Sunday night felt like the game that got away for the Chicago Cubs. After Mike Tauchman's game-tying home run in the eighth inning, they were in the perfect position to steal one from the Boston Red Sox. Instead, the Red Sox stole it right back in gut-wrenching fashion.
Monday brought questions about whether "luck" was running out after dropping two consecutive games. The Cubs have multiple All-Star contenders on their injured list. The defensive effort has been lackluster at times. The offense was starting to slump. Everything was formulating towards a stretch of tough times and hanging on for dear life.
On Monday night, Jameson Taillon pitched a brilliant game. However, there was no run support. The Cubs entered the eighth inning against the New York Mets hitless against starter Luis Severino. Dansby Swanson put the Cubs in the hit column with a single to center field. Pinch-hitter Nick Madrigal helped the Cubs tie the game at one by legging out a would-be double play.
In the ninth, the Mets sent out revered closer Edwin Diaz to shut the Cubs down and give the Mets a chance to walk it off. Enter Christopher Morel, who sent a ball to the left field seats that might still be in the air. Hector Neris escaped trouble in the bottom of the ninth, and the Cubs stole one from the Mets in New York.
Not only did the Cubs win, but the Milwaukee Brewers lost their game against the Tampa Bay Rays. With those results, the Cubs have claimed first place in the National League Central division. They continue to write their own script and have now made franchise history in their remarkable start to 2024.
Cubs Take First Place In Historic Fashion
Before Monday night, it had been since 1992 that the Cubs had won a game in which they were no-hit through seven innings of play. Additionally, no Cubs team had won more games before the end of April than the 2016 team that eventually won the World Series. Both of those marks were discontinued after the Cubs' resilience in Queens.
Players like Mike Tauchman, Javier Assad, and Christopher Morel have fully seized their opportunities to be critical factors in the Cubs' successes. Rookies Shōta Imanaga, Michael Busch, and Ben Brown have proven their belonging in MLB with their efforts thus far. Veterans Nico Hoerner, Dansby Swanson, and Ian Happ are helping keep things afloat while we all wait for these injuries to heal.
The Cubs are doing all this damage, and some of their most important assets are unable to play. They continue to defy the odds in the face of adversity nightly. They have fought hard and reclaimed the lead in the division they feel they should fully control. All this is happening, and we have not even seen a full-strength team take the field in 2024.
When the injuries subside and this team does get to full strength, watch out for the Chicago Cubs. They might end up being the most dangerous team in baseball.
