{"id":103928,"date":"2025-07-30T04:57:11","date_gmt":"2025-07-30T04:57:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/103928\/"},"modified":"2025-07-30T04:57:11","modified_gmt":"2025-07-30T04:57:11","slug":"after-honoring-sandberg-chicago-cubs-drop-a-big-game","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/103928\/","title":{"rendered":"After honoring Sandberg, Chicago Cubs drop a big game"},"content":{"rendered":"

MILWAUKEE \u2014 After a moment of silence for Chicago Cubs legend Ryne Sandberg<\/a> Tuesday night at American Family Field, the Cubs and Milwaukee Brewers continued their fight for the National League Central lead and the league\u2019s best record.<\/p>\n

Sandberg\u2019s death, announced in the middle of Monday\u2019s game, took some focus off the opener of an important end-of-July series, but a sense of normalcy returned one night later, beginning with the now-traditional booing of Cubs manager Craig Counsell at his old ballpark.<\/p>\n

But the Cubs played what Counsell called \u201cuncharacteristic\u201d baseball, losing 9-3 to the Brewers before 40,136 and falling two games back in the NL Central race.<\/p>\n

Former Chicago White Sox first baseman Andrew Vaughn hit a grand slam off Ryan Pressly and drove in a career-high six runs, while two of the game\u2019s best fielders, Pete Crow-Armstrong and Nico Hoerner, committed costly errors.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t think you\u2019re going to have another game this year where Pete and I both drop balls and things like that,\u201d Hoerner said. \u201cObviously more to it than that, but move on.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Cubs might have to move on Wednesday without left fielder Ian Happ, who fouled a pitch off his left shin in the eighth inning, became lightheaded and was forced to leave the game. X-rays were negative, Happ said, though Counsell might want to be cautious and rest Happ with an off-day on Thursday.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf I can\u2019t walk (Wednesday), we\u2019ll know something is wrong,\u201d Happ joked.<\/p>\n

\"ChicagoChicago Cubs’ Pete Crow-Armstrong wears a uniform patch honoring the late Hall of Famer Ryne Sandberg before a game against the Milwaukee Brewers on Tuesday, July 29, 2025, in Milwaukee. (AP Photo\/Aaron Gash)<\/p>\n

The Cubs desperately need a spark after dropping the first two games of a very big series.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve said it, or you\u2019ve said it?\u201d Happ asked.<\/p>\n

Uh, so it\u2019s not a big series?<\/p>\n

\u201cNo, I think going into the series, the top two records in baseball, and they\u2019ve played really well,\u201d he said, adding: \u201cThat wasn\u2019t our best tonight, but two months of baseball left and a lot of games.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hoerner confirmed the importance of the moment.<\/p>\n

\u201cOf course this series means a lot, playing the other top team in our division,\u201d he said. \u201cThe (trade) deadline does carry some weight. I don\u2019t think it\u2019s affecting anything on the field right now, but it is a unique time of the season.\u201d<\/p>\n

While the game goes on, stories of Sandberg\u2019s brilliant career continued to be retold as Cubs fans mourned the passing of a beloved athlete who was the embodiment of an old-school ballplayer<\/a>.<\/p>\n

A patch on the Cubs\u2019 shoulders honoring Sandberg,<\/a> with his number 23 and signature, will forever bind this 2025 team to the late Hall of Famer, just as the \u201925 Brewers are paying tribute to late broadcaster Bob Uecker with a patch that includes a \u201cring of plaid\u201d \u2014 a nod to the loud sport coats he wore on \u201cThe Tonight Show with Johnny Carson,\u201d and in Miller Lite commercials.<\/p>\n

\"ChicagoChicago Cubs’ Matt Shaw breaks his bat as he grounds out during the second inning of a game against the Milwaukee Brewers on Tuesday, July 29, 2025, in Milwaukee. (AP Photo\/Aaron Gash)<\/p>\n

Former Cubs shortstop Shawon Dunston said on MLB Network<\/a> that this year\u2019s Cubs team features several players who \u201cact like Ryno,\u201d playing the game the right way without calling attention to themselves.<\/p>\n

\u201cA lot of people don\u2019t know, but the Cubs players play like Ryno,\u201d Dunston said. \u201cThey come to the plate, they battle, and they\u2019re out to beat you. And they\u2019re quiet. And then they go home and they go about their business and that\u2019s that. That was Ryno. He was boring, but I liked that a lot.\u201d<\/p>\n

Counsell concurred, saying he recently thought the same thing.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think there\u2019s a lot of (truth to) that,\u201d the manager said. \u201cI hope he really enjoyed watching this team, because of some of the things that we\u2019ve been able to be successful with.\u201d<\/p>\n

Counsell pointed to the baserunning and savvy plays like Hoerner letting an infield fly pop-up drop<\/a> on Sunday to bait a White Sox runner into a double play.<\/p>\n

\u201cThose are things that make players (like Sandberg) stand up and smile,\u201d Counsell said.<\/p>\n

The comparison to Sandberg was considered a supreme compliment.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s very kind of him to say that,\u201d Dansby Swanson said. \u201cThere\u2019s a lot of us in this clubhouse that just want to win. We do everything we can to win. It doesn\u2019t matter who gets the glory because it\u2019s always a team effort. We were just raised to play the game hard and do what\u2019s right to win.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n

Column: Ryne Sandberg\u2019s grace and dignity provided a perfect blueprint for every athlete to follow<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

But the Cubs need to step up in all phases. The recent pitching woes suggest one or two pitching acquisitions by Thursday\u2019s trade deadline might not be enough. Starter Colin Rea was fortunate to allow only four runs over four innings, while Pressly issued two walks before serving up the grand slam to Vaughn that sealed the game in the seventh.<\/p>\n

Entering Tuesday, the Cubs bullpen has posted a 6.28 ERA in July, the third-worst in the majors. Chris Flexen, who had a strong first half, was designated for assignment after his recent struggles. Gavin Hollowell was promoted from Triple-A Iowa, but more changes are likely as President Jed Hoyer deals with another potential bullpen crisis.<\/p>\n

Injured starter Jameson Taillon is slated to begin his rehab stint on Saturday at Iowa, while Javier Assad starts at Iowa<\/a> on Wednesday.<\/p>\n

Brewers star Christian Yelich insisted on Monday<\/a> that Milwaukee is playing with \u201chouse money\u201d since no one believes they can fend off the big-market Cubs.<\/p>\n

\u201cLook, whatever motivations you want to use, or whatever chip you want to use, that\u2019s all on you to develop that,\u201d Counsell said of Yelich\u2019s theory. \u201cUse whatever you want.\u201d<\/p>\n

Didn\u2019t Counsell use that same \u201cchip\u201d when he managed the Brewers?<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t know if you \u2018use\u2019 it,\u201d he replied. \u201cI\u2019m not really sure how to answer that. Like (any) team in your division, you\u2019ve got to beat them. You\u2019ve got to beat the Cardinals, too, got to beat the Reds, whatever.\u201d<\/p>\n

Shota Imanaga heads back to the mound Wednesday, hoping to get back on track after a season-worst outing<\/a> against the White Sox on Friday. It\u2019s not a do-or-die game, but for panicky Cubs fans it feels like one.<\/p>\n

Hoerner said the Cubs have more opportunities against the Brewers, but they can\u2019t afford to waste too many.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s on us to seize them,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Originally Published: July 29, 2025 at 11:30 PM CDT<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"MILWAUKEE \u2014 After a moment of silence for Chicago Cubs legend Ryne Sandberg Tuesday night at American Family…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":103929,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5124],"tags":[67113,960,1271,1816,16075,5386,1818,4247,8976],"class_list":{"0":"post-103928","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-chicago","8":"tag-bob-uecker","9":"tag-chicago","10":"tag-chicago-cubs","11":"tag-craig-counsell","12":"tag-dansby-swanson","13":"tag-il","14":"tag-illinois","15":"tag-milwaukee-brewers","16":"tag-ryne-sandberg"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/114940414747031465","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/103928","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=103928"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/103928\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/103929"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=103928"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=103928"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=103928"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}