Vincent Carchietta-USA TODAY Sports And the Cubs moved into first place in the NL Central. Christopher Morel hadn’t homered in almost three weeks, and overall his hitting hadn’t been as good as it was in 2023. Morel picked an excellent time to break that home-run drought. His no-doubter two-run blast into the left-field seats at Citi Field broke a 1-1 tie and led the Cubs to a 3-1 win over the Mets in the opener of a four-game series. Combined with the Brewers’ 1-0 loss to the Rays in Milwaukee, the Cubs moved into first place in the NL Central by half a game. Sure, it’s April, but first place ..read more

Photo by Jim McIsaac/Getty Images #Cubs, #MLB, and #MiLB news and notes plus extras, four days a week. The Cubs take game one on the road, in the apple, after blanking for seven innings. The Morel of the story is ‘never give up’. WELCOME to today’s episode of Cub Tracks news and notes™, a greatest-hits collection of Chicago-style beat writers and bloggers, ground from #Cubs, #MiLB, and #MLB baseball, overheated, steeped in writers’ tears, and then cold-brewed overnight for maximum flavor. Monday’s game featured Jameson Taillon (2-0, 1.69) versus Luis Severino (2-2, 2.67) at Citi Field. Brandon ..read more

Photo by Jim McIsaac/Getty Images The late-night/early-morning spot for Cubs fans asks if the Cubs demote Nick Madrigal. Welcome back to BCB After Dark: the coolest club for night owls, early risers, new parents and Cubs fans abroad. Come on in. We’re waiving the cover charge this evening. Let the hostess escort you to a table. Bring your own beverage. BCB After Dark is the place for you to talk baseball, music, movies, or anything else you need to get off your chest, as long as it is within the rules of the site. The late-nighters are encouraged to get the party started, but everyone else is ..read more

Photo by Jaiden Tripi/Getty Images ..read more

Set Number: X160113 TK1 Looking for Monday’s game threads? This is the place ..read more

Photo by Jaiden Tripi/Getty Images The Cubs open a four-game series at Citi Field. Monday notes... WHAT MIGHT HAVE BEEN: A win last night would have put the Cubs in first place at the end of a day for the first time since April 14, 2022, when their record was 4-2. Last night’s game was their 336th since then. (Courtesy BCB’s JohnW53) UNFAMILIAR FOES: There are no former Mets on the Cubs active roster, although Pete Crow-Armstrong is a former Mets No. 1 draft pick. The only former Cub on the Mets roster is Jose Quintana, who is the only Mets starting pitcher the Cubs will not face in this seri ..read more

Photo by Thearon W. Henderson/Getty Images The Cubs continue their Eastern swing with a stop at Citi Field. The Mets and Cubs used to be huge rivals when they shared a division, the NL East. But since the teams were moved to different divisions 30 years ago, they meet only twice a year, once in each ballpark. After this week the teams will play a three-game set at Wrigley Field in June, then not again until 2025, unless somehow they match up in the postseason. For more on the Mets, here’s Chris McShane, managing editor of our SB Nation Mets site Amazin’ Avenue. The Mets had a bit of a rough w ..read more

A memo sent out by the MLB Players Association has details. We all know how bad MLB uniforms look this year. Fans and players alike have complained about the quality of the jerseys, the tiny lettering, sweat showing through and let’s not even talk about the pants. I’ve written about this numerous times here, this BCB article has most of the details. That’s why this ESPN article by Jeff Passan posted late Sunday was so encouraging. Passan writes of a memo sent by the MLB Players Association to players in which the union lays out the mistakes made and says that Nike was to blame, and that these ..read more

Photo by Jaiden Tripi/Getty Images The Cubs come back late only to see the Red Sox walk it off. This weekend was one of the first times that I felt that the cumulative weight of all of the injuries started to really show. On Saturday, we saw too many pitchers who have been forced into larger roles than they were originally targeted for. On Sunday, the Cubs offense felt a bat or two short. All of that said, there the Cubs were in the late innings of the game on Sunday night with a chance to win a series from what I assume is a pretty good Red Sox team. That team is one that has been repositioni ..read more

Brian Fluharty-USA TODAY Sports The Cubs tied the game late, but could not convert it into victory. If Dansby Swanson can hold on to that little floater into left field, the Cubs probably turn a double play in the bottom of the ninth, because Jarren Duran had strayed from third base. In that case the game probably goes to extra innings. But he didn’t. Don’t blame Dansby, that would have been close to the play of the year if he makes it. It didn’t happen and the Cubs lost the rubber game of the series 5-4. Give the Cubs a lot of credit, though — they came back with late-inning rallies to tie th ..read more