May 1, 2018

 Daily Herald, Cubs overcome sloppy play to beat Rockies http://www.dailyherald.com/sports/20180430/cubs-overcome-sloppy-play-to-beat-rockies

 Daily Herald, Epstein proud of Cubs players after month of growth http://www.dailyherald.com/sports/20180430/epstein-proud-of-chicago-cubs-players-after-month- of-growth

 Daily Herald, Rozner: Cubs' Maddon preaches more contact http://www.dailyherald.com/sports/20180430/rozner-cubs-maddon-preaches-more-contact

 The Athletic, Theo Epstein feeling the warmth as the Cubs roll into May https://theathletic.com/337649/2018/05/01/theo-epstein-feeling-the-warmth-as-the-cubs-roll-into- may/

 The Athletic, 10 things we learned about the first-place Cubs in April: ‘It’s where we belong’ https://theathletic.com/337335/2018/05/01/10-things-we-learned-about-the-first-place-cubs-in- april-its-where-we-belong/

 The Athletic, Relievers don’t love making headlines, but Brandon Morrow and Carl Edwards Jr. are pitching too well not to https://theathletic.com/336209/2018/04/30/relievers-dont-love-making-headlines-but-brandon- morrow-and-carl-edwards-jr-are-pitching-too-well-not-to/

 Cubs.com, Bryant's triple sparks rally in Farrell's 1st win https://www.mlb.com/cubs/news/kris-bryant-luke-farrell-lead-cubs-to-win/c-274609502

 Cubs.com, Almora-Baez combo producing atop Cubs' order https://www.mlb.com/cubs/news/almora-jr-baez-producing-atop-cubs-lineup/c-274572390

 Cubs.com, Bean, Cubs team up for 'Shred Hate' initiative https://www.mlb.com/cubs/news/billy-bean-cubs-spread-anti-bullying-message/c-274566666

 ESPNChicago.com, Pitching party: Cubs grab fifth straight win scoring 3 or fewer runs http://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/23370817/chicago-cubs-win-5th-straight-game-score-3-runs- less

 NBC Sports Chicago, How a rainout changed the course of the Cubs' season http://www.nbcsports.com/chicago/cubs/how-rainout-changed-course-cubs-season-cardinals-theo- epstein-rockies-chili-davis

 Chicago Tribune, Cubs' 5th straight win puts them 1st in NL Central http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/baseball/cubs/ct-spt-cubs-rockies-20180430-story.html

 Chicago Tribune, Cubs relief Luke Farrell treasures first major-league win http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/baseball/cubs/ct-spt-cubs-luke-farrell-20180430-story.html

 Chicago Tribune, Theo Epstein: April 18 rainout might have been turning point for Cubs offense http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/baseball/cubs/ct-spt-cubs-better-batting-approach-notes- 20180430-story.html

 Chicago Tribune, Joe Maddon likes Kyle Schwarber's return to 'the huddle' http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/baseball/cubs/ct-spt-cubs-kyle-schwarber-20180430- story.html

 Chicago Tribune, Cubs not surprised by power surge of former prospect Christian Villanueva http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/baseball/cubs/ct-spt-cubs-theo-epstein-20180501- story.html

 Chicago Tribune, Yosh Kawano's old Chicago friends buy him a Cubs World Series ring http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/baseball/cubs/ct-spt-cubs-yosh-kawano-world-series-ring- 20180430-story.html

 Chicago Sun-Times, Can you believe this? Cubs outpitch mistakes to beat Rox, move into first place https://chicago.suntimes.com/sports/can-you-believe-this-cubs-out-pitch-mistakes-to-beat-rox- move-into-first-place/

 Chicago Sun-Times, Rockie road less taken: Cubs’ vs. Jon Gray and what might have been https://chicago.suntimes.com/sports/rocky-road-less-taken-cubs-kris-bryant-vs-jon-gray-and-what- might-have-been/

 Chicago Sun-Times, Cubs ‘riding the wave’ to 9-2 mark with makeshift 1-2 punch atop batting order https://chicago.suntimes.com/sports/cubs-riding-the-wave-to-9-2-mark-with-makeshift-1-2-punch- atop-batting-order/

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Daily Herald Cubs overcome sloppy play to beat Rockies By Bruce Miles

For Jon Lester, it didn't matter that he didn't get the win.

What mattered was the picked up a 3-2 victory Monday night over the in a sloppy game on the first consistently warm date at this season.

If Lester couldn't get the win, he was just as happy that reliever Luke Farrell got it to earn his first big- league victory.

Even more important for the Cubs was that they took over first place in the Central. The victory, the Cubs' fifth in a row, moved them to 16-10 and put them one-half game ahead of the Pittsburgh Pirates (17-12), who fell to Washington.

Farrell is the son of former manager , for whom Lester played.

"I've known him since he was 13, I think," Lester said of Luke Farrell. "I don't care who gets the win. The biggest thing is if we win, and obviously, when you get your first, that's an added bonus."

Farrell, a graduate of Northwestern University, worked 1⅓ perfect innings, taking over for Lester with two outs in the sixth.

"It's cool," said Farrell, claimed off waivers from the last October. "I won't try and downplay it. To get your first win in the major leagues is an awesome thing and an achievement I appreciate fully."

Some uncharacterisctally bad Cubs defense forced Lester to throw 37 of his 106 pitches in the fifth inning.

The Cubs opened the scoring in the second. Ben Zobrist doubled down the left-field line and came in on Addison Russell's single.

The Rockies scored a pair of unearned runs in the fifth. Noel Cuevas bunted for a single before Pat Valaika walked. Pitcher bunted. Cubs catcher Willson Contreras pounced on the ball and threw hard to first base. Javier Baez, moving from second to cover, dropped the ball for an error to load the bases.

A single by and a double by Nolan Arenado put the Rockies up 2-1.

Albert Almora's RBI single in the fifth tied the game. Kris Bryant made an error in the sixth to hasten Lester's departure. In the bottom of the sixth, Bryant tripled off the left-field wall and came home on Anthony Rizzo's groundout as first baseman bobbled the ball.

Early work for Rizzo: Anthony Rizzo was out Monday afternoon taking early batting practice. He entered the game batting .157 and having gone 1-for-14 against the Milwukee Brewers over the weekend.

"He was very unlucky a couple games ago," manager Joe Maddon said. "I think that whole series was a little bad luck running in his direction. It's coming back. He's really good at what he does. I think he's been fouling his pitch off. Otherwise, he's fine."

Finally, a warm day: Monday's gametime temperature of 80 was a far cry from the 46 on Sunday and the 43 on Saturday to go along with a 37-degree windchill.

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Daily Herald Epstein proud of Chicago Cubs players after month of growth By Bruce Miles

There will be no Maydays sent up for the Cubs or by the Cubs as this May Day dawns.

In fact, team president Theo Epstein expressed satisfaction over the March/April the Chicago Cubs experienced, even if there were some bumps along the way.

"The biggest thing I like is how many guys seem to be really growing and getting better and as a team, too," Epstein said before Monday night's series opener against the Colorado Rockies at Wrigley Field. "I said the other day, too, when we were close to .500, I said I'd rather have the record we had but with the growth and certain guys facing some difficult stretches and coming out of it and making adjustments that I think will serve them well for the rest of the season.

"I'd rather have that experience than maybe we'd run into some homers or had a better record but without the growth that we've experienced. I'm proud of what our guys have done in April and how it sets us up going forward."

After beginning the season with Ian Happ as the leadoff man, Albert Almora Jr. playing here and there and Javier Baez hitting eighth, the Cubs have adjusted on the fly and have taken off. They entered Monday 15-10 after hovering around .500 most of April.

Almora and Baez have been the 1-2 hitters in the lineup most of the time since April 19, when the Cubs finished up a rain-shortened series with the Cardinals.

Epstein cited that series as kind of an epiphany. He also cited the work of new hitting Chili Davis, who replaced the fired John Mallee. Manager Joe Maddon noted differences in approaches several times during this homestand.

"Chili came in with kind of a mandate of getting guys to consider using the whole field a little bit more, working on situational hitting, two-strike approach, working on line drives through the gap instead of an all-or-nothing approach that sometimes we can fall victim to at times the way the whole league does," Epstein said.

"In that regard, it's been a really nice first month as a team. You can see that last game of the last homestand against St. Louis, we kind of turned the corner. If you remember, there was a rainout that day before, and guys were wearing out the cage with Chili and (assistant hitting coach Andy Haines) and those other guys.

"I think that was the day we had a big increase in buy-in (to) team-wide offensive approach that we were going to use the whole field. Since then, we've got to lead the league in opposite-field hits."

Maddon also weighed in Monday. He noted the good play of youngsters Almora and Baez and cautioned that slow-starting Anthony Rizzo would put up his usual numbers, based on the almost uncanny consistency of his recent career.

"I thought the first month of the season kind of gives you an indicator of what's going on with the group," he said. "I thought this in the minor leagues: The first two weeks the adrenaline guys play. And then after that, the players play. In the beginning part of the season, you're going to see some outliers. You're going to see some unusual stuff just based purely on adrenaline.

"We're talking about Rizzo as an example. Rizzo's a real player. He's not playing off adrenaline now. Here's a guy that right now is hitting .1-something. You know what that's going to look like. The real player's going to play.

"If we're in this good a position right now while he's really not doing his Rizzo thing, boy, do I have confidence in that moment. You can point out what you'd like regarding the adrenaline side of the game. I don't want to be disparaging. But I'm just going to point out what I think is the players side of the game."

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Daily Herald Rozner: Cubs' Maddon preaches more contact By Barry Rozner

Joe Maddon does not care what you think.

Really, he doesn't care whether you like his opinions on just about anything.

Some of it might be the generational wealth handed to him by Tom Ricketts and Theo Epstein, but more likely it's his personal background and a baseball life spent getting to this time and this moment.

It's refreshing, to be certain, at a time when sports are filled to the brim with NFL speak, where all you get is eternal spin, ground through the mind-numbing corporate filter and spit out ad nauseam, day after day, game after game.

In baseball these days, it's embrace every new trend to the letter or risk getting shouted down by the thought police, who determine the groupthink of the day.

Maddon doesn't care. He's more interested in winning.

And now that means asking his players -- when the situation merits -- to make contact, rather than trying to hit 500-foot home runs every at-bat.

That's not a very popular sentiment in baseball today when launch angle and exit velocity are all the rage, dominating every broadcast and drowning every conversation.

But using the entire field to drive in runs, especially when Wrigley Field is playing so big in cold weather with the wind blowing in, has been working for the Cubs.

It was especially evident in sweeping the Brewers.

"I think it speaks to the whole-field approach," Maddon said. "I stand by that."

The Cubs are getting great pitching and have been playing better defense. They scored only 9 runs in four games against Milwaukee, but it was enough to get the job done.

"We're playing an entire game of baseball right now," Maddon said after they took out the Brewers. "I don't think I've seen anybody going up there with just this heavy pull mode, trying to hit home runs kind of philosophy we've had over the last several years."

The Cubs became heavily dependent on the longball last year, not that there's anything bad about hitting home runs. But there has been more situational hitting over the past week or two, and it has been necessary with winter refusing to depart Chicago.

"We're going to hit a lot of home runs this year. I still believe we can do that and we're going to do that," Maddon said. "But I like this swarming offense.

"And I like guys who hit the ball out of the ballpark. I don't understand why you can't have both."

Of course, both are necessary. Still, watching Anthony Rizzo grab half the bat and poke a ball into left to drive in a run is starting to catch on.

"I don't understand why choking up is a lost art," Maddon said. "Moving the baseball by getting your top hand closer to contact helps provide for these positive situations, too.

"You want the ball moved in situations. You want more action on the field. There's nothing wrong with choking up, hitting to the opposite field, using a shorter swing under these circumstances.

"All those things have been tried and true for years."

It is even happening with guys like Javy Baez, whose long swing has been cut down at times this year, and he seems more willing now to go the opposite way or take a basehit up the middle with runners in scoring position.

Maddon pointed to hitting coach Chili Davis when discussing an old approach, which suddenly feels new on the North Side.

"If you talk to him, I'm sure he's not going to glorify the launch angle," Maddon said. "Everybody likes exit velocity. That's called line drives. Who doesn't want to hit a line drive?

"So that part (launch angles), I think, is kind of overemphasized.

"It's kind of cute to (put in lights) on a scoreboard, but to me real hitting is about angles and presenting the bat head in the strike zone at the proper angle at the proper moment.

"Exit velocity doesn't help a hitter in the batter's box."

So while in the game are soaring as a result of the desire to swing up on the baseball at all times, the Cubs are rolling back the calendar a bit, asking the players to bunch hits and score runs.

It doesn't mean they won't hit home runs. They will hit plenty. But there's a time and a place and a wind direction, and that's all Maddon is saying.

Baseball thought police, be darned.

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The Athletic Theo Epstein feeling the warmth as the Cubs roll into May By Jon Greenberg

It’s May 1 and the Cubs are in first place for the first time all season. Sure, it’s only by a half-game, but it’s still first place.

As you may remember, last year going into May 1, the Cubs were also in first place, by a game.

Those Cubs finished April with a 13-11 record. They scored 122 runs and gave up 104.

These Cubs went 16-10. They scored 133 runs and gave up 97. Their plus-36 run differential is third-best in the NL.

These Cubs, despite another slow start, finished the month by winning five in a row (by an aggregate score of 12-4) and seven of eight. These Cubs look frisky.

If those Cubs were Goofus, well, I’m not quite sure these Cubs are Gallant just yet. But they’re working on it.

Last year in May, the Cubs spent less than a week total in first place and didn’t have sole possession of first for two months, from late May until late July.

(If you want to go by leads of one or more games, the drought was even longer. They were in first by a game on May 5 and then in first by 1 1/2 games on July 27.)

This year in May, well, let’s not anoint the Cubs as world-beaters or even NL Central leaders just quite yet. But everyone around the Cubs seems optimistic as the rain clouds, both literal and metaphorical, seem to have lifted.

“I’m proud of what our guys have done in April and how it sets us up going forward,” Cubs president Theo Epstein said before the Cubs beat Colorado 3-2 on Monday.

Epstein was in such good spirits he signed autographs for fans before the game and when the local media encircled him, he said, “You guys want some content?”

He’s been through enough of a rollercoaster ride the last two seasons, he can appreciate the sunshine and the Cubs came through with another close victory.

These Cubs have five shutouts (all against Milwaukee), just three fewer than those Cubs had all of last season.

These Cubs have Kyle Schwarber slashing .276/.384/.592. Those Cubs had Schwarber slashing .204/.333/.344 in April.

Those Cubs were dealing with a World Series hangover. These Cubs are just getting their timing together as they have dealt with five weather-related postponements, including three in a four-game stretch. That might have led to an erratic start for the starting pitching staff, which has seemingly straightened itself out.

“I hate to make excuses for these guys, but there was so much rest with the rainouts and the weather was brutal,” Epstein said. “We’ve been telling ourselves let’s wait until we get on a regular routine and get some warm weather. We were kind of thinking that’s when it’s going to turn around.”

Earlier in April, Epstein joked about how he and everyone else rationalized away last season. It’s only April. It’s only May. It’s only June. It’s only the All-Star break.

The Cubs aren’t scoring runs in bunches right now, but they are getting timely hitting. The pitching and defense are clicking. There is no need to justify how the Cubs are doing when they’re playing like this.

While Jon Lester didn’t make it out of the sixth inning Monday, he gave up just two unearned runs on five hits and three walks, continuing a solid stretch for the rotation. Kyle Hendricks starts Tuesday to open May for the Cubs, and he’s coming off seven scoreless innings. Yu Darvish gave up one unearned run in six innings in his last start and Jose Quintana and Tyler Chatwood threw seven scoreless in their last outings.

“It was an outstanding turn through the rotation,” Epstein said. “More what we expected to see, not all the time, but on a pretty consistent basis throughout the year.”

But even the pitching isn’t why Epstein is happier in this May than the last one. When asked about the early successes of Albert Almora Jr. and Kyle Schwarber, Epstein pointed to their relative youth, using the term “nice developmental month” a couple times.

Almora, who has helped spark the top of the lineup while playing an athletic center field, is starting more since Ian Happ faded. Schwarber adjusted his hitting stance to attack the high , taking away a major hole in his swing and bolstering his production in the process.

Even though Báez hasn’t had an unintentional walk since the first walk of April, he’s sticking to new hitting coach Chili Davis’ plan of spraying the ball all over the field. You could say he’s the poster boy for the new Cubs’ way of hitting.

A lot was made of the Cubs’ early flailings at the plate given the change of hitting coaches from John Mallee to Davis. Was it too much tinkering for tinkering’s sake?

While Malllee focused on hitters getting the bat out early in the pull zone to lift the ball — which was pretty successful considering the results — Davis preaches a more egalitarian “everyone gets a line drive” approach. No one forces the Cubs to change their approach as Epstein preaches individuality, but there is a message that gets pushed. For hitters like Schwarber and Báez, Davis’ and Andy Haines’ teachings seem to be working.

And Epstein, who knows how to paint a picture, reiterated something his manager Joe Maddon told reporters about a possible turning point in the season.

On April 16 and 18, the Cubs and Cardinals were postponed for wintry weather at Wrigley Field, giving the players some time to work in the cages with Davis and his assistant Haines. On April 19, they beat St. Louis 8-5.

“I think that was the day we had a big increase in buy-in and team-wide offensive approach,” Epstein said. “Since then we’ve got to lead the league in opposite field hits.”

He’s right. From April 19 through Monday’s win, the Cubs have 70 hits going to center field or opposite field, the most in baseball, according to FanGraphs. Those hits have resulted in a baseball-high 38 RBIs, an NL-best 151 wRC+ and .363 BABIP.

Take out the center field hits and the Cubs are still tops in baseball with 34 hits, first in the NL with 16 RBIs and a 192 wRC+ and second to the Rockies with a .421 BABIP.

Win or lose, good baseball is easy to define. Right now, the Cubs are playing it. No, they didn’t get off to a 2016-like start. If they ever recapture that magic, it will be just that, a fluke.

But compared to last year, the Cubs are in a much better spot going into May. Yes, their state of mind is dependent on the consistency and health of the starting pitching, which is true for every team. No, they didn’t win more than three games in a row until just now.

But as Epstein said, the growth we’re seeing from Schwarber, Almora and Báez is the key to this April and possibly for the rest of the season. Their improvements had to be a major relief for the people in Epstein’s circle, because so much of the team’s success relies on performances from the hitters not named Kris Bryant and Anthony Rizzo. Ian Happ is working to fix some of his early problems so he can carry some of the load as Almora and Báez invariably cool off. Rizzo, who is slumping after a back injury, will click at some point.

Epstein was in short sleeves Monday as the sun finally shined on Wrigley Field. Summer isn’t here yet, but it’s peeking around the corner.

“The whole progress isn’t linear thing still stands,” Epstein said. “There are going to be ups and downs, we know that. But that has been a really important month. Some guys who been exploited in certain ways, you want to make sure that doesn’t become a year-to-year thing that starts to define you as a player. But they haven’t let that happen. They’ve made key adjustments. They’re taking their games to another level. That’s what you want to see. It’s really important for their careers and it’s really important for our growth as a franchise.”

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The Athletic 10 things we learned about the first-place Cubs in April: ‘It’s where we belong’ By Patrick Mooney

Steve Cishek smacked his glove on Monday night after Nolan Arenado struck out swinging at a slider from that sidearm angle to end the game with two Colorado Rockies on base. “Go Cubs Go” played from the Wrigley Field sound system after a 3-2 win in front of a crowd of 35,562 and a national TV audience. The 80-degree temperature at first pitch made it finally feel like spring and almost summer. It wasn’t always pretty, but the Cubs will wake up on May 1 alone atop the .

“It’s where we belong,” Albert Almora Jr. said after another spectacular night in center field. “We’re just playing Cub baseball right now and we’ve yet to explode-explode the way we can and we’re still in first. It’s where we belong.”

Here’s what we learned in April:

1. The Cubs are who we thought they were.

Anthony Rizzo and Ben Zobrist went on the 10-day disabled list with back problems. Kris Bryant missed almost five full games after a 96-mph fastball smashed into his helmet. Rizzo and Addison Russell have combined to hit one home run. Yu Darvish and José Quintana have 5-something ERAs. Yet the Cubs are in first place with a plus-36 run differential while NL heavyweights like the Washington Nationals and are below .500 and already facing major injuries and significant deficits within their divisions. Theo Epstein’s baseball operations group built a team for the 162-game marathon with elite talent, defensive versatility and flexible bullpen pieces. Those resources will continue to pay dividends.

2. Javier Báez is a combination of Willie Mays, Manny Ramirez, Barry Sanders, Joe Namath, Magic Johnson and Dennis Rodman or something like that. (Just don’t get into it with Clint Hurdle.)

What if the “El Mago” act that got rave reviews during the 2016 postseason could play for an entire season? Báez began Monday as the NL leader in RBIs (26) and slugging percentage (.656) while ranking second in extra-base hits (18) and third in OPS (1.002). Báez is the first Cubs second baseman to hit seven homers before the end of April since at least 1913 — (1996) and Rogers Hornsby (1931) each made it to five … probably without getting a lecture on the right way to play the game … from an opposing manager … through the Pittsburgh media.

“I want anybody that walks into that clubhouse to always play with joy,” Cubs manager Joe Maddon said. “I want you to walk in to start your day at work and feel good about it. [Javy] exemplifies that. I love the way he does it. We’ve talked about that a lot. He plays fearlessly. I love fearless baseball players. I love guys that see things in advance of the situation.

“There’s so much intuition in his game, it’s incredible. He’s rare. I think where he came from matters. I’d really like to have a video of him growing up and see the older guys that he was probably playing against and how they influenced him, because he sees things and he’s fearless. Those are two great qualities for a baseball player or a running back in the NFL or a point guard.”

3. Statcast is out, Chili Davis is in.

Still waiting for someone to get shoved into a locker, but for an organization that built out the Ivy computer system and a Geek Department, the Cubs have embraced Davis as an old-school hitting guru while Maddon keeps taking subtle jabs at the analytics crowd.

“That’s kind of taken over this game now,” said Kyle Schwarber, who again looks like an October monster (seven homers, .969 OPS) with a quick, compact swing. “As much information as people can get in this game, it’s cool. But for us, there are things we’re going to have to take and things that we’re just going to kind of leave alone.

“That could be different for every guy. For me, I’m not too worried about launch angle. I’m not too worried about exit velocity. I’m just worried about putting a good at-bat together and trying to do something good for the team that day.”

(Note: The Cubs, uh, won a World Series and got exceptional production from their young players under former hitting coach John Mallee, a handpicked hire with a tireless work ethic and a strong sense of collaboration.)

4. Don’t take Bryzzo for granted.

Combined, Bryant and Rizzo have been hit 14 times with pitches and are the majors’ co-leaders in that category. Bryant spoke eloquently about a new appreciation for the game, but wouldn’t say if he suffered a concussion when Colorado’s German Marquez drilled him on April 22 at Coors Field. Rizzo — now batting .149 with a .448 OPS – invites some of this with the way he crowds the plate and no one knows when a fastball might hit him in the wrong spot. Cubs fans should enjoy this golden age for however long it lasts. It will be interesting to see when Cubs players reach a boiling point. There is only so much mixing and matching you can do if All-Stars are sidelined for an extended amount of time.

“I have no answer to that,” Bryant said. “I feel like I’m being pitched pretty similarly to when I have in the past, so I don’t know why I’m getting hit. I really don’t. I totally get that this [last] one was an accident. Rizz gets hit all the time.

“I just don’t know why. I don’t know if pitches are getting away from the other guys or what, but it’s no fun to get hit.”

5. “Whoever says solo homers can’t beat you is full of shit.”

Jon Lester, channeling his inner John Lackey, delivered that classic one-liner after Brandon Guyer, Francisco Lindor and Edwin Encarnacion homered off him during last week’s 4-1 loss in Cleveland. Lester enjoys sounding get-off-my-lawn cranky, but the second half of his $155 million megadeal has opened with enough positive signs (2.73 ERA in six starts) to think that he can age gracefully and still be a dependable big-game lefty, like Andy Pettitte later in his career with the and .

“You guys believe me now?” Lester asked the reporters in the Wrigley Field interview room after allowing two unearned runs to the Rockies across 5 2/3 innings on Monday night and setting up Luke Farrell to earn his first big-league victory and make it a five-game winning streak. “We’d get on a roll just playing every day. Not having eight days in between starts always helps. We’re going in the right direction.”

6. “It got us fucked up.”

Catcher Willson Contreras, who speaks good English, is now using a translator for interviews after that comment got misunderstood while speaking to reporters about Darvish, who has his own personal translator and speaks good English. Contreras gave that Darvish analysis after a Coors Field meltdown on April 21 and these next five months will be about making sure everyone is speaking the same language by October.

7. Brandon Morrow has “The Look.”

“The 1,000-yard stare or something?” Morrow said.

No, that’s just Maddon for calm, focused, confident — a closer demeanor that can elevate the rest of the bullpen.

When Epstein asked “If not now, when?” in the summer of 2016 and surrendered blue-chip prospect Gleyber Torres in the blockbuster Aroldis Chapman trade with the Yankees, the Cubs had a 56-1 record when leading entering the ninth inning. Chapman threw 273 pitches during that playoff run and Epstein upgraded last season with Wade Davis, who kept the team afloat by converting his first 32 save chances.

Morrow — who is 7-for-7 in save chances and hasn’t allowed a run in his last 18 1/3 innings dating back to last season and starred out of the Dodger bullpen last October — seems to have that kind of closer DNA.

8. This is the Almora the Cubs projected when they made him the first player drafted by the Theo regime in 2012.

Almora is playing with a take-charge attitude in center field and showing his understanding of angles and looking like a future Gold Glove winner. Whether or not Almora remains a long-term option at the top of the lineup — Ian Happ bombed in that leadoff role — he put together an 11-game hitting streak and created the spark the Cubs needed after starting 1-1, 2-2, 3-3, 4-4, 5-5, 6-6, 7-7, 8-8, and 9-9.

9. The NL Central is better than advertised.

Last season’s formula of going into cruise control, taking a 43-45 record into the All-Star break and then slamming on the accelerator probably isn’t going to work this year. Now 16-10, the Cubs are only 1 1/2 games ahead of the fourth-place St. Louis Cardinals and the farm system doesn’t have another Torres or Eloy Jimenez to headline another Quintana-level deal before the July 31 trade deadline.

10. We’re going to miss Maddon when he’s gone.

If the Cubs keep playing like this, maybe the good times will keep rolling and Maddon will buy that round of shots and beers he once promised at his first Cubby Bear press conference. (Check back when Maddon’s new Wrigleyville bar/restaurant opens.) But nothing lasts forever. Maddon has a contract that runs through 2019 and pays him $6 million this season and $6 million more next year. Good luck to whoever has to follow a legend and sit in that hot seat.

From here, Maddon seems more focused and pulled in fewer directions than he did during last year’s victory tour. Maybe the new Maddon-endorsed coaches have raised his energy level.

But at a time when so many managers sound like programmed robots and football coaches pretend to be CIA operatives — thereby treating fans like idiots or at best keeping the paying customers at an extreme distance — Maddon will purposely say something like “I love that Rizz got fisted” during a postgame press briefing in his office and watch reporters turn into kids trying to contain their laughter in church.

“Is the camera still rolling?” Maddon said last week in Cleveland. “I did not say: ‘That’s what she said.’ I never said that.”

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The Athletic Relievers don’t love making headlines, but Brandon Morrow and Carl Edwards Jr. are pitching too well not to By Sahadev Sharma

If you asked someone who doesn’t watch the Cubs on a daily basis to name the top relievers in baseball, it could be a while before they get to anyone on the North Side. Craig Kimbrel, Kenley Jansen, super- bullpens in New York, Cleveland and Colorado; they all represent the standard of bullpen dominance.

But the Cubs bullpen is as stout as any and they’re led by a pair of dominant, if under-appreciated, arms in closer Brandon Morrow and setup man Carl Edwards, Jr.

“They’re obviously really good. Two really good arms, plus stuff,” lefty reliever Brian Duensing said. “They’re doing a great job right now. I think the fact that they’re getting overlooked is a positive. Any time the bullpen is not talked about, it means we’re doing our job. That’s the way it should be. When things aren’t going well, that’s when we get talked about. Those two guys have been nailing it down. Right now, the way it’s looking, we’re just trying to get it to the eighth with the lead. Then let those two guys shut it down.”

The Cubs have a 13-0 record when entering the seventh inning with a lead, and Morrow is a perfect 7- for-7 in save opportunities to start his Cubs career and has a calm confidence about him when he gets in the game.

“I love the look,” manager Joe Maddon said of Morrow recently. “He comes out there and he’s focused. And he’s got the look. I like that a lot. I think the way he’s doing it rubs off on the guys in front of him.”

Morrow hasn’t allowed a run in his 10 innings of work and boasts an impressive 0.90 WHIP. However, his 24.3 percent rate and 8.4 percent walk rate aren’t exactly where he wants them. But he’s also been getting by without having his best stuff. Morrow is throwing heat in the upper 90s consistently, averaging a career-best 97.9 mph with his four-seamer. He’s been leaning on the pitch more than ever, throwing it 71.4 percent of the time, while going to his cutter or slider (around 15 percent each) the rest of the way.

However, Morrow admitted that his four-seam just isn’t coming out of his hand the way he’d like.

I didn’t remember seeing Morrow throw a sinker, or two-seamer, before, so I was a little thrown off that Statcast kept registering two-seamers. At 98 mph too? That seemed like quite the addition to Morrow’s arsenal.

“I don’t throw a two-seamer,” Morrow said when I asked him about it. “I’ve been battling my command a little bit, the ball’s been taking off on me. I don’t throw a two-seamer, they’re all four-seam . Sometimes you just get in this window of mechanics. I don’t know if it was the seams or whatever I was doing. But that ball was just moving a lot. In Colorado, I had trouble keeping it in the zone and the same thing a couple times before that. I was trying to throw it down the middle and it was just moving. You have to make adjustments.”

Morrow said he was struggling with his hand feel for the four-seamer and it was coming out a bit strange. On Friday, it was working well and it had that “rise” we so often talk about that comes for with impressive spin rate on their four-seamers.

That’s what Morrow wants to see from his four-seamer. He’s been dominant with what he’s been doing so far, so it’s working. However, as the weather continues to warm and Morrow starts to get more feel for his four-seamer on a consistent basis, he’ll see more of the rising four-seam action like he did against Braun and less of that diving arm action that a two-seamer brings like the one above to Travis Shaw.

Morrow throws it to a spot with his four-seamer, while righties who use two-seamers may aim for a lefty’s hip knowing that it will move towards the inner half of the plate and possibly nip the corner for a called strike or a pitch that jams a batter. Morrow wants his ball to be straight. Morrow told me he’s not exactly sure why the ball is moving like that on him and he’s not too keen to find out and keep doing it, because he could end up messing with a good thing.

“You don’t want to start toying too much,” Morrow said. “I’m not used to it so I don’t really want to do that. Maybe I get caught in between, I’m trying to bury one to a lefty and it runs back into a barrel or something.”

Morrow has a career-high 56 percent ground-ball rate at the moment. That’ll probably drop as he starts to find the feel for his four-seamer and gets the proper rising action rather than the sinking, two-seam action it’s getting now. But the bottom line is it’s working and Morrow is going do what he knows best to keep riding that.

And as his bullpen mate Edwards says, “He’s just good.”

“He’s aggressive,” Edwards said. “He throws close to 100 and has a nasty slider. He knows what it takes. Some days he can go out there and locate, other days he’ll just blow it by people.”

Morrow may not have his perfect command on a given day, but the pure nastiness of his pitches allows him to thrive even when he may not be at his best. But as strong as he’s looked in the ninth, Edwards may be trumping him with his dominance in the eighth.

“He’s really relaxed and even-keeled,” Morrow said. “That’s what you like to see in a reliever. You don’t want somebody going into the eighth inning stressed every day. He’s got a good personality for that.”

Edwards has consistently battled his command in the past, running his walk rate all the way up to 14.5 percent last season. This season, he’s come in with a renewed confidence. When he’s brought into a game, it’s as if he’s stalking the mound with a laser focus on the task at hand.

“I’ve got a little bit more experience,” Edwards said. “I’m just taking my time with it. That experience helps me. And the guys on my team have really helped me. Just talking to [Jon] Lester and all those guys. They say, ‘Hey man, just go out there and be aggressive. Compete. Don’t shy away from anybody.’ So I just do that.”

Edwards is boasting a crazy 43.4 percent strikeout rate with a solid 9.4 percent walk rate. That’s helped him post a 0.66 ERA and 0.88 WHIP. After posting 0.9 WAR (according to FanGraphs) all of last season, Edwards has already accumulated 0.7 WAR in the first month of 2018. Both his strikeout rate and WAR put him among the top five relievers in baseball right now.

Duensing observed Edwards’ struggles with command last season. He also knows that Edwards was handled with kid gloves early in his Cubs career as Maddon avoided using him on back-to-back days. They knew the talent they were working with and wanted to ease him into a more standard high- leverage role. Maddon is still careful not to overwork his back-end duo, but he’s not afraid to go back-to- backs with either any longer. In 2016, Edwards worked on no days’ rest just once. Last season that total jumped to 12. Barely a month into this season, he’s already at four.

“You can see it doesn’t matter,” Duensing said. “He gets in a game and whatever pitch he’s throwing he’s throwing with conviction. I’m a firm believer that if you have conviction, you’ll get good results most of the time. He specifically, I can tell is pitching a little differently. He’s always had the confidence. But you can see the conviction a little more on the mound.”

Duensing says the difference between confidence and conviction is slight, but significant. Most pitchers believe they’ll get the job done, they trust they can do it. But do they believe they have all the right tools to execute the pitch? Do they trust the scouting report, that they’re using the right pitch and that they’re attacking the hitter the right way? That’s having conviction. And the Cubs relievers, including Edwards, are prepared and take the mound with conviction.

Edwards also has a nasty four-seam with elite spin rate. For the third year in a row, he’s among the best in baseball in that category, coming in second so far this year after being first last season and second in 2016. Higher spin rate on a four-seam fastball gives it the illusion that the ball is rising, making it all the more tempting for a batter to swing at. Pair that with velocity around 95 mph, which Edwards consistently sits at, and you have an enticing, but nearly unhittable pitch.

“I’m sure it’s good based on the way it looks on the swings he gets on a ball that looks like it’s right down the middle,” Morrow said of the spin rate on Edwards’ four-seamer. “There’s something to it. He’s got the cut action and his is really good. I didn’t realize. You knew about the cutter, when a guy has such a dominant pitch – like Kenley Jansen cutter or a Carl Edwards cutter, you overlook the other stuff. But his curveball his really good and he can throw it for strikes as well. He’s got all the weapons, man.”

Morrow calls it a cutter because Edwards does have some cutting action on his four-seamer. It’s not quite to Jansen levels, but it is much better than years past. According to the data at Pitch Info, Edwards had averaged between 0.1-0.4 inches of horizontal movement on his four-seam in his first three seasons in the big leagues. This year that’s up to 1.3 inches. Jansen has been between 2.3-3.3 inches the last few years, but he also only relies on that pitch. Edwards has the hammer curve which allows him to be more than a one-pitch reliever.

“I’m sure he’ll be closing at some point in his career, probably pretty soon,” Morrow said. “He’s obviously cut out for it.”

For right now, he’ll have to settle for being one of the more dominant, and perhaps most overlooked, setup men in the game. The Cubs in general don’t get much love for their backend duo’s dominance. But they’re happy to go out there and quietly go about their business. They’ll let the starters and offense get the headlines while they calmly do their job and help the team continue to win games in bunches.

“I don’t think either of us cares where people are slotting us,” Morrow said. “There’s plenty of guys with great careers and longer track records, I guess. We like the job that we’re doing right now. That’s kind of the joke, the media only talks to you when you blow the game. If nobody’s talking about you, you’re probably doing a good job. Most people take the bullpen for granted when it’s going well. That’s the way it’s supposed to work.”

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Cubs.com Bryant's triple sparks rally in Farrell's 1st win By Carrie Muskat

CHICAGO -- There were times when Luke Farrell didn't think he'd ever pitch again. The right-hander had to battle tumors in his neck not once, but twice within a two-year span. On Monday night, Farrell not only got his first Major League win but impressed the Cubs with what he could possibly provide this season.

Farrell got four key outs in relief in the Cubs' 3-2 win over the Rockies at Wrigley Field. Kris Bryant, playing in his third game since he was hit in the head by a pitch, tripled to lead off the sixth inning and scored the tie-breaking run to help the Cubs win their fifth straight game.

Bryant, who was plunked by the Rockies' German Marquez on April 22, was 0-for-9 before his triple off the left-field wall.

"I thought he looked great at the plate the very first at-bat back," Cubs manager Joe Maddon said of Bryant. "I think he looks fine. ... I have not seen anything negative at the plate."

Neither Maddon nor Bryant expected any retaliation in a rematch with the Rockies. There was no warning from home-plate umpire Jeff Nelson after Chicago starter Jon Lester hit Charlie Blackmon with a pitch in the first inning.

Lester exited after giving up two unearned runs over 5 2/3 innings. The lefty needed 37 pitches to get through the fifth when the Cubs made some uncharacteristic miscues.

"We made mistakes we normally don't make," Maddon said. "You would think giving them all those extra outs would not turn out in our favor. Give our relievers a lot of credit."

Cue Farrell, who entered with two on and two out in the sixth and got Ian Desmond to ground out. The son of former big league manager John Farrell then struck out two of the three batters he faced in the seventh. Here's some trivia: Luke had pitched at Wrigley Field on April 20, 2013, for Northwestern, throwing a three-hit shutout.

"That guy has got as good a makeup as anybody on this team. Anybody," Maddon said. "He comes from a great pedigree, he's been around it, he's pitched in the big leagues. I am really impressed with his way, the way he is, the way he handles himself."

Promoted from Triple-A Iowa on April 20, Farrell, 26, was making his 13th appearance in the big leagues and third with the Cubs. It also was his first in a high-leverage situation.

"That could really pay us dividends down the road," Maddon said. "That was 93, 94 [mph] with carry, and he's got that other thing that he throws off the slider, and he's not afraid. Those are great qualities."

Before Farrell met with the media postgame, he checked his phone. Friends and family members had overloaded it with congratulatory messages.

"This is cool. I won't try to downplay it," Farrell said. "To get your first win in the Major Leagues is an awesome thing and an achievement that I appreciate fully."

His father was one of those who reached out.

"We've been going back and forth," Farrell said. "He was pumped. Mom, too. Family, brothers -- it's something we can all share. This is my first time pitching as a Cub at Wrigley, and the adrenaline I felt pitching in front of fans like this on a Monday night is pretty amazing."

As to what he has overcome, Farrell said he'll think about that later.

"I think maybe when I sit back and reflect on it later, it certainly will [hit me]," Farrell said. "I think at some point, I'll sit down and think about where I've been in the past, where I've come from, and it'll probably sink in."

The Cubs needed to rally against the Rockies, tying the game at 2 in the fifth on Albert Almora Jr.'s RBI single and taking the lead in the sixth when Bryant tripled and scored on Anthony Rizzo's groundout. Bryant made a sliding stop of Noel Cuevas' hard-hit grounder and threw to Rizzo in time to end the Rockies' eighth.

"Farrell gets the win. He should have," Maddon said. "He was the lynchpin of the whole game. ... Give Luke a lot of credit."

MOMENTS THAT MATTERED Lucky bounce: With one out in the second, Ben Zobrist hit a ball that deflected off perennial Gold Glove Award-winning third baseman Nolan Arenado's glove and bounced into the seats at Wrigley Field for a ground-rule double. Zobrist then scored on Addison Russell's single for a 1-0 lead. More >

Rare miscue: During the Rockies' two-run fifth, Kyle Freeland put down a sacrifice bunt and Willson Contreras fired to first, but Javier Baez couldn't close his glove on the ball for an error. One out later, Blackmon hit an RBI single to tie the game at 1. Arenado then lined the ball down the left-field line to score Freeland. The seated security guard tried to catch the ball, and Arenado was awarded a ground- rule double.

"Those were not difficult errors," Maddon said. "It was really uncharacteristic of us. It happens. Give our pitchers credit for going to the next pitch, the next hitter, making pitches and eventually getting through it."

SOUND SMART The Cubs are the first team to win five straight games despite scoring three or fewer runs in all five since the Brewers did so in August 2011. It's the first time the Cubs have done so in franchise history.

Cubs starting pitchers have not given up an earned run in 33 2/3 consecutive innings, the longest streak by the staff since 1974.

YOU GOTTA SEE THIS Cubs center fielder Almora provided several highlight-reel catches during the series in Denver. In the Rockies' fourth, he robbed of a potential extra-base hit when he snared the ball one step before the warning track in left-center and stopped just before the brick outfield wall.

"They like hitting the ball to center field and I like it as well," Almora said. "It's not a dig toward them, but I want to make the plays for my pitcher out there, so there's no better feeling than catching it and looking at Jon. He doesn't show much emotion, but he gave me a little golf clap. That goes a long way."

In the fifth, Contreras picked off Cuevas at second with a throw to Russell. According to Statcast™, he had a 1.93-second pop time. His throw was clocked at 84.9 mph.

HE SAID IT "You guys believe me now? We've played some good baseball. Our hitters are doing a good job of giving us breaks in the dugout with some of these long innings we've had. I've always felt if we keep our team in it long enough, our guys are going to strike. They did that tonight, they did it all weekend. It's been a fun last five games." -- Lester, who had said in the past the Cubs would get in a good groove if they could play on a regular basis after dealing with weather postponements

MITEL REPLAY OF THE DAY In the ninth, the Rockies had a runner at first when Ian Desmond hit a one-out comebacker to Steve Cishek, who threw to Russell at shortstop, but the runner was called safe. After a crew chief review, the call was overturned.

After walking Blackmon, Cishek would strike out Arenado with two runners on to record his first save of the season.

UP NEXT Kyle Hendricks will start Tuesday against the Rockies. The right-hander is coming off a solid start against the Brewers in which he threw seven shutout innings, striking out five. He beat the Rockies, who will counter with Jon Gray, on April 20 in Denver, holding them to three runs on five hits over five innings. He's looking for his third straight win. First pitch is scheduled for 7:05 p.m. CT.

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Cubs.com Almora-Baez combo producing atop Cubs' order By Carrie Muskat

CHICAGO -- Manager Joe Maddon said on Monday he'll stick with Albert Almora Jr. and Javier Baez at the top of the Cubs' lineup as long as the combo works.

"Stability equals productivity," Maddon said. "The fact they've been productive, they've created that stability there."

Almora was projected as a potential leadoff option in , but it wasn't until April 19 that Baez was inserted into the No. 2 spot to provide some "energy," Maddon said. The pair had matching 11-game hitting streaks, which ended on Sunday. Almora was batting .289 and Baez .280 after Monday night's 3-2 win over the Rockies at Wrigley Field.

"Javy was doing so well at the bottom to drive in runs, I thought, 'Let's try this,'" Maddon said. "Knowing Javy, he likes the challenge. When you show that kind of confidence, I think he'll respond, and I think Albert did the same thing. It's an energy that we've been running with."

The Cubs are 9-2 with that 1-2 combo, although Maddon reserves the right to make a change. Ben Zobrist, for example, has the best at-bats, Maddon said, and could bat leadoff as well. Maddon also expects Ian Happ to return to the No. 1 spot in the lineup at some point. A switch-hitter, Happ was batting .316 against left-handed pitching and .213 against right-handers.

"I think this is the kind of group where you ride the wave a little bit," Maddon said. "We're just riding the wave right now. I hope it stays. They want to keep that, they have to continually work the kind of at-bat that gets them on base with high-percentage time. Most of the time, you've got [Kris Bryant] and [Anthony Rizzo] and [Willson] Contreras -- we need baserunners. If they do that, [Almora and Baez] can stay there as long as they want."

What has helped Almora is a meeting he had in Spring Training with Maddon and Cubs president of baseball operations Theo Epstein, which may be why he's making so many highlight-reel catches.

"I felt last year, I played a little conservative," Almora said. "This is what I've been doing all my life. We had a conversation this spring, and they challenged me to be myself and be the Albert they saw growing up and in high school. I said, 'Consider it done.'"

Added left-hander Jon Lester: "It kind of locks down that middle of the field when you have a guy in center who can go get it like that. It takes pressure off the two corner guys, and when you have a guy like [Jason Heyward] in right, it kind of shrinks the outfield. It's just an added bonus for us as pitchers that we know we don't have to be perfect all the time to get outs."

State of the Cubs Epstein was pleased with the team's performance in the first month of the season.

"The biggest thing I like is how many guys seem to be really growing and getting better, and as a team, too," Epstein said on Monday. "I said the other day, too, when we were close to .500, I said I'd rather have the record we had but with the growth and certain guys facing some difficult stretches and coming out of it and making adjustments that I think will serve them well for the rest of the season. ... I'm proud of what our guys have done in April and how it sets us up going forward."

Almora and Baez are two examples of players who have shown "growth," as well as Kyle Schwarber, who was batting .276 with seven homers and 17 RBIs. A year ago, Schwarber was hitting .204 on April 30 with three homers and nine RBIs. All three have been using the whole field more, had better at-bats and a better approach at the plate.

"Look, the whole progress-isn't-linear thing still stands," Epstein said. "There's going to be a lot of ups and downs, and we know that. This has been a really important month. Some guys who have been exploited in certain ways, you want to make sure that doesn't become a year-to-year thing because that sort of defines you as a player. But they haven't let that happen. They've made key adjustments, and now they're taking their games to another level. That's what you want to see. That's really important for their careers, and it's really important for our growth as a franchise."

Home-field advantage Nine of the Cubs' first 11 games at Wrigley Field have been played with game-time temperatures under 50 degrees. It felt like spring on Monday, and the wind was blowing out for the first time, with the game-time temperature at 80 degrees.

"Did you bring your suntan lotion today?" Maddon quipped.

Maddon has learned about the wind and Wrigley Field's quirks.

"The series I was here with the Rays [in 2014], I remember talking to [pitching coach Jim] Hickey about it, and he remembered it, too, but Rizzo hit a ball to right-center and I thought it was over everything, and Zobrist caught it at the wall," Maddon said. "The last game [of that series], we thought we were going to win, Sean Rodriguez hit a ball that we thought was over everything, and it landed at the front of the wall.

"Even though the weather has been horrible [so far], it's played in our favor."

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Cubs.com Bean, Cubs team up for 'Shred Hate' initiative By Jeff Arnold

CHICAGO -- Billy Bean stood at the front of a school auditorium on Monday and expressed to a room full of students how difficult watching baseball can be for him at times.

Bean, a six-year Major League veteran who now serves as MLB's vice president for social responsibility and inclusion and a special assistant to Commissioner Rob Manfred, admitted that as a gay man, he was living a double life when he reached the big leagues in 1987. And in the prime of his career, he was not willing to take a chance on the ridicule he anticipated he would receive in a big league clubhouse.

So instead, Bean retired from baseball in 1995, a decision that more than 20 years later, he regrets.

"I quit on myself without giving someone a chance to say, 'Hey, it's OK,'" Bean told students during a "Shred Hate" bullying prevention assembly that the Cubs hosted at Prosser Career Academy.

Prosser is one of 18 schools in Chicago that participates in the Shred Hate initiative, and it is one of eight that the Cubs have partnered with to increase awareness that bullying continues to be a serious issue in schools across the country.

In 2014, Bean was appointed by then-Commissioner Bud Selig as MLB's first ambassador for inclusion, which put Bean at the center of baseball's ongoing efforts for fairness and inclusion.

On Monday, Bean -- along with fellow former big leaguer and current ESPN analyst Eduardo Perez and two-time X Games skateboarding medalist Jordyn Barratt -- stressed the importance of communication at a time when students continue to be bullied.

Perez, the father of two girls, said he witnessed bullying growing up in Puerto Rico and did nothing. Looking back, Perez wishes he would have done more to stop what he saw, but now as a parent, he realizes he has to be more involved.

"[The Shred Hate initiative] gives you a skill set now that one can understand what to do, and it's part of the growing-up process," Perez said. "If we can help them with that process, more power to [kids] growing up and to the future."

Bean pointed to the example of Cubs first baseman Anthony Rizzo, who, in 2017, reached out to the family of 12-year-old Henry Sembdner, who was beaten into a coma at his suburban Chicago school after reportedly bumping into another student. His tweet, using the hashtag #StayStrong, went viral, as did recent efforts by the Yankees, who also reached out in support of a young girl who was bullied at school.

On Monday night, the Cubs invited 350 students and parents to Wrigley Field for the Cubs' game against the Rockies. Seated in the bleachers under the park's iconic center-field scoreboard, students and adults alike wore red T-shirts that read "Shred Hate, Choose Kindness" -- a message that has been at the center of the MLB-driven campaign.

It's a message that is spoken often in 10-year-old Haley Durham's classroom at Chicago International Charter School Irving Park, where she and her fourth-grade classmates are taught to respect those around them. Durham said she has witnessed some of her fellow students being bullied, which saddens her to know that some are being marginalized.

Like Bean and Perez said earlier in the day, communication is the key. In Durham's case, it means telling a teacher that bullying is taking place.

"My class has gotten better about not bullying and standing up for each other," Durham said.

It's a support system that Prosser junior Diamond Francis has experienced after being bullied starting in the third grade. Francis said she has attempted suicide because of the bullying, but she has since found encouragement around her at a school that embraces the Shred Hate program. Had the program been in place when she was being bullied as a child, Francis insists she would have had more courage to stand up against it.

"Your first thought is, 'It's no one else [being bullied] -- it's me,'" said Francis, who is part of the Safe School Ambassadors Program at Prosser, which works to increase awareness of bullying. "So you put the blame on yourself before you actually realize other people can help you. ... In reality, it's never you."

Bean looks forward to a time when a fully funded anti-bullying campaign can be instituted and when Major Leaguers like Rizzo will have the opportunity to become more involved in campaigns like Shred Hate.

"In a minute, we can change the culture and try to make it cool to be a leader and to help somebody or to choose kindness instead of make fun of them or attack them in a cyber way," Bean said. "For me, communication is the core … and the more kids we can get in front of, the more we start to change the dialogue."

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ESPNChicago.com Pitching party: Cubs grab fifth straight win scoring 3 or fewer runs By Jesse Rogers

CHICAGO -- The Chicago Cubs are pitching their way into the history books and achieved a franchise record in their 3-2 win over the Colorado Rockies on Monday.

It was their fifth straight victory scoring three or fewer runs, and it marked the first time that has happened in baseball since 2011 -- and the first time ever for the Cubs. The streak has also vaulted the Cubs into first place in the National League Central as the calendar turns to May.

"You guys believe me now?" Monday's starter, Jon Lester, asked after the game.

About what?

"That we would get on a roll," Lester said. "Just playing every day. Not having eight days between each start always helps. We're going in the right direction."

The Cubs have played the fewest games in baseball, thanks in part to an awful weather pattern that seemed to followed them during the early part of the month. Cancellations were the norm, as were short outings from a high-priced rotation. But as the rain and snow subsided, the starting staff began to heat up. After Monday, they haven't given up a single earned run in their past five starts. The Cubs have won them all, despite scoring only 12 runs themselves.

"The pitching has been outstanding," manager Joe Maddon said. "No earned runs. Give them a lot of credit."

The entire pitching staff has given up just one earned run in 45 innings in the team's current home stand. While much of it was played in colder conditions, that was not the case on Monday. The game- time temperature was 80 degrees, with the wind blowing straight out at 12 mph.

"You usually don't see a 3-2 game with the wind blowing out like it was tonight," Lester said.

The Cubs ace was pulled in a tie game, so the win fell to 26-year-old Northwestern University product Luke Farrell, the son of former MLB pitching coach and manager John Farrell.

"I won't downplay it," Farrell said after his 1.1 innings. "To get your first win in the major leagues is an awesome thing, an achievement I appreciate fully."

The Cubs are taking it easy on their top relievers, as Maddon avoided using Carl Edwards Jr. and Brandon Morrow for a fourth game in five days, thrusting Farrell into a high-leverage situation in the middle innings. He retired the four batters he faced, including stars Nolan Arenado and Charlie Blackmon. The Cubs took the lead for good the next inning.

"He was the linchpin of the whole game," Maddon said. "That guy has as good a makeup as anyone on this team -- anybody. I'm really impressed with his way. Cannot be more impressive."

Farrell added: "The adrenaline I felt pitching in front of fans like this on a Monday night is pretty amazing."

Those fans left happy, as the Cubs are alone in first place entering May, just as they were in 2016 and 2017 -- both seasons that ended in division titles.

If you're wondering, only two teams in the Live Ball Era (1920) have won six straight games while scoring three or fewer runs. The Cubs can accomplish that feat on Tuesday when Kyle Hendricks take the mound.

No team has won seven straight under those conditions. Maddon might want more breathing room late in the game, but Cubs pitchers are having a blast putting the team on their collective backs.

"It's been a fun last five games to be a part of," Lester said with a smile.

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NBC Sports Chicago How a rainout changed the course of the Cubs' season By Tony Andracki

There's something about rain and these Cubs.

It's a match made in baseball heaven.

The Cubs began the season by crawling along at a rather disappointing pace when compared to the level of expectations bestowed upon the team in spring training.

Part of that was due to an incredibly wacky first few weeks of the season with awful weather forcing five postponements.

It was that last postponed game, however, that changed the 2018 season — for now, at least.

The Cubs were supposed to host the St. Louis Cardinals for three games to close out their first homestand of the season. But the first game was pushed back due to poor weather and then the teams played Tuesday night before Mother Nature reared her ugly head again Wednesday.

Mark that Wednesday — April 18 — as a day to remember when we close the book on the 2018 season.

The Cubs have lost just twice since then, going on a run where they won 8 of 10 against a bunch of playoff-hopeful teams (Cardinals, Rockies, Indians, Brewers).

So what happened on that day?

The Cubs fully bought in to their new offensive philosophy under first-year hitting coaches Chili Davis and Andy Haines.

"Guys were wearing out the cage with Chili and Hainesy and the other guys," Theo Epstein said before Monday's tilt with the Rockies at Wrigley Field. "I think that was the day we had a big increase in buy-in and team-wide offensive approach that we were gonna use the whole field.

"Since that, we've gotta lead the league in opposite field hits. It's good to see."

Data gets a little tricky in terms of trying to nail down how many actual "hits" each team collects to the opposite field, but there are numbers to support Epstein's claim.

Over the last two weeks, the Cubs rank 7th in baseball in terms of batted balls (hits + outs) to the opposite field. That's pushed their season rank to 18th in 2018, indicating a clear shift from their pull- happy ways to start the year.

Previous hitting coach John Mallee did a lot of good things for this organzation, but one of his main philosophies was trying to get players to hit the ball in the air and to pull it. As such, this team didn't use the whole field anywhere near as much.

The 2017 Cubs ranked 27th in baseball in opposite field hit percentage. The 2016 team finished 29th out of 30 teams.

"Chili came in with a mandate of getting guys to consider using the whole field a little bit more," Epstein said, "working on situational hitting, working on a two-strike approach, working on line drives through the gaps instead of sort of the all-or-nothing approach that sometimes we can fall victim to at times the way the whole league does.

"In that regard, it's been a really nice first month as a team."

The first month has seen some major offensive steps forward for Kyle Schwarber, Javy Baez, Albert Almora Jr. and even Kris Bryant. The results haven't shown up for Addison Russell yet, but he is using the opposite field more than ever before.

The end result is a Cubs offense that ranks third in the NL in runs scored and second in runs per game.

Of course, it could also just be a hot two-week stretch and a small sample size. But if the Cubs have really bought in on using the entire field, an incredibly-talented offense has just gotten that much more dynamic.

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Chicago Tribune Cubs' 5th straight win puts them 1st in NL Central By Mark Gonzales

Albert Almora Jr. and Javier Baez were placed atop the Cubs batting order to provide some much- needed spark in the wake of a 7-8 start.

While Almora and Baez might not be able to sustain the production they’ve generated the last two weeks, the Cubs believe they have enough resources to compensate for an inevitable dip.

Almora hit a tying single in the fifth inning, and several teammates stepped up at critical times as the Cubs held on for a 3-2 victory over the Rockies. The win was the Cubs’ fifth straight, and it put them into first place in the National League Central Division for the first time since .

“It looks like we’re going in the right direction,” said Jon Lester, who forecasted a winning trend after he suffered the Cubs’ last loss on April 25.

A deep bullpen made the biggest contribution Monday night. Manager Joe Maddon wanted to prevent using closer Brandon Morrow and set-up man Carl Edwards Jr. for the fourth time in five games, so he reached deeper and was rewarded.

Luke Farrell relieved Lester and induced Ian Desmond to ground into a force play with the go-ahead run at second to end the sixth, and he pitched a scoreless seventh to earn his first major league win.

“He has as good of makeup as anyone on this team,” Maddon said.

Farrell fulfilled the mid-inning duties usually reserved for Steve Cishek, who earned the save after striking out Nolan Arenado with the tying run at second in the ninth.

“I love being in an environment where every game matters so much,” said Farrell, who pitched in nine games for the Reds and one for the Royals last season.

Farrell received two game balls and several congratulatory messages from his family, including from his father, former Red Sox manager John Farrell.

The bullpen has allowed five hits and one run in its last 12 1/3 innings, while the starters have not allowed an earned run in their last 33 2/3 innings. That has helped the Cubs win five consecutive games despite scoring three or fewer runs in each those games.

Addison Russell showed signs of breaking out of his malaise with an RBI single in the second and a single in the fifth that set up Almora’s tying hit.

Almora made a sensational running catch of a deep drive hit by Trevor Story in the fourth. However, second baseman Javier Baez dropped a throw at first base in the fifth, and third baseman Kris Bryant muffed a grounder in the sixth that prevented Lester from pitching deeper.

Baez also couldn’t handle a line drive hit by Carlos Gonzalez with one outs in the ninth that was generously ruled a hit.

“They weren’t difficult plays,” Maddon said.

Before the game, Maddon envisioned opening day leadoff hitter Ian Happ would rebound and said that Ben Zobrist was the team’s best hitter at working counts.

But he did insinuate that Almora and Baez, who was 0-for-4 with two strikeouts, could remain 1-2 under one stipulation.

“It’s about on-base percentage that if they’re out there often enough to really support KB and (Anthony) RIzzo and (Willson) Contreras, etc.,” Maddon said. “If they’re doing that, they can stay there as long as they want because they’re working productive at-bats.”

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Chicago Tribune Cubs Luke Farrell treasures first major-league win By Mark Gonzales

Luke Farrell received two game balls after earning his first major league victory Monday night, but he could be on the verge of earning more significant mementos if he pitches the way he did against the Rockies.

Farrell, 26, gave the bullpen a much-needed lift by bailing out Jon Lester from a jam in the sixth inning. His performance was impressive enough for manager Joe Maddon to use him in more high-leverage situations.

“He was the linchpin of the whole game,” Maddon said of Farrell’s role in retiring Ian Desmond to end the sixth and then retiring the heart of the Rockies order in succession in the seventh. “That allowed everything to set up.”

Maddon said he didn’t inform Farrell in advance that he might be used in a key situation, but that the manager has been wanting to use Farrell to see how he’d respond.

“Take it for a test drive,” Maddon said. “That could really pay us dividends down the road.

Farrell made 10 appearances with the Royals and Reds last season and Maddon has liked his poise during his short time with the Cubs.

“He comes from a great pedigree,” Maddon said. “He’s been around it. He’s pitched in the major leagues. I’m really impressed with his way, the way he is, the way he handles himself. I cannot be more impressed.”

Farrell got to pitch April 24 at Progressive Field, about nine years after pitching there for Cleveland’s St. Ignatius High School.

Farrell went on to pitch at Northwestern before he was drafted in the sixth round of the 2013 draft by the Royals.

After beating the Rockies, Farrell received several congratulatory messages from family members and friends that included his father John, who formerly managed the Red Sox.

Farrell’s brothers Jeremy and Shane work for the Cubs in the player development and scouting departments.

“This is my first time pitching as a Cub at Wrigley, and the adrenaline I felt pitching in front of fans like this on a Monday night is pretty amazing,” Farrell said.

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Chicago Tribune Theo Epstein: April 18 rainout might have been turning point for Cubs offense By Mark Gonzales

When the Cubs’ home game against the Cardinals scheduled for April 18 was postponed, it could have been a day of rest. Instead, it could prove to be a turning point for the team’s young hitters.

“That day guys were wearing out the cage,” Cubs President Theo Epstein recalled Monday. “That was the day we sort of had a big increase in buy-in and teamwide offensive approach, and we were going to use the whole field. Since then, we’ve got to lead the league in opposite-field hits.”

The next day, the Cubs had seven opposite-field hits in an 8-5 win over the Cardinals. Since then, young hitters such as Albert Almora Jr., Javier Baez and Kyle Schwarber are starting to reap the benefits of expanding their approach beyond pulling the ball.

Epstein clarified the organization’s policy in the wake of manager Joe Maddon’s crusade for his players to use the entire field and not be so obsessed with launch angles.

“Every hitting coach has their nomenclature and their philosophy,” Epstein said. “Our belief all along is that there is no one way for everyone, that everybody has a unique swing and you should coach that swing and try to make guys as well-rounded as possible.”

Warming up: Shortstop Addison Russell said it’s not his “strong suit” to play in cold weather.

“And now that it has warmed up, I’m starting to feel more confident in my swing and how I move,” Russell said Monday before he hit an RBI single against the Rockies.

Russell’s triple Sunday against the Brewers was his sixth extra base hit of the season. His sacrifice fly the same day was his first RBI since April 6, a span of 17 games.

“It’s just different when it’s cold every single day and (it) just doesn’t react the same as if you’re used to 80-degree weather,’’ Russell said. “But it’s nice to get those power results.”

Growth spurt: Epstein described April as a “really big growth developmental month” for Schwarber, who was batting .276 with seven home runs and 17 RBIs entering Monday.

“He’s taller in his stance, and his hands are (higher),” said Epstein, who said Schwarber is less vulnerable to high fastballs.

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Chicago Tribune Joe Maddon likes Kyle Schwarber's return to 'the huddle' By Mark Gonzales

Cubs manager Joe Maddon is fond of football coaches and slogans, so he picked an opportune time Monday to discuss Kyle Schwarber’s poise in rebounding from an awful 2017 season.

Maddon marveled over a discussion that Bill Parcells had in March with NFL first-round picks Sam Darnold and Josh Allen, with Darnold appreciating Parcells’ advice to “get back in the huddle,” according to the New York Post.

“That was great advice that you got to get back in the huddle,” Maddon said. “It’s not always going to be an oil painting. It’s not always going to go right. You’re going to look bad, feel bad. You don’t want to talk to anybody. You’re going to feel embarrassed. But you got to get back in the huddle.”

In the case of Schwarber, he rebounded from a 2017 in which he hit .211 with 150 strikeouts to marks of .276 with seven home runs and 17 RBIs in April.

“With Schwarber, he got back in the huddle,” Maddon said. “I’m going to use that often.”

According to the Post, Parcells has used that line dating back to his days when he coached Phil Simms with the New York Giants in the early 1980s.

“You’re not really going to find out about what your capabilities are until you just got beat 31-10 and you threw a couple of interceptions and you were obviously the one that influenced the outcome of the game,” Parcells told the Post. “Maybe your nose is broken. Maybe the fans are booing you. Maybe the press is on your case. Maybe the coaches are looking at you sideways. Maybe the players are wondering a little bit about you.

“Now, it’s Wednesday, you’ve got to get back in the huddle and convince everybody you can lead that team. The essence of the message is no matter what’s going on, your job is to get back in there and lead the team.”

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Chicago Tribune Cubs not surprised by power surge of former prospect Christian Villanueva By Mark Gonzales

With Kris Bryant living up to his first-round billing in less than two seasons, there wasn’t a future for Christian Villanueva in the Cubs organization.

But President Theo Epstein isn’t surprised by the power surge displayed by Villanueva in the first month with the Padres.

“He always had power,” Epstein said of Villanueva, 26, who has hit eight home runs with the Padres. “Obviously, we liked him. We ran into a problem.”

Villanueva was out of options entering the 2016 season, and he broke his right ankle during spring training and missed the entire season. Villanueva wasn’t tendered a contract by the Cubs in December, and the Padres signed him shortly after.

Padres general manager A.J. Preller, then with the Rangers, signed Villanueva as an amateur player out of Mexico and always kept an eye on him even after Villanueva was traded with pitcher Kyle Hendricks from the Rangers in 2012 for pitcher Matt Garza.

“There’s nothing we could have done,” recalled Epstein, adding that Villanueva’s broken ankle eliminated any chance of trading him.

“He was a steady player at (Triple-A) Iowa. He played good defense and hammered the low pitch. He has not been missing his pitch. His ball jumps off his bat. He has strong wrists, and the ball explodes.

“He’s a great kid, and someone you root for. I hope he keeps it going.”

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Chicago Tribune Yosh Kawano's old Chicago friends buy him a Cubs World Series ring By Paul Sullivan

One of the best things I saw over the weekend at Wrigley Field was a photo of Yosh Kawano wearing a replica Cubs championship ring.

Kawano was the longtime clubhouse man at Wrigley, frequently mentioned by announcers and during broadcasts from the 1960s to the ’90s. His white, floppy fisherman’s hat is in the Baseball Hall of Fame, and he was the last link to the Cubs teams from the 1940s.

Now 96 and living in a nursing home in Los Angeles, Kawano is unable to communicate.

But two brothers from Chicago, Tony and Carl Ruzicka, decided last year that Kawano deserved a World Series ring like everyone else connected to the organization. So they bought a ring from Jostens, had the name “Kawano” engraved, and presented it to him during a trip to Los Angeles in May.

“He continues to mean a lot to us,” Tony Ruzicka said. “He lived with Carl his last 10 years in Chicago, and Carl and I took him everywhere. We’ve known him since 1963, when we were ball boys at Wrigley Field.”

The Ruzickas also accepted a plaque for Kawano during spring training this year when he was voted into the Cactus League Hall of Fame. Tony said they loaned the plaque to Ferguson Jenkins for a museum he plans to open in Canada.

Kawano spent nearly 65 years working for the Cubs, first in the home clubhouse and later in the visitors’ clubhouse. He began in 1943 and ’44 before being drafted into the Army, then returned to the team after the war, serving under 37 managers, 12 general managers and two owners.

I’ve known Kawano for over 30 years, and for years I’d ask him on the first day of spring training if this finally was “the year.”

Kawano would laugh, shake his head, give a dismissive wave of the hand and walk away. Then “the year” finally happened in 2016.

The Ruzickas didn’t want Kawano’s long tenure in the organization to go unrewarded, so they decided to do something about it.

“We didn’t do it for any reason,” Tony said. “We just did it because he deserved it.”

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Chicago Sun-Times Can you believe this? Cubs outpitch mistakes to beat Rox, move into first place By Gordon Wittenmyer

The Cubs pitched well and won again Monday at Wrigley Field.

‘‘You guys believe me now?’’ starter Jon Lester said.

Huh? What? What were we supposed to believe?

‘‘That we’d get on a roll playing every day,’’ Lester said after a 3-2 victory against the Rockies in the opener of a three-game series moved the Cubs into sole possession of first place in the National League Central for the first time this season. ‘‘Not having eight days between every start. I feel like we’re going in the right direction.’’

His infielders didn’t help much on this night, especially second baseman Javy Baez, who dropped a perfect throw covering first on a one-out bunt in the fifth inning, enabling the Rockies to score two unearned runs. He also misplayed a line drive in and out of his glove with one out in the ninth to give Charlie Blackmon and Nolan Arenado shots to tie the score against Steve Cishek.

But even after another error — this one by third baseman Kris Bryant in the sixth — cost Lester a chance to get out of that inning, the pitching numbers five games into the homestand are staggering, especially by the starters.

The five-man crew hasn’t allowed an earned run during that full turn through the rotation. Going back an inning into the last road trip, the starters’ streak of 33 2/3 innings without yielding an earned run is the longest for the franchise since at least 1974, according to STATS Inc.

It’s the longest such stretch in the majors since the Nationals’ starters went 47 1/3 innings without allowing an earned run in 2015.

‘‘I hate to make excuses for guys,’’ Cubs president Theo Epstein said. ‘‘But there was so much rest with rainouts and the weather was so brutal that we’ve been telling ourselves, ‘Just wait until we get on a regular routine and get some warm weather.’ ’’

We know. That’s what Lester said.

‘‘It’s more like what we expect to see,’’ Epstein said. ‘‘Not all the time, but on a pretty consistent basis through the year.”

More than the rotation, the pitching staff overall has allowed only one earned run during the Cubs’ 5-0 start to the homestand. Consequently, they’ve needed only 12 runs total to win all those games.

In fact, it’s the first time in franchise history the Cubs have scored three or fewer runs in five consecutive games and won them all. The last team in the majors to do it was the 2011 Brewers.

‘‘We’ve just seen nothing but good pitching the last five games here,’’ manager Joe Maddon said.

The Cubs had five weather-related postponements through April 18. They’ve had none since, coinciding with a 9-2 run.

The Cubs have won so many low-scoring games lately, they’re in danger of overworking their late-inning aces. On this night, setup man Carl Edwards Jr. and closer Brandon Morrow were unavailable. That gave the ninth inning to Brian Duensing and Cishek.

And Lester’s defense-shortened outing enabled rookie Luke Farrell to earn the first victory of his career. He retired all four batters he faced to earn it.

‘‘It’s cool, I won’t try to downplay it,’’ said Farrell, the son of former Red Sox manager John Farrell. ‘‘To get your first win in the big leagues is an achievement.’’

He said his phone was blowing up with texts and calls afterward, including from his dad.

‘‘He was pumped,’’ Farrell said.

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Chicago Sun-Times Rockie road less taken: Cubs’ Kris Bryant vs. Jon Gray and what might have been By Gordon Wittenmyer

Before 96 home runs, two All-Star selections and one enormous, diamond-encrusted ring, Kris Bryant knew only one thing about his impending professional career.

‘‘I honestly thought I was going to be [a Colorado Rockie],” Bryant said. “Just because before the [2013] draft, everybody was talking and doing their research, and everybody was saying the Cubs are going to pick a pitcher because that’s what they needed at the time. And then they picked me, and it seemed like almost a letdown for some of the fans.”

The fans’ opinions changed quickly as the No. 2 overall pick reached the majors in 2015 on his way to being named rookie of the year.

The Cubs did need pitching, and there was much internal debate whether Bryant should be picked instead of either of the top two pitchers in that draft, Stanford’s and Oklahoma’s Jon Gray.

The Cubs said Appel was at the top of their board, but the Astros took him with the No. 1 pick. The Cubs took Bryant, leaving the Rockies with Gray at No. 3.

Appel already is out of baseball.

Gray will pitch for the Rockies on Tuesday, just 11 days after he took the loss in the Cubs’ 16-5 win at Coors Field. Bryant had a walk, strikeout and groundout against Gray, who was making his first start against the Cubs.

“He’s doing pretty well for himself,” Bryant said. “He throws hard with good stuff, and he’s young just like I am. I think both teams won in that draft.”

Bryant won an MVP award and helped win a World Series in 2016. The jury is still out on Gray.

Bryant will be keeping tabs on Gray, along with , who was drafted 32nd that year.

“Certainly, I do take a sense of pride into how I conduct myself and how I perform on the field,” Bryant said. “I always want to be better than the people I was drafted with. But he’s a stud, too. A lot of people in that draft were studs, and it’s been cool to follow a lot of their careers so far.”

As cool as those daydreams of hitting at Coors Field 81 times a year?

“What a fun place it is to hit,” said Bryant, who talked about that with his dad before the draft. They also talked about what it would be like to play at historic Wrigley Field.

“It really was a win-win,” he said.

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Chicago Sun-Times Cubs ‘riding the wave’ to 9-2 mark with makeshift 1-2 punch atop batting order By Gordon Wittenmyer

You like Albert Almora Jr. as the Cubs’ every-day leadoff man? A told-you-so contingent on Twitter certainly does.

Don’t get used to it. The only thing more likely to change on a given day at Wrigley Field than the leadoff man is the weather.

But Almora reached a Cubs benchmark Monday by leading off for the 11th consecutive game, one more than Anthony Rizzo’s streak last June. Since Dexter Fowler, the only man to lead off more consecutive games than that was Kyle Schwarber, who led off 26 of the first 27 games last season (in streaks of 14 and 12).

What’s more, Javy Baez has been in the second spot for 10 of those 11 with Almora. The Cubs are 9-2 in those 11 games after a 3-2 victory against the Rockies, and manager Joe Maddon suggested he doesn’t see any need for changes just yet.

Yes, Ben Zobrist takes the best at-bat on the team, he said. Yes, he expects Ian Happ to regroup and recapture a share of the leadoff role.

‘‘But in the meantime, I just think it’s the kind of group that you ride the wave a little bit, and we’re just riding the wave right now,’’ Maddon said. ‘‘I hope it stays [this way].’’

Not likely. But Almora, who drove in the tying run with a single in the fifth, is hitting .298 with a .340 on- base percentage and nine runs scored in the 11-game run.

Baez was one of the National League’s best hitters in April and arguably the Cubs’ MVP for the month.

Both had 11-game hitting streaks until Sunday.

‘‘And if they’re doing that,’’ Maddon said of continuing to get on base, ‘‘they can stay there as long as they want.’’

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