AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh

The Rundown: Cubs Sweep Mets, NL Central Stacked & Jacked, David Byrne Slays Coachella

Photo of Michael Canter Michael CanterApril 20, 2026

“So live it; just gotta go with it ’cause this ride’s never gonna stop.” – Just a Ride by Jem

The Cubs swept the Mets to improve to 12-9 on the season after yesterday’s thrilling 2-1 win. Still, they’re tied for last place in the NL Central, though technically ahead of the Brewers based on run differential. Chicago is theoretically the third-best team in all of baseball because they’ve outscored their opponents by 30 runs. Let’s put a hold on any champagne celebrations, however, because wins and losses are still the standard bearer of success in this league. Pythagorean wins and expected outcomes mean little when your staring up the behinds of 3-4 teams.

Can you tell it’s Monday morning? And no, pizza poppers, shrimp shooters, and extreme fajitas aren’t going to change that.

If you need something to turn that frown upside down, it’s that the Cubs have won five straight. Stacking victories is a rare occurrence in these parts, and a win tonight would tie the 2024 team for the longest winning streak in the Craig Counsell era. Give the cerebral manager credit for at least keeping pace with the Reds, Pirates, and Cardinals. The quirks of this season’s schedule mean the Cubs have few head-to-head chances against their division rivals until summer arrives.

The Phillies come to Chicago tonight having been beaten and battered by Chicago’s North Side Baseballers just last week. The Cubs plated 28 runners in taking two of three in Philadelphia, a watershed series for our heroes because productivity finally matched expected results. That run differential is buoyed by four wins in which Chicago scored 10 or more runs, and two of those came against the Phillies last Tuesday and Wednesday.

Still, the Cubs are going to have to do better in close games, so the bullpen deserves as much credit for wins on Saturday and Sunday as the team’s resurgent offense. Ben Brown, Caleb Thielbar, Jacob Webb, Riley Martin, and Corbin Martin held the Mets scoreless in the two wins. The Cubs will need similarly strong efforts from their relief corps to keep that winning streak going.

Cubs News & Notes

Ball Four

How do you not love baseball?

Central Intelligence

How About That!

Aaron Judge and Ben Rice are the Yankees’ new dynamic duo, just like Mickey Mantle and Roger Maris were in 1961.

White Sox slugger Munetaka Murakami has eight home runs in his first 22 games, the most ever by a Japanese-born major leaguer. Shohei Ohtani was the previous leader with five,

The Padres were sold for a record $3.96 billion to José E. Feliciano and his wife Kwanza Jones, a deal that may save baseball from an anticipated lockout this winter.

San Diego second baseman Jake Cronenworth was struck in the face by a 97 mph fastball, but he opted to remain in the game and helped his team clinch a win.

Cody Bellinger is shattering the myth that left-handed batters can’t hit lefty pitchers.

Apropos of Nothing

I caught the Coachella live stream on Saturday night, and David Byrne simply killed it. Byrne and his crew of untethered musicians in orange jumpsuits were almost as unforgettable as Madonna joining Sabrina Carpenter on the main stage the night before. His setlist included several big hits from his time with Talking Heads, including Life During Wartime, complete with footage of ICE agents tripping over themselves while trying to capture a bicyclist.

Boomers, who clutch the pearls of nostalgia like no other demographic in history, would prefer Byrne play with the group he made famous in the late 1970s and early ’80s. But that’s the rub: Talking Heads are really Byrne and vice versa. The 73-year-old frontman looks refreshed and has more energy with his merry band of performing musicians. That’s not a slight to Jerry Harrison, Tina Weymouth, or Chris Frantz. This is different, and you can decide which is better, but be honest about it. I prefer the new stuff.

And how good is Byrne? His live performances have now been filmed by Jonathan Demme and Spike Lee, and he slayed a Coachella audience who were likely born long after the final performances at venerated punk and post-punk music halls CBGB’s and Mudd Club.

I’m going to Byrne’s show in Milwaukee on May 3 and I’m truly looking forward to it.

Three from the Bill Chuck Files

  1. Cleveland has the longest current gap between no-hitters. The team’s last one was the perfect game Len Barker tossed on May 15, 1981, against the Blue Jays. That’s the same year that Once in a Lifetime charted.
  2. Bob Gibson allowed a scant four walk-off homers in his storied career. Who beat him? Tommy Davis (1962), Frank Robinson (1964), Billy Williams (1971), and Mike Schmidt (1973). Here’s the Opening Day game-winning blast by sweet swingin’ Billy.
  3. The Mets have now lost 11 straight, the 14th time in team history they’ve suffered through double-digit losing streaks. Some hope exists, however. The 1951 Giants, 1982 Braves, 2017 Dodgers, and 2025 Guardians all made the postseason despite those stretches of bad baseball. The ’51 Giants won the pennant thanks to the most famous walk-off home run of all-time by Bobby Thompson. The “shot heard ’round the world” was famously called by Russ Hodges.

Son of Apropos

If you’ve yet to see the Ralph Branca documentary “Branca’s Pitch,” I highly recommend it.

Extra Innings

Pete Crow-Armstrong played like the second coming of Willie Mays for a good two months last season. This year, Nico Hoerner is channeling the ghost of Nap Lajoie with his early-season success.

They Said It

  • “With Cade, we talked about just worrying about today. Make today the best you can, and just keep doing that. That’s how you somehow speed this process along a little bit. But if you get too far ahead of yourself, it’s certainly a long recovery.” – Counsell
  • “We’re going to put players in positions to have success. That trumps the other thing. Now, at some point, if the team doesn’t provide a better option, then maybe we do something different. But [pinch-hitting Kelly] was not a hard decision. There’s no training wheels there. This is a team that we’re trying to win games with, and we’re going to go with the best matchups.” – Counsell

Monday Walk-Up Song

The Heads were essentially Byrne and his entourage by the time the band released its final three albums and still they’ve been offered as much as $80 million to reunite for one performance. I’d love to see it, but it’s not hard to defend Byrne because he genuinely seems happy now.

Photo of Michael Canter Michael CanterApril 20, 2026
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