The flock of seagulls showed up at Wrigley Field about an hour before the first pitch Monday night. Apparently, the birds didn’t check the schedule. It’s prime feeding time after a day game, when they can feast on all the scraps left by the bleacher crowd. Nothing doing before a night game.
The lone Canada goose made its appearance in the third inning, sauntering slowly across the outfield lawn until assuming a position behind shortstop, about where you’d imagine a rover playing softball in Grant Park. The intruder’s feathers were ruffled by Michael Busch’s line-drive single, which landed in the general vicinity, prompting an emergency takeoff.
It wouldn’t have been a shock to also spot a vulture, not with the Phillies taking over for the Mets as the latest team to come to Wrigley burdened by a losing streak.
The Mets slunk back to New York losers of 11 in a row after the Cubs swept them over the weekend. The Phillies? They’re at six and counting after falling 5-1 to the Cubs, whose early-season woes have all but vanished in a weeklong display of hardball virtuosity that flirted with the sublime Monday.
The Cubs have won six straight, eclipsing their longest streak of 2025 and matching the six-game streak they reeled off from Aug. 26 to Sept. 1, 2024.
In that time, which began last week on a trip to Philly, they have outscored the opposition 44-14. Monday night was a display of how to play the game in all phases.
Starting pitching? Colin Rea left to an ovation from the crowd of 27,798 after 6 2/3 innings in which he yielded a single run, six hits and two walks while striking out five.
A big swing of the bat? That came courtesy of shortstop Dansby Swanson, who buried a pitch from Aaron Nola 424 feet into the center field shrubbery for a three-run home run in the Cubs’ four-run second inning.
And in terms of leatherwork, the Cubs were at their peerless best all night long. It began in the first with left fielder Ian Happ caterwauling over the low retaining wall in left to grab Kyle Schwarber’s foul fly. The crowd was still buzzing about that play when second baseman Nico Hoerner’s backhanded dive took a base hit away from the Phillies’ other prime slugger, Bryce Harper.
In the second, it was Michael Conforto with a diving catch in right. In the third, it was first baseman Michael Busch with a slick scoop of Alex Bregman’s low throw.
In the sixth, it was Busch again, this time with a diving stop of Bryson Stott’s smash on the line, flipped to Rea for the out.
In the seventh, it was Hoerner’s turn for an encore, this time with a dive to his left to take a hit away from Schwarber.
The Cubs have been scoring runs, yes, but despite the losses of starters Cade Horton and Matthew Boyd and a gaggle of relievers, they have held opposing teams to 14 runs over their streak and just four in the last three games.
The only mild surprise is that the streak hasn’t put any distance between the Cubs and their rivals in the National League Central. All five teams have a winning record, which hasn’t happened this deep into a season since May 29, 2004, according to Sportradar.
“All five teams are playing well,’’ Cubs manager Craig Counsell said. “It’s 20 games, but it means something they’ve played well.”
