs. Texas Rangers preview, Saturday 5/9, 6:05 CT
The 2026 Cubs are off to an historic start. It’s an exceedingly rare occurrence to have two distinct 10-game winning streaks over a team’s first 39 games. Certainly none of us have seen the Cubs do anything like this before. For what it’s worth, just from an overall standpoint, it only took the 2016 Cubs […]
All year, the Cubs have gone by a “next man up” mantra. Thus, when Matthew Boyd went down with a knee injury this week, Ben Brown was tabbed to make the start in his place. It was Brown’s first start of the year, and his past results as a starter have been uneven. Like just […]
Today’s Reflections Here we are, on May 9th, and the Chicago Cubs have been christened by the media as the most stunning, powerful, dominant team in baseball!!! If they were talking to the Mets’ fanbase, or those from St. Louis, Atlanta, Texas, Tampa, etc., those fans would be on TOP OF THE WORLD!!1!! But. Let’s […]
Right-hander Frankie Scalzo Jr. was promoted to Triple-A Iowa from Double-A Knoxville. I-Cubs catcher Christian Bethancourt went on the bereavement list. Iowa Cubs The Iowa Cubs hung on to beat the Columbus Clippers (Guardians), 13-12. Starter Doug Nikhazy didn’t fool anyone early, as he gave up two runs in the first on two solo home […]
Go get ‘em, Ben.
Today’s roster move: Here Friday notes… Cubs lineup: Rangers lineup: Ben Brown, RHP vs. Kumar Rocker, RHP This is Ben Brown’s first start of 2026. Given that he has maxed out at 50 pitches in a game this year — and that was on March 31 vs. the Angels — this is likely to be […]
Cubs 7, Rangers 1: Ben Brown’s great start helps the winning streak reach 10 2026 Cubs Heroes and Goats: Game 39 Cubs vs. Rangers, Friday 5/8, 7:05 CT live! Chicago Cubs vs. Texas Rangers preview, Friday 5/8, 7:05 CT