Cubs Sweep Three From Pirates in Return From All Star Break

Going into the 2019 season, it was thought that the National League Central would be a competitive race between last year’s division winning Milwaukee Brewers, the Wild Card Chicago Cubs, and the St. Louis Cardinals. As we went into the All Star Break, it was indeed competitive, with all five teams (the Pittsburg Pirates and Cincinnati Reds) bunched together, with records ranging from a little below .500 to a little above. In other words the division was mediocre to a little above mediocrity.

Coming out of the gate to start the second half of the season, the Chicago Cubs started to make some noise. The Cubs swept their three game set against Pirates at Wrigley Field on July 12th-14th, improving to 50-43 on the season, good for a 2 1/2 game lead over Milwaukee in the Central. All other division leaders in each league have at least 57 wins after the weekend, so the Central is a little behind.

Cubs pitchers prevented Pittsburgh’s Josh Bell from driving in any runs in the entire series. That’s not easy; Bell leads the majors with 84 RBIs. And speaking of pitchers, Cubs starter Jon Lester drove in two runs with a single in the first inning and hit a solo home run in the third inning of Chicago’s 10-4 win on July 13th. Willson Contreras hit a three run homer for the Cubs, part of a seven run first inning in that game. The Cubs hit three more homers in their 8-3 win on July 14th, completing the sweep. In the first game of the series on July 12th, new closer Craig Kimbrel picked up his third save. The Cubs picked up the former Red Sox closer, one of the high profile free agent pitchers who hadn’t signed on with anybody at the start of the season, in June, signing him to a three year deal to shore up a shaky bullpen.

Here’s Jon Lester’s home run, his first of the year and third of his career: