LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA – JUNE 24: Craig Kimbrel #46 of the Chicago Cubs celebrates with teammates after throwing a combined no hitter against the Los Angeles Dodgers following the ninth inning at Dodger Stadium on June 24, 2021 in Los Angeles, California. The Chicago Cubs won, 4-0. (Photo by Michael Owens/Getty Images)
The Chicago Cubs had a very big win over the Los Angeles Dodgers on Thursday night. They had a combined no-hitter to earn the victory. It was a very impressive pitching performance from Zach Davies, Ryan Tepera, Andrew Chafin, and Craig Kimbrel to not allow a single Dodger to have a hit. This is a loaded lineup with superstars like Mookie Betts, Cody Bellinger, and Max Muncy amongst others so seeing the Cubs dominate like that was impressive.
The Chicago Cubs had a very good pitching performance from their staff.
Zach Davies earned the win as the starter. They also defeated Walker Buehler who went into the game without a loss on the season. They did, as a team, allow eight walks which is a bit of a hit but that doesn’t matter. They didn’t allow one of the best batting lineups to have a single hit over nine innings which is incredibly fun.
There is one stat that sticks out from the night that is incredible. The Chicago Cubs threw their first combined no-no in franchise history but that isn’t the impressive stat. The impressive stat is that the Cubs are the first visiting team to ever throw multiple no-hitters at Dodger Stadium. That is a very tough building for opposing pitchers to throw in and the Cubs have two of these there.
Some people might not like combined no-hitters but they are at least a little impressive. They don’t happen often either so that adds to the hype around them. If you include the no-hitters from individual pitchers this season, this Cubs one was the seventh on the season. If you include the one that Madison Bumgarner threw for the Arizona Diamondbacks, it is the 8th of the season.
The #Cubs are the first visiting team ever to throw multiple no-hitters at Dodger Stadium.
Zach Davies has to get most of the credit for this win. He went six of the nine innings and was very good. He has been up and down so far this season but the Cubs have to love seeing an outing like this from him. Every reliever that came in gave up exactly one walk but did their job otherwise. Seeing someone like Craig Kimbrel continue his success by dominating the 9th inning was very cool. If it had to be a combined no-hitter, this was the perfect quad for the job.
The Cubs now have three more games at Dodger Stadium this season. Los Angeles is now a loser of four straight so you have to imagine that they are angry with the way things are going. Seeing the Cubs no-hit them on their field has to be very annoying to them. Jake Arrieta is going to be on the mound for tonight’s game and he will face Tony Gonsolin.
ChicagoBulls (Photo by Mitchell Leff/Getty Images)
As we are now down to the remaining four teams in the 2021 NBA Playoffs, things are getting more and more intense. For a team like the Chicago Bulls, a postseason run like, say, the Atlanta Hawks, is a mere pipe dream right now.
But, the Bulls aren’t too far away from being able to surprise some folks just as the Hawks have been doing. The pieces they have in place include a duo that should be kept around for the long haul.
Ensuring the Bulls keep Zach LaVine around on a multi-year extension should be priority number one for Vice President Arturas Karnisovas. That would mean he and big man Nikola Vucevic would remain in Chicago for the foreseeable future.
From there, all the Bulls need is one more piece to contend. One more stud player should launch the Bulls from a playoff outsider to a playoff contender.
The Chicago Bulls should pursue one of the top players from this year’s eliminated postseason teams.
This summer, we could see some big shakeups amongst some of the playoff teams from the 2020-2021 season.
The Philadelphia 76ers, for example, have some serious questions to answer about their franchise going forward. They might be one of the teams who make an enormous change.
If the Bulls wanted to continue being aggressive as they were this past season in acquiring Vucevic, they could opt to engage with a team like Philadelphia — or even one of a couple other squads.
Which of the following trades would you most like to see happen?
Full disclosure: Mike Lust has recorded a handful of records I’ve played on. I also played in a band with him for a while. But there are probably a few hundred local musicians who could say the same thing. Between his prolific career as a recording engineer, his nearly 20-year tenure as the high-kicking, guitar-shredding front man for local outfit Tight Phantomz, his countless stints as a sideman for all sorts of punk and rock bands, and his reliable presence as a larger-than-life, always-on, out-and-about personality, Lust is ubiquitous not only in Chicagomusic but in Chicago life. His decades of solid musical output have led to his first-ever solo record, Demented Wings, out June 18 on long-running local DIY label Forge Again. Coming from such an over-the-top character, this collection of simple, introspective pop music is a pleasant and welcome surprise. Performed almost entirely by Lust, the mostly minimal songs on Demented Wings include warm, fuzzy, lo-fi forays into synth pop, introspective plays at shoegaze, and catchy takes on bedroom psych. Lead single “Danceteria,” which is anchored by a straightforward keyboard melody and mellow, hooky vocals that sound a bit like Bob Pollard, could play on a loop for an hour and I’d be thrilled. The stomp of “Chrome Intentions” hints at the kind of sleazy swagger you’d expect from Lust, while album highlight “Distort It, Pony” sounds like it could be a lost Ride demo. An album this heartfelt was the last thing I expected from someone as out-there as Mike Lust–a guy I once saw spike a bass guitar onto the venue floor from the stage. These songs can easily get stuck in your head, which is par for the course for Lust, but they also feel deep and sweet, which definitely isn’t–and that just goes to prove he can do it all. v
A poem about an adventurous sailor helped inspire Alice Clark Brown to see the world, though not from “the rolling deck” described by writer Langston Hughes.
She saw it from the rolling back of an elephant.
She was one of the first Black women to work as a showgirl, dancer and aerial acrobat with Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus.
Mrs. Brown, 68, died June 6 of pulmonary fibrosis at her Oak Park home, according to her husband Geoff Brown.
She was a 19-year-old Andy Frain “usherette” at the old International Amphitheatre when the circus came to town.
Growing up, she wasn’t athletic and was scared to even ride a Ferris wheel. She once told the Chicago Daily News, “I was the worst student in my gym class.”
But she fell under the spell of the circus and decided to audition.
Despite her inexperience — she had no formal ballet training — her smile and charisma impressed Antoinette Concello, the circus’s aerial director, a legendary trapeze artist and member of the Flying Concellos who appeared in the 1952 film “The Greatest Show on Earth” and trained Betty Hutton, its star.
A determined young Alice learned some choreography from a helpful dancer with the circus and asked for a second audition. She aced it and signed a Ringling contract in 1971.
The circus was split into two touring companies, denoted the Red Unit and the Blue Unit, each with its own headliners. Mrs. Brown is believed to have been the first Black showgirl in the Blue Unit, according to Heidi Connor, chief archivist at The John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art in Sarasota, Florida.
Mrs. Brown traded her Andy Frain uniform for sequinned and feathered costumes that cost $1,200 half a century ago. She left wintry Chicago for Florida, where she could reach out the windows of the circus train and pluck oranges off the trees and wave at people who came to greet the performers passing through.
The train chugged across America and Canada, filled largely with European acrobats, clowns and animal trainers. Heading to the cafe car, “You might pass through the Romanian car, the Hungarian car, the Polish car. They would be someone cooking, and you get all these smells from the different countries. It was very exciting,” Mrs. Brown said in an interview for a Ringling oral history.
Alice Clark Brown said riding on the elephants was “kind of scary for me because I was afraid of heights.”John H. White / Sun-Times file
Riding on the elephants was “kind of scary for me because I was afraid of heights,” she said.
When the animals performed headstands, she said, “If you’re not careful, you’ll topple right over the elephant’s head.”
At first, “You were way up high because they’re standing up on their hind legs,” she said in the oral history interview. “They would topple down and do their headstand. You had to just stay pinned on. I had noticed other circuses where the girls held on, but, in the Blue Unit, you could not do that because our tricks were so hard to do. You had to let go. I had to learn how to let centrifugal force work with that so that I could stay on.”
Looking at old photos, she said: “As you can see, it looks like I’m defying gravity.”
Years later, as elephant acts fell out of favor amid calls to leave them in their natural habitat, she maintained the animals were always treated well at her circus.
Mrs. Brown also learned how to do the Spanish web aerial act. Showgirls climbed a rope, did acrobatic tricks and spun around, sometimes upside-down, holding onto the spinning rope by only a foot, a knee or a wrist.
“When you get 24 girls doing that at the same time, it’s an aerial ballet,” said retired circus clown Peggy Williams.
On the road, her family said, she met famous people including Coretta Scott King, football star Roosevelt Grier and singer Chaka Khan.
Mrs. Brown was fascinated by Ringling Bros. animal trainer Gunther Gebel-Williams.
“He had such a magnetism, almost like the Michael Jackson of the circus,” she said in her interview.
She worked with choreographer Richard Barstow, who also created dance numbers for the 1954 Judy Garland-James Mason film “A Star is Born.”
She had so much fun at her job, she said: “I felt like sometimes I should be paying the circus.”
Mrs. Brown was often featured in news stories. TV’s Barbara Walters once interviewed her. “She was good P.R. for the circus,” said her sister Anna Clark.
Growing up, “I was the worst student in my gym class,” Alice Clark Brown once told the Chicago Daily News.Sun-Times file
In a 1972 article in the Philadelphia Daily News, Mrs. Brown said, “I think the circus is fun, and I’m glad to be here not only for myself but Blacks in general. It is important that they be represented in every aspect of American life.”
Circus glamour didn’t safeguard her against racism. While visiting a Texas restaurant with other performers, everyone else at her table got served, but her order, despite repeat requests, never arrived. At a Florida restaurant, she had to wait for her dinner. And when it came, “She had ants on her plate,” her sister said.
The King Charles Troupe, the first all-Black act with Ringling Brothers, kept a protective eye out for her, said retired member Floyd “Sweets” Harrison. When men asked if she was a relative of the unicycle-riding, basketball-dunking group, troupe members fibbed and said ” ‘She’s my little niece.’ They thought she was related to those crazy King Charles guys,” Harrison said.
She grew up on the South Side, the daughter of Charles Clark from Meridian, Mississippi, who insisted on buying his daughters boys’ shoes because he thought they’d last longer than girls’ footwear. The result, her sister said, was being chased home by kids who taunted them with cries of “Boy shoes! Boy shoes!”
Little Alice, Anna and their brother Gerry Clark “explored Washington Park from one end to the other with bread and baloney and Kool-Aid,” her sister said.
Young Anna (from left), Alice and Gerry Clark.Provided
After Burke grade school, she attended DuSable High School, where her art teacher was Margaret Burroughs, who co-founded the DuSable Museum of African-American Art.
The children’s mother Mattie, who was from what’s now known as Weir, Mississippi, introduced them to the city’s museums and the Hall Library at 4801 S. Michigan Ave.
Young Alice loved to read. Hughes was one of her favorite writers. She said his poem “Sailor” captured the wanderlust she felt.
And she loved going to the old Regal Theater to see and hear the Five Stairsteps, Patti LaBelle and the Bluebelles, the Temptations, Jackie Wilson and Aretha Franklin.
After three years on the road with the circus, Mrs. Brown decided to come home to hone her singing and acting, her sister said.
She worked as a tour guide at Johnson Publishing, 820 S. Michigan Ave. That’s where she met her future husband, Geoff Brown, then an entertainment writer with Jet magazine.
“She looked up at me and smiled, and, I’m telling you, love at first sight for me,” he said.
When she died, they’d been married for 44 years.
Newly married Alice Clark Brown and Geoff Brown.Provided
While raising a family, she also did theater, played piano and sang in nightclubs under the name Brandee Brown.
When she auditioned for the Black Ensemble Theater to portray Nettie Dorsey, wife of gospel legend Thomas Dorsey, his niece — famed music teacher Lena McLin — “started crying and said, ‘That’s Nettie.’ She figured that’s what got her the job,” her husband said.
Mrs. Brown and her son Geoffrey worked as extras in the 1988 Judd Reinhold-Fred Savage movie “Vice Versa.”
Alice Clark Brown (in hat) with (from left) her son Geoffrey, daughter Christina and Geoff Brown, her husband of 44 years.Provided
“She was in the ‘greatest show on Earth,’ but she was always the greatest mom on Earth,” her son said.
“She was able to take risks and put herself out there in a way I was always in awe of,” her daughter Christina said.
Mrs. Brown was a vice president of the DuSable High School Alumni Coalition for Action, a group that helped get landmark status for the school, her family said.
In 2004, she fulfilled a promise to her mother and got her college degree, in English, from the University of Illinois at Chicago.
She made delicious pineapple upside-down cake and macaroni and cheese, her children said, loved Fashion Fair cosmetics and wore red lipstick always.
Services have been held.
Family members said that, at the end of her life, Mrs. Brown asked them to play two songs for her — “You Make Me So Very Happy” and “Alice in Wonderland.”
MONTREAL, QUEBEC – JUNE 24: Robin Lehner #90 of the Vegas Golden Knights warms up prior to Game Six of the Stanley Cup Semifinals against the Montreal Canadiens in the 2021 Stanley Cup Playoffs at Bell Centre on June 24, 2021 in Montreal, Quebec. (Photo by Vaughn Ridley/Getty Images)
The Montreal Canadiens are going to the Stanley Cup Final. They defeated the Vegas Golden Knights on Thursday night to advance to the Final for the first time in 28 years. It has been a remarkable and unlikely run for them but now the Golden Knights are out. It has been a very good first few years for the Golden Knights but they are eventually going to want to win the Stanley Cup. The Chicago Blackhawks can take advantage of them during the summer if they want.
Vegas is set up well for the future but there are some players that are currently free agents. They have some tough decisions to make with a few of them but all of their top players are signed up for a while. Players like Mark Stone, Alex Pietrangelo, and Max Pacioretty amongst others are going to be there but some of their depth players might be on their way out.
The ChicagoBlackhawks could take advantage of the Vegas Golden Knights this summer.
The Chicago Blackhawks sound like a team that is going to be busy this summer. They believe that they are a good team trying to get better but that is a debate for a different day. Stan Bowman is probably so excited to take a stab at some free agents this summer. The Golden Knights have a few that would fit in on the current Blackhawks like a glove.
If the Blackhawks were smart, they would be very careful this summer. There are not game-breakers on the Golden Knights that are available but there are a few players that would be okay on the team next season. These are the three Golden Knights free agents to consider this summer:
Earl Casteel, 39, was found dead at 1:22 a.m. June 11 on a porch in the 4900 block of West Wrightwood Avenue in Belmont Cragin of a gunshot wound to the chest, police said.
Cecilia Bonilla, his 41-year-old girlfriend and the mother of his children, who was shot in the chest and arms, died at a hospital on June 20.
Brendan Deenihan, the Chicago Police Department’s chief of detectives, said the deaths appear to be a murder-suicide based on interviews and other evidence, though investigators are awaiting the results of forensic tests, and the Cook County medical examiner’s office hasn’t ruled yet on Casteel’s death.
The police said they found one of the couple’s sons walking about two blocks away after the shootings. He isn’t believed to have anything to do with the murder-suicide, officials say.
Earl CasteelChicago police arrest photo
Casteel’s children were removed from his home last year by state child welfare investigators, who determined that Casteel and other adults were putting the children at risk of abuse and neglect, officials say.
At the time of his death, Casteel was free on bail while awaiting trial on a 2020 charge of being a felon in possession of a gun and also was awaiting trial in a separate 2020 domestic battery case.
In 2015, Casteel was shot in the legs by Thaddeus “T.J.” Jimenez, the Chicago gang leader at the center of the 2019 “Motive” podcast, who was driving a convertible Mercedes while a fellow gang member in the car recorded the attack on his cellphone.
The video of the shooting, which went viral, was evidence in the trial that sent Jimenez to federal prison for more than nine years for illegal gun possession. Jimenez is still awaiting trial in Cook County on state charges in Casteel’s shooting.
Thaddeus “T.J.” Jimenez celebrates his freedom in 2009 after winning release for a killing he said he didn’t commit.Rich Hein / Sun-Times file
In 2019, “Motive” examined the life of Jimenez, who was charged with murder at 13 and released from prison in 2009 after witnesses recanted. Jimenez won $25 million from the city of Chicago in a wrongful-conviction lawsuit, then squandered most of the money he got on his gang, the Simon City Royals, authorities say.
Casteel sued Jimenez over the shooting and in 2016 won a $6 million judgment that Casteel’s lawyer Kevin O’Brien says he still hopes to collect as he tries to seize a west suburban home belonging to the mother of Jimenez’s children.
Casteel’s death won’t end the lawsuit, according to O’Brien, who said Casteel’s kids are now the beneficiaries.
“We’re not going to give up the litigation until it’s proven there’s no money there,” he said.
In a 2018 interview for “Motive,” Casteel described getting shot by Jimenez:
“And the first thing he said is, ‘You tell me why should I blast you?’ And he pulled a gun out and pointed at me. So I told him, I said, ‘You know, I got, I don’t have a problem with you. You know, what’s your problem? You know, what’s going on exactly?’ Then, he tells me I got to shut up.
“And then he fired a shot, and the first one hit in my leg, it hit me in my left leg. So I knew I was hit. I didn’t know my leg was broken. And, as he drove off, he fired another shot, and it hit me my right leg.”
Three years after the shooting, Casteel said, “I still have pain — like there’s only a certain amount of time that I can stand up without it start throbbing and aching, and then I have to sit down. It’s bad.”
Liam Neeson just turned 69 but he’s still taking on brutally punishing roles that would challenge actors half his age — and this time around he’s facing a myriad of obstacles, from bad guys to financial strain to the elements, in “The Ice Road,” a Netflix movie that plays like an extended revival episode of “Ice Road Truckers” crossed with William Friedkin’s classic 1977 trucker thriller “Sorcerer” (which itself was a remake of 1953’s “Wages of Fear.”)
Netflix presents a film written and directed by Jonathan Hensleigh. Rated PG-13 (for strong language and sequences of action and violence. Running time: 108 minutes. Available now on Netflix.
The dialogue is hokey and the action careens to the very edge of implausibility, but writer-director Jonathan Hensleigh (“The Punisher”) has a keen sense of pacing, the practical effects and CGI-laden stuntwork are first-rate and, come on, we’ve got Liam Neeson smacking a guy in the chest with a Thermos and saying things like, “Kiss my Irish ass!”
Neeson plays Mike McCann, a financially strapped veteran trucker based in North Dakota who takes on dangerous long-haul work where he can get it — but he’s been fired from one job after another in recent years, due to the fact his mechanic brother and traveling companion Gurty (Marcus Thomas) is a war veteran with PTSD who has a condition called aphasia, which jumbles up his words and makes it nearly impossible for him to communicate with anyone other than Mike.
After losing yet another gig, Mike is just about out of options when he gets a job offer from a man named Goldenrod (Laurence Fishburne), who is putting together an emergency crew to embark on a dangerous rescue mission to a mine in Winnipeg. There’s been a methane gas explosion, killing eight miners and leaving 26 unaccounted for, and Goldenrod needs drivers for three trucks that will haul the enormous 18-foot wellheads and some 300 feet of pipe necessary to drill and cap the wells and save the miners before their oxygen supply runs out.
Complicating matters: It’s April, five weeks after the traditional season for ice road trucking, and the path to the mine is beginning to thin and might well crack under the spring sun. As one driver puts it, “You go too fast, you create a pressure wave, and in [the ice] you go. Too slow and the ice can’t handle the pounds per square inch on your tire — in you go.” This is why each driver will be paid $50,000 — if they successfully carry out the mission. Meanwhile, there’s a separate drama taking place within the collapsed mine, as a veteran miner named Rene (Holt McCallany from “Mindhunter”) begins to suspect the explosion was due to deliberate neglect from the obligatory greedy corporate owners.
It’s a three-truck mission. Goldenrod (what a name!) takes the wheel behind one truck, with Mike and Gurty in rig No. 2. A young driver named Tantoo (Amber Midthunder) will take the wheel of the third truck, with company insurance claims adjuster Varnay (Benjamin Walker) along for the ride for reasons that become as slippery as the road ahead. (Goldenrod has to assemble this makeshift team because all of his regular drivers have scattered to warm locales on vacation.)
Canada has stood in for any number of American locales over the years, but this time around, Manitoba is, well, Manitoba, and the vistas are breathtakingly beautiful. The rescue team runs into virtually every obstacle imaginable — some created by nature, others man-made. We get a number of scenes where the ice buckles, or cracks, and Mike et al. have to resort to MacGyver-esque improvisation in order to stay out of the water. (Spoiler alert: Not everybody stays dry.)
Neeson is his reliable self; even though Mike is a crusty old bird, we don’t doubt he can still handle a rig and throw a punch and pull someone out of the icy waters. The supporting cast is excellent, with Amber Midthunder particularly terrific as Tantoo, who will do anything to carry out the mission because one of those trapped miners is her brother. “The Ice Road” is what we used to call a B-movie, but there’s no shame in a B-movie that carries out its mission with such competence and star power.
Craig Kimbrel (center) celebrates with teammates after throwing a combined no hitter against the Los Angeles Dodgers following the ninth inning at Dodger Stadium on June 24, 2021 in Los Angeles, California. The Chicago Cubs won, 4-0. | Getty
Zach Davies, Ryan Tepera, Andrew Chafin and Craig Kimbrel allowed eight walks but zero hits in the Cubs’ 4-0 win over the Dodgers.
LOS ANGELES – It wasn’t the prettiest one you’ll see, but you won’t be able to tell in the history books.
Zach Davies, Ryan Tepera, Andrew Chafin and Craig Kimbrel made history on Thursday, tossing the first combined no-hitter in franchise history in the Cubs’ 4-0 victory over the Los Angeles Dodgers. It’s the 17th no-hitter in team history.
It hasn’t been long since the last no-hitter for the Cubs after Alec Mills made history against the Milwaukee Brewers on Sept. 13, 2020.
“This is an awesome moment,” Davies said. “Even though it wasn’t a solo, it was a combined effort. Just being part of history and something like that is fun.”
The 2021 season has been one full of ups and downs for Davies as the Cubs’ right-hander has tried to find a consistent rhythm. But he definitely had things locked in against the World Series champions.
Davies’ night didn’t start the smoothest as he walked both Max Muncy and Cody Bellinger in the first inning before getting a groundout to end the threat. But after that inning things started to click for Davies as he figured out exactly how he wanted to attack the Dodgers.
The Cubs’ right-hander allowed just two hard-hit balls over his six no-hit innings with four strikeouts and avoided little, if any contact all night.
But it wasn’t a perfect start for Davies as he walked a season-high five batters and has had better outings this season, but none of that mattered as he left the game after being pinch-hit for in the seventh with the lead and zeros still on the board.
“I think the hard part is taking a guy who hasn’t given up a hit,” manager David Ross said. “He was going back out and try to at least get into the seventh and see where it went, but I felt like we needed to take advantage of guys on base with nobody out to push across an extra run.”
The bullpen has been a big part of the Cubs’ success this season and it made sense that they’d get an opportunity to not only help the Cubs win, but be part of history, as well.
Ross then turned things over to his A-lineup in the bullpen to close the door. The combination of Tepera, Chafin and Kimbrel have been lights out this season and when that trio makes an appearance, it usually means good things for the Cubs. This night was no exception.
Tepera was the first man up after Davies and did his job, working a hitless seventh despite allowing a walk. Chafin came on in the eighth inning and did the same, making Kimbrel the last man up.
“The whole bullpen had no idea, like completely oblivious,” Chafin said after the game. “We couldn’t see the scoreboard with the line or whatever at the bottom.”
After walking the lead-off man, Kimbrel looked as electric as he had all season and striking out Bellinger, Albert Pujols and Will Smith to slam the door on the Dodgers in the ninth and send the Cubs to a victory on a historic night.
“It’s definitely an honor,” Tepera said. “What an accomplishment. As a bullpen this year, so far, we’ve been really good. It’s kind of a cool thing to make history like that. As a baseball player, that’s all you can really ask for.”
“When Willy gave a big fist pump, I knew something was up,” Kimbrel said. “And then [Tepera] ran out there and whispered in my ear, ‘You have no idea what just happened.’ Then Javy put me in a headlock and I knew pretty fast what had just happened.”
The Cubs’ combined no-no is the team’s second no-hitter at Dodgers Stadium with the last one coming courtesy of Jake Arrieta on Aug. 30, 2015.
Willson Contreras wasn’t behind the plate for Mills’ no-hitter last season and after finally getting the opportunity to catch one himself, naturally, the emotion of the moment quickly took hold.
“Catching this team since 2016, I’ve been catching a lot of shutout games, but nothing close to a no-hitter,” said Contreras, who also homered in the game. “Tonight was one of those nights that have a special place in my life and will be hard for me to forget.
“I’m thankful for all the pitchers that came out of the bullpen to their job without knowing that was going on, but I’m really proud.”
There are no restrictions to shopping or important decisions. The moon is in Capricorn.
Aries (March 21-April 19)
For some reason, personal details about your private life seem to be public. Perhaps people are talking about you? Because this influence is present, avoid a public argument or anything that might embarrass you. (Check your zipper.)
Taurus (April 20-May 20)
Today you feel restless. It’s Friday and you want something different to happen. You want adventure and a chance to see new places or meet new faces. You also want to learn something new. Basically, you want to be stimulated in a way that expands your world.
Gemini (May 21-June 20)
You’re very vocal and proactive right now, which is why you are concerned with issues about inheritances, shared property, insurance matters or something to do with your debt. You will successfully deal with problems or disputes because you are confident. Furthermore, Mercury in your sign will give you gravitas.
Cancer (June 21-July 22)
Ideally, you need to go more than halfway when dealing with others. Even though the sun and Venus are in your sign, which is a good thing because they are empowering plus Venus will always make you charming and diplomatic. Nevertheless, with the moon opposite your sign, be cooperative with others.
Leo (July 23-Aug. 22)
It’s Friday! And you’re energetic because fiery Mars is in your sign. Nevertheless, you have to take care of certain details and old business on behalf of someone else. You might have to do someone a favor or work on their behalf. You might have to deal with a pet today.
Virgo (Aug. 23-Sept. 22)
It’s Friday and you are in a playful mood! Accept invitations to party or socialize. You will also enjoy the arts, a romantic get-together, sportsevents or playful activities with kids. This is a friendly, social day for you!
Libra (Sept. 23-Oct. 22)
It’s the end of the week and you are still high visibility You’ve been active with friends and groups, perhaps even physically or in competition. That’s why you will appreciate a chance to catch your breath and enjoy some quiet time at home. (Whew!)
Scorpio (Oct. 23-Nov. 21)
In conversation with others today, you’re eager to be heard. You have something to say. You want to have a meaningful exchange with someone not just superficial, polite chitchat because you feel the need for a connection with someone.
Sagittarius (Nov. 22-Dec. 21)
You have money on your mind today because right now, there are four planets in both of your Money Houses. This means you are thinking about earnings, cash flow and possible major purchases. You are also doing a bit of wheeling and dealing related to debt and shared property.
Capricorn (Dec. 22-Jan. 19)
The moon is in your sign today, which will make you more emotional than usual. Do be aware of this. However, the good news is that when the moon is in your sign (for two days every month) it’s slightly boosts your good luck. Yay! Ask the universe for a favor!
Aquarius (Jan. 20-Feb. 18)
It’s Friday and you feel playful, especially with kids and younger people. You will also enjoy a chance to appreciate the arts and crafts of others. Nevertheless, you have a strong urge for privacy and a chance to contemplate your navel with a drink in hand.
Pisces (Feb. 19-March 20)
Right now, you’re playing hard and working hard! You will definitely enjoy schmoozing with others today and this evening. Social outings, the arts, sports events, fun times with kids and romantic adventures are all tops on your menu right now. Enjoy a warm conversation with someone.
If Your Birthday Is Today
Actress Busy Philipps (1979) shares your birthday. You are intuitive and sense the feelings and problems of others, which makes you sympathetic and caring. Your curiosity gives you the investigative skills to solve mysteries, generally, with a stylish flair. This year is the end of a nine-year cycle, which means you are wrapping up things and letting go of what is no longer relevant in your life.
Right-hander Kyle Hendricks has been lights out, but the rest of the team’s rotation has left a lot to be desired this season.
LOS ANGELES — If there’s one area that has been under a microscope for the Cubs in the first half of the season, it’s the inconsistency of their rotation. And as they play their toughest stretch of games to date, the importance of quality starting pitching has stood out even more. The Giants, Padres, Mets, Dodgers and Brewers all have strong rotations — crucial to any team’s playoff hopes.
Right-hander Kyle Hendricks has returned to ace level over the last two months, winning his last eight starts and going 8-0 with a 2.25 ERA over that span. He’s the top-of-the-rotation starter the Cubs have needed.
“I really just want to be that consistent guy every day, [where] every time I take the ball, my teammates know what they’re gonna get,”Hendricks said. “Whatever you want to call that, that’s just really my focus.”
Having Hendricks at the top of his game is what the Cubs hoped for when they made their rotation plans over the offseason and spring training. But it’s going to take more than him to make a push at the postseason, and that puts the onus on the rest of their starters.
As the All-Star break approaches, the question is likely to be: Can anyone else step up?
Before going on the injured list with a blister, right-hander Adbert Alzolay was looking like that guy, and given his continued development and repertoire, he still may be the most likely candidate.
As the Cubs wait for Trevor Williams’ return from the IL — with Alec Mills awaiting his next shot at starting and Zach Davies finding his way — the toughest decision is going to be what to do with Jake Arrieta. He has struggled mightily recently, going 1-4 with a 7.22 ERA over his last seven starts. While there’s still hope he can turn things around, there comes a point to be realistic about what’s is best for the team moving forward.
“I know every guy comes in and works and puts in the adjustments they’re making in their bullpens,” manager David Ross said. “I know our pitching group is really happy about the work Jake’s putting in. I hadn’t thought that far ahead about how long you let it go.
“I think you kind of get to a point when you have to make those tough decisions and assess.”
If any starter’s struggles get to a point where a change needs to be made, the trade market obviously would be a place to find some help.But with many teams searching for pitching depth, that’s easier said than done, especially in a season with many pitchers going down with injuries.
The Cubs could get creative with two of their young bullpen arms, taking from an area of strength to supplement a weakness. Rookies Keegan Thompson and Justin Steele have made a big impact in the bullpen, which has been one of baseball’s best. They were both starters in the minor leagues. One idea could be to let them get some spot starts and see the results. The Cubs also could use them as openers, allowing one to piggyback the other, with each getting two or three innings.
“I think you just continue to assess your talent and how they’re going to help you out and how they’re going to be best suited to compete that day and win that day,” Ross said. “Health is obviously playing a huge factor for us right now.
“But we do have to trust these guys and their talent. That’s why they’re on the team and in the big leagues is because they have a proven track record — especially guys who have had success.”
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