Cubs surge while Bears continue to mystify

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The Cubs continue to be on a tear after being swept by the Milwaukee Brewers a little over a week ago. The Cubs won their seventh in a row Tuesday night with a 2-1 over the Tampa Bay Rays. Cubs starter, Mike Montgomery, was great in 6 innings of work, allowing only a solo homer to Brad Miller. The Cubs offense was limited to a Kyle Schwarber home run and a Javy Baez rbi double, but it was enough.

Pedro Strop, Carl Wilson Jr. and Wade Davis each pitched a scoreless inning to nail the game down. Wade Davis picked up his 32^nd save in 32 opportunities. I don't always understand Joe Maddon's moves and think he tends to over manage, but the Cubs do seem to hitting their stride at the right time.

The Milwaukee Brewers have been nearly as hot as the Cubs, beating the Pirates 1-0. I've been surprised at the Brewers' staying power. I've been especially surprised at their starting pitching. They've given themselves at least a punchers chance to get into the playoffs.

Looking Good While Losing

The White Sox lost to the Houston Astros by a score of 3-1 Tuesday night, but that doesn't really matter. What matters is Lucas Giolito went 6.2 innings and gave up only 2 runs while Yoan Moncada got 3 hits. If you squint, you can see the outline of a decent team coming into focus. Next year Giolito, Reynaldo Lopez, Carlos Rodon and possibly even Carson Fulmer figure to give thew Sox the foundation for a decent rotation. If you sprinkle in Michael Kopech you have at least an interesting, if not good team.

Moncada is now hitting .241. That might not sound like much, but after a miserable start, he's been on fire. The Sox are working on a decent middle of the lineup with Moncada, Jose Abreu and Avisail Garcia. The lineup just needs more length. That also is on the way, though not as quickly as pitching help.

Glennon is who we thought he was

After an ugly 26-7 loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Mike Glennon remains the Bears quarterback. I have no idea as to why. Mitch Trubisky could accelerate his learning curve by playing now. The Bears aren't going anywhere this season, so why not let him learn in actual games? Mike Glennon looks like a backup quarterback with serious limitations. That comes as no surprise to those who saw him play in Tampa Bay.

Eli Manning and Andy Dalton are a couple of other NFL Qbs not setting the world on fire. I've long thought Manning was overrated and Dalton seems like a guy that can get to the playoffs and lose in the opening round for you.

And meanwhile, in Miami....

Meanwhile, Jay Cutler is 1-0 as the Miami Dolphins starting quarterback. I suspect Jay had a lot more desire to win than he was given credit it for. If he's successful in Miami, it will be an indictment on the Bears organization. As if there wasn't already enough of those.

More next time.