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Cory Stillman, by winning the 2004 and 2006 Stanley Cups with the Lightning and Hurricanes, became the sixth player in NHL history to win consecutive Cups with different teams.

Riley Stillman, all of 6 and 8 years old at the time, thus became one of the first dozen or so kids to watch their fathers win consecutive Cups.

Now 23 and well into his own NHL career, the Blackhawks defenseman can appreciate the memories even more.

”That’s something you took for granted as a little kid,” he said. ”As my career has progressed on and moved forward, from a young kid to the position I’m in now, [I’m] realizing how hard it is to win one, let alone two. It was a massive influence to be around the rink and watch Dad grow as he got older.”

Riley hasn’t enjoyed a Cup run of his own yet, but he’s relishing his first months of career stability. As personable and easy-going off the ice as he is aggressive and intimidating on it, he appeared in 13 of the Hawks’ last 14 games after being acquired in a trade April 8 with the Panthers and signed a three-year contract extension before the end of the season.

With younger brother Chase projected as a second- or third-round pick in the NHL Draft next month, 2021 quickly is becoming a momentous year in the Stillman family. Cory, who retired in 2011 after more than 1,000 career games, soon will be able to celebrate having two sons affiliated with NHL franchises.

Yet it doesn’t feel long ago that Cory was in his mid-20s, starting to establish himself as a significant contributor with the Flames — his first of six NHL teams — and taking Riley out to skate for the first time.

Shortly after Riley’s birth in March 1998, the Stillman family moved into former Flames forward James Patrick’s house, which conveniently bordered a lake that froze in the winter.

”He skated around age 2,” Cory said. ”Up in Canada, it’s cold. The best place for kids to be is outside on ponds and backyard rinks. We have a picture of him and I out there — him with his helmet on, skating. . . . It’s a memory I’ll never forget.”

Riley’s acclimation to hockey soon transitioned from Canadian lakes to NHL rinks. Cory moved on to St. Louis, then Tampa, then Carolina, and Riley spent more and more time tagging along to practices and games.

Riley remembers only ”bits and pieces” of the Lightning’s title run, but he was old enough to fully admire the Hurricanes’ championship after the lockout. He made it to every playoff home game (and Game 6 in Edmonton), watching his dad score two postseason overtime game-winners and hoist the Cup after Game 7. He was hooked.

”There’s a big difference between age 6 and 8, going to the rink,” Cory said. ”At that time was probably when he started to really think he wanted to be a hockey player because he could see the excitement, the fun that we had winning.”

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”If I didn’t have sports or school, I was at the rink for [Dad’s] practice, whether it was folding towels with the trainers or hanging out with the guys,” Riley said. ”The guys my dad played with all took really good care of me and had a lot of fun with me.”

Riley often would be allowed to join the post-practice antics, shoot on one of the goalies or replicate some of the drills he saw taking place minutes before. And he developed friendships with a star-studded list of Cory’s teammates: Martin St. Louis with the Lightning, Eric Staal with the Hurricanes and Nathan Horton with the Panthers later in Cory’s career.

”That was a really cool experience for me,” Riley said. ”You don’t realize how big of superstars they are. Guys like Eric Staal or Martin St. Louis, as a kid, it’s just ‘Eric’ or ‘Martin.’ ”

The Stillmans moved home to Peterborough, Ontario, after Cory’s retirement. Missing the Calgary pond experience, Cory built a backyard rink for his sons that became a nightly hub of activity.

And as Riley’s own career began taking off, Cory passed on the lessons learned during his 16 years in the league.

”Work hard [and] be seen, not heard,” he told his son. ”But you’re being watched all the time. How do you carry yourself? How do you present yourself? Do you work in the gym? Do you work hard in practice? [Those habits are] carried on.”

Riley had shifted from forward to defenseman at age 12, when his spring tournament team suffered the common problem of a surplus of the former and a lack of the latter.

”I was like, ‘Yeah, sure. More ice? No problem!’ ” Riley recalled.

The temporary position change became permanent and allowed him to follow his dad’s advice while carving his own path toward the NHL.

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Flashbacks to Cory’s career proved inescapable, though. Riley’s draft day and first 43 NHL games came with the Panthers, where Cory spent most of his final three seasons. Riley’s first NHL goal, on May 6 with the Hawks, came against the Hurricanes in Raleigh — on the ice where Riley stood when Cory won his second Cup.

And Riley chose to wear No. 61 — Cory’s number — with the Panthers, then keep it with the Hawks.

”Not only am I wearing the Blackhawks logo on the front of my jersey, but to be able to wear my dad’s number on a daily basis is something I take a lot of pride in,” he said. ”It’s a family number.”

Chase wears No. 61, too. There is some concern about what would happen if the brothers ever have to compete for it.

”We always said, ‘You can wear whatever number you want,’ ” Cory said. ”Both of them have now gone to 61. There would be a fight, I guess, if Chase was drafted by Chicago about who was going to wear it. I don’t know how they would work that one out, but it’d be pretty interesting.”

The Stillmans missed Riley’s NHL debut in February 2019 because of late notice and Cory’s coaching duties. (He spent three years as the head coach of the Sudbury Wolves, a Canadian junior team, until joining the Coyotes’ staff this past season.) But they’re committed to find a way to attend Riley and Chase’s first game together.

”It’ll be even more special when they play against each other — or with each other,” Cory said. ”That first game that they both skate on the ice together will be a special moment that we will definitely be there for.”

After all, the family might not have gotten even one son to the NHL if not for Cory’s influence.

”As a kid playing hockey, you want to be in the NHL; that’s every kid’s dream,” Riley said. ”But to see your dad doing it right in front of your eyes is something incredible.”

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In my perfect Chicago world, there would be no lights at Wrigley Field, the bullpens would still be in foul territory and the outfield basket never would have existed.

The Bulls and Black Hawks would still be playing at old Chicago Stadium. The White Sox would still be playing at old Comiskey Park. The “S” curve would be gone — with some regret — but Riverview would still be standing at Belmont and Western. Maxwell Street would be thriving. And the city would still own the parking meters.

I love tradition almost as much as I love Chicago. That’s why I was fully in favor of the 2002 renovation at Soldier Field that kept the historical colonnades and existing outside structure. And kept the Bears playing in it. I overlooked the tackiness of a 21st-century stadium wedged inside early 20th-century architecture because it kept the tradition of old Soldier Field alive.

But that time has passed.

The renovated Soldier Field will do. It’s not obsolete — even the turf is no longer horrible. But the Bears need better. And Chicagoans deserve better. The Bears need a new stadium. A modern stadium. A state-of-the-art stadium. Tradition still matters, but it has become a bigger obstruction to progress — on and off the field — than ever. It’s time.

The Bears organization’s acknowledgment Thursday of a bid for the Arlington International Racecourse site in Arlington Heights — with the obvious intent to build a stadium there — served one purpose, perhaps the main purpose: It put the Bears’ stadium issue on the front burner. Mayor Lori Lightfoot has plenty of serious issues on her plate, but she responded to the Bears’ announcement within hours with a statement of her own — with a snarky bite that rivals Mayor Richard J. Daley’s warning that the Bears “could not use the name Chicago” when a move to Arlington Heights was proposed in 1975.

Lightfoot not only noted that the Bears are “locked into” their Soldier Field lease until 2033, but also chided the Bears to worry more about the product on the field. “Like most Bears fans, we want the organization to focus on putting a winning team on the field, beating the Packers finally and being relevant past October. Everything else is noise.”

The noise might be an annoyance to Lightfoot, but it matters. It keeps people talking and gets people’s attention. And hopefully it puts the onus on the city to make a Bears stadium a front-burner issue. Chicago is the city that works, but usually step-by-step. This is the first step.

The team’s offer for the Arlington Park site moves the idea of a new Bears stadium a notch up from the pipe-dream stage. It might be more possible today than it was Wednesday or a year ago. But it’s still unlikely.

But should it happen? Should the Bears move to Arlington Heights if a new stadium can be built there? If the option is current Soldier Field, then the answer is yes. Presuming a new stadium would be a state-of-the-art facility that would draw big events such as the Super Bowl and Final Four, the benefit to the Bears and the Chicago area would be too good to pass up.

I don’t believe the Bears are bluffing. If you could wave a magic wand and make an Arlington Heights stadium happen, the Bears would go. But the better option would be a SOTA facility in Chicago, preferably near the lakefront. Unfortunately, Chicago doesn’t seem equipped to make something that big happen. Just finding the property and financing make it a bigger long shot than anything that ever hit at Arlington Park. So good luck with that.

But, for me anyway, the Bears playing in an outdoor stadium isn’t the necessity it once was. Indoor stadiums used to be dreadful. The Astrodome — the granddaddy of them all — was a wonder when it was built but had the feel of an actual barn. The -generation that followed were convention halls for football.

But the 21st century stadiums were huge steps toward acceptability. NRG Stadium in Houston and Ford Field in Detroit were big improvements. Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis in 2008 took it another step to more of an outdoor stadium feel.

But U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis in 2016 was a game-changer. It’s a beautifully designed building outside and inside that sets a new standard for natural light that replicates an outdoor stadium feel as much as can be expected.

The Bears will see the two newest NFL stadiums this season — SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California, when they play the Rams on Sept. 12 and Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas when they play the Raiders on Oct. 10.

Bears chairman George McCaskey and president Ted Phillips figure to be there. And my advice would be to invite the mayor so they can ask her the all-important question. “If they can build one of these here, why can’t they build one in Chicago?”

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Chicago Bulls: Patrick Williams snubbed of All-Rookie first team by Ryan Taylor

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(Photo by Jamie Squire/Getty Images)

The Chicago Blackhawks are a strange team lately. Some of the moves they have made over the past five years have really made you scratch your head. They do some things that make themselves look like a team that is trying to win and others that sell a rebuild. Throughout the entire duration of Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane’s contract, they have not won a single playoff series. Time is running out.

The Chicago Blackhawks and Columbus Blue Jackets might be able to get something done.

They are heavily involved in trade rumors for Seth Jones. He is a defenseman for the Columbus Blue Jackets and most would say he is a top-flight player. If he came to the Hawks, he would automatically be their number one. Not only would he be their number one, but he would also be a number one on most teams. This is a move that would tell the fanbase that they are trying to win.

Whether it is a good idea or not remains to be seen but as of now, it feels like a bad idea. However, if they did do it, they would need to give up a lot. One player that is now in rumors to go the other way is Kirby Dach. He was the Hawks’ third overall pick in the 2019 NHL Draft. There are a lot of people that would be into this trade and a lot of people that would hate it.

Dach is a good player with a high floor but it would be more than just a one-for-one trade. There are a lot of different trades that could come in a transaction like this. If a Kirby Dach for Seth Jones trade were to happen, it might look something like this:

Next: Trade One

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Chicago, deeply segregated and divided, needs places with music, art, culture and just plain fun to bind us and connect the disconnected.

In deeply segregated Chicago, the races don’t always play well together. White folk socialize North, Black people hang South and West, Latino and Asian celebrate in other territory. We don’t go to the same parties. Sometimes, we don’t even party the same way.

Today’s turbulent Chicago needs places with music, art, culture and just plain fun to bind us. Places that connect the disconnected, stir the melting pot, where race doesn’t matter.

We need an epiphany, to help demolish our racial and ethnic divides.

I recently toured the Epiphany Center for the Arts, formerly the Church of the Epiphany.

The historic church was built in 1885 at 201 S. Ashland Avenue, in ornate, Richardson Romanesque style, fashioned from stone blocks imported from Lake Superior. Over the years, its congregation dwindled. It closed in 2011.

Kimberly Rachal and David Chase, a multi-racial wife/husband team, have resurrected and transformed the church and its adjoining campus located on what they call “the artsy end of the West Loop.”

Epiphany. “It’s almost an explosive kind of a word, right? I mean, it can be life-changing,” Chase said.

The 42,000 square foot, multi-level complex includes three music venues, art galleries, studios, a café, outdoor courtyard and patio, and a commercial and catering kitchen.

On the outside, the converted church is flanked with massive, decorative stone arches and columns; inside, its rooms are adorned with antique, stained-glass windows, mosaics and terra cotta, revived with love and ambition.

Its mission is “to bring Chicago together,” Chase said. “Not just in terms of programming, but racial, ethnic, age … and we’re centrally located, and our programing is such that in the arts, we are driven to support women, people of color, the LGBT community and the disability culture.”

Chase, who is white, is a real estate developer and transplant from Kohler, Wisconsin. Rachal, a designer, is a Chicago-born African American. They were married at the church in 1996 and live across the street.

Built by wealthy social register types of the Episcopal faith, the church is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The wake for Chicago Mayor Carter Harrison Sr., who was assassinated in 1893, was held there.

During the civil rights movement, it was “The People’s Church,” hosting regular meetings of the Black Panthers. In 1969, slain Black Panther Party leaders Fred Hampton and Mark Clark were memorialized there.

The $15 million acquisition and redevelopment project took five years. The center officially opened in September 2020, at the height of the pandemic. It was soon forced to shut down.

It reopened in March, at just the right time.

“The timeliness of what we’re doing is something that we could not have imagined,” Rachal said. “With everything that’s happened, with the pandemic, which happened with George Floyd and Black Lives Matter, a protest and uprising, and just the climate overall in our country and around the world.”

The singular arts center is “an outlet,” she added. “We’ve had people say, ‘We have been locked in for an entire year,’ and they’re walking through the door saying, ‘Oh my God, thank you, thank you, thank you.’”

The center presents a sprawling series of music performances, exhibits, educational programs, and offers space for weddings and galas.

It collaborates with nonprofits, museums, artists and activists to produce an eclectic panoply of offerings that explore everything from house music to LGBTQ rights, to gun violence, to mental health therapy.

The pandemic has widened and deepened Chicago’s inequities. Epiphanies can bring joyous, safe spaces to heal, play, and see each other, in peace.

Follow Laura Washington on Twitter @mediadervish

Send letters to [email protected]

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Yordan Alvarez’s RBI double against Garrett Crochet in the ninth gives the Astros their second win in as many nights against the Sox.

HOUSTON — White Sox left-hander Carlos Rodon pitched a no-hitter against the Indians in April and flirted with another one Sunday against the Tigers.

Facing the Astros, the best-hitting team in baseball, he didn’t allow a hit until the fifth inning Friday.

It’s safe to say what Rodon has done this season — pitch like a no-doubt All-Star — is authentic.

‘‘Incredible,’’ assistant pitching coach Curt Hasler said before Rodon allowed one run in seven innings in his 12th start of the season, lowering his ERA to 1.83. ‘‘He’s had a miraculous turnaround.’’

The Sox (43-27) eventually lost 2-1 on an RBI double by Yordan Alvarez against reliever Garrett Crochet with one out in the ninth, their second defeat in as many nights against the Astros (41-28).

‘‘That’s as close as you can get to playoff atmosphere,’’ Rodon said. ‘‘It was fun to be out there, but it was a tough loss.’’

The Sox had five hits in the first two innings but only one run — on an RBI single by Jose Abreu in the first — to show for it. They had one hit after the third.

Rodon struck out eight and allowed three hits and three walks.

‘‘It’s been fun to watch,’’ Hasler said. ‘‘You’ve seen flashes of it in the past, but he’s put it together. We’ve always said if Carlos is healthy, he’s a good pitcher.’’

Rodon has been on the injured list at least once in each of the last five seasons. He looks healthy this season, however, and showed it with his pitch count at 103 with two on and one out in the seventh. After pitching coach Ethan Katz made a visit to the mound, Rodon gathered himself before getting Myles Straw to hit into an inning-ending double play.

‘‘I was pretty tired in the seventh, and they said, ‘Can you get me one more?’ ” Rodon said. ‘‘And I said, ‘Yeah, let’s do it.’ ”

Rodon’s other tight spot came during a 30-pitch fifth. A one-out cue shot by Alvarez broke up a perfect game. With the bases loaded, Rodon struck out Straw looking for the second out before walking No. 9 hitter Martin Maldonado to tie the score 1-1.

Rodon then struck out red-hot Jose Altuve on a 3-2 slider, let out a loud yell as he skipped off the mound and returned to retire Chas McCormick, Michael Brantley (three-pitch strikeout) and Yuli Gurriel in order in the sixth.

‘‘You see him start out at 94 and 95 [mph] and then 96, 97,’’ Hasler said. ‘‘And there’s a 100 popping in there in the sixth or seventh inning. That shows health and durability.’’

On Sunday, Rodon took a no-hitter into the seventh at Detroit. On Friday, he dominated against the team with the lowest strikeout rate and the highest numbers in runs, hits, batting average, on-base percentage, slugging percentage and OPS in the majors.

‘‘He’s just been dialed in,’’ catcher Zack Collins said. ‘‘Everything is working for him.’’

Codi Heuer pitched a perfect eighth before manager Tony La Russa went to Crochet in the ninth. He was saving closer Liam Hendriks for a save situation, he said.

Left fielder Andrew Vaughn was hit in the face with a throw from the outfield while sliding into second base in the sixth and left the game in the eighth. La Russa said Vaughn’s eyes were watering ‘‘and he was having trouble seeing.’’ He’s listed as day-to-day.

The Sox were probably more worried about Vaughn than they were about a one-run loss to a good team.

‘‘I don’t think we are worried at all,’’ Collins said. ‘‘It happens, and I don’t think anybody is pressing. I don’t think anybody is worrying we aren’t going to come back and score runs. Just look to tomorrow and leave this one behind.’’

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On Sunday, the Cubs will play their 81st game and reach the year’s halfway point. Getting through that much of the season successfully has been a mental and physical balancing act for manager David Ross and his players.

It’s a lot of juggling getting players back in their rhythm after an injury and deciding how best to handle guys who are struggling.

“You try to communicate as best as you can and talk to them and make sure how they’re feeling and where they’re at in their headspace,” Ross said. “We have those conversations and try to figure out the best way to set them up for success and give them all sorts of time to work on things.”

Those conversations vary from player to player. Ross errs on the side of talking to them a lot about how they’re feeling, but being a father has helped him know when to back off.

“When they start telling me to shut up or rolling their eyes, I kind of treat it like my kids. I usually pause then,” Ross joked.

Players have to figure out how to manage their own workloads, too, and a day off can feel like either a momentum killer or a reset.

“It’s a constant battle of deciding when you get those off days or when you’re down,” Ian Happ said. “How much work to do and how much to give yourself a mental lull and a physical break.”

When Happ is in a good stretch and gets a day off, he likes to keep his pregame routine exactly the same so he won’t feel like he’s lost momentum. Getting back in the flow after an injury can be a different story.

“It’s tough because sometimes you come back and you get to play every day, and sometimes the injury limits the amount of exposure you get,” Happ said. “Where the team is as far as how they’re competing, and how the other guys have been doing dictates that.”

Rare Friday night game

Friday afternoons at Wrigley Field are a staple of the Chicago summer, but when Ross was perusing the schedule during spring training, this Friday stood out to him as a time to buck the day baseball tradition.

Coming back from a night game against the Mets Thursday, Ross said he didn’t get to his house until 3:30 in the morning. A 1:20 start would have left about six hours until he and his players usually start arriving at the ballpark.

“It just helps the players in recovery,” Ross said of the move to a 7:05 start. “It’s really a player safety issue.”

Ross said he noticed the tough turnaround months ago and immediately started going through the proper channels in the Cubs organization to get city approval to play at night.

Injured making progress

Nico Hoerner (hamstring) did infield work again before Friday’s game and took batting practice. Ross said there is no clear plan yet for how Adbert Alzolay (blister) will return. The team has not decided yet whether a rehab start in the minors will be needed. Trevor Williams (appendicitis) threw a successful bullpen and will throw another in 3-4 days, and Matt Duffy (back) took a slight step back, but Ross reported that he’s resuming some baseball activities.

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I’m sure the roar of a full gym this Thanksgiving will take my breath away. It’s hard to even imagine a state championship game in Champaign.

Those things will come in time. Right now I’m thankful for the Riverside-Brookfield Summer Shootout. R-B basketball coach Mike Reingruber has turned the area’s traditional summer high school team event into a major live period event. It’s a must-stop for colleges all around the country.

It was nice to see college head coaches like Brad Underwood and Juwan Howard in the gym. It’s been two years since they had a chance to watch a local kid play in person.

But that’s not what today was about for most of us. It was a chance for Chicago’s basketball community to reconnect after a difficult year.

So much was different. Nick Irvin was decked out in Western Illinois’ purple with an Adidas logo on his shirt. The former Morgan Park coach is a college assistant now. Paris Parham, now a DePaul assistant, introduced me to new DePaul coach Tony Stubblefield.

Highly-successful junior college coach Steve Christiansen recently left Triton to take an assistant job at NIU. Gary Decesare is back in town, this time as the coach at De Le Salle.

Familiar faces in new places. It’s been a long time since everyone was together.

Two significant faces were missing. Donnie Kirksey, who coached everywhere and knew everyone, and Bogan coach Arthur Goodwin both died this year. I also thought of Howard Moore, who is still dealing with the aftermath of the horrific car crash his family suffered in 2019.

Moore was one of the men I always sat down and talked with at length at Riverside-Brookfield. His smile and kindness was a bright spot on what could occasionally be a challenging day.

That wasn’t the case this year. All the petty disputes and grudges that pop up and linger from season to season are gone now. Basketball spent the year on the back burner.

All that will be back soon enough. Friday at Riverside-Brookfield felt like the first day back at the office for the basketball community. It was just good to be there, heartwarming to see everyone and appreciate how special Chicago basketball is and what an important place it holds in so many of our lives.

So on to the basketball. Some tidbits from the day:

-Remember the name Antonio Munoz. The Young freshman was kinda dazzling in games against Bolingbrook and Joliet West. Muoz blocked shots, dunked and generally flew all over the court. It was the most significant freshman debut I’ve seen at Riverside-Brookfield in awhile.

-DePaul Prep is going to be just fine. The Rams lost their entire starting lineup but have totally reloaded. Big man Dylan Arnett looks like he could be a force this season. Alex Guitierrez is solid and 6-5 sophomore Payton Kamin is very promising. Senior Trevon Thomas was one of the real eye-openers of the day. He could be a top-tier player next season.

-Start the hype on Glenbard West. Everyone was there in the gym watching the Hilltoppers dominate Simeon in the first half.

-Downers Grove South is one of those teams that seems to always catch my eye at R-B. That was the case again this year. Senior guard Jaylen Montgomery is a stylish scorer, Harold Dismukes can shoot it and 6-7 senior Pat Laurich was a difference-maker.

-New Trier snuck up on everyone last season. That won’t be the case in November. The Trevians are for real. They are talented and play with fire. Jackson Munro, a 6-8 senior, is already a well-known name in recruiting circles. Senior Noah Shannon dazzled in the second half of a win against St. Rita.

-Hillcrest has reloaded, which will not surprise anyone. As usual the Hawks have a bevy of 6-6 and 6-7 athletic trees. The name to keep an eye on is sophomore Isaiah Green. He was very impressive and will be on college radars soon.

-Why aren’t more people talking about Deandre Craig? He’s clearly one of the best guards in the state. Mount Carmel isn’t a traditional basketball powerhouse, but that’s no excuse for the lack of excitement around him.

-Jeremy Fears Jr. was sitting next to the Joliet West bench. That was a tantalizing, frustrating sight for Joliet West fans. The nationally-ranked junior is expected to remain at La Lumiere this season. But his brother, freshman Jeremiah Fears, debuted for the Tigers. The younger Fears has the same confidence and swagger as his older brother. He helped keep Joliet West competitive against Young in the final game of the night.

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Across his last nine starts, Davies had compiled a 1.86 ERA and allowed five total runs in his last five outings. Davies also had a 14 2/3 scoreless innings streak going since his rocky June 3 start against the Giants, but that was snapped Friday night.

In the third inning of the Cubs’ loss in the series opener against the Marlins, Davies gave up five runs.

After Jorge Alfaro’s leadoff single glanced off of Davies’ hip, Jon Berti singled and Jazz Chisholm walked to load the bases. Davies walked Starling Marte for the first run and then gave up a two-out grand slam to Adam Duvall for the other four of the inning.

Davies had pitched back-to-back quality starts this month, blanking the Padres on June 8 and the Cardinals on June 13.

“Getting ahead seemed to be a real factor,” manager David Ross said after Davies’ start against St. Louis. “The changeup seems to be devastating right now. I talk a lot about fastball command, but right now getting ahead with the fastball, knowing where that’s going when he wants to throw the fastball.”

Ross said after Davies’ last start that he was seeing better action on his fastball than earlier in the season. Davies said then that he felt like he was getting away with leaving his changeup up in the zone because hitters weren’t getting good swings on it.

“For me, the biggest thing is just disguising the changeup and fastball, being deceptive and seeing the way hitters approach the bat,” Davies said after his last start. “Trying to read their swing and trying to see what they’re trying to do in the bat gives me a little bit of an idea of what the next pitch is.”

But on Friday, it was changeups that Alfaro hit for a single and Duvall smacked into the outfield seats to give the Marlins a four-run lead in the third.

After his Sunday start against the Cardinals, Davies said that the key to sustaining his recent success would be watching how well his pitches moved and how well he could attack hitters. On Friday, he cruised through the first two innings on 20 pitches and then needed 24 to get out of the third.

Davies settled in four a couple of innings after the bumpy third inning and threw scoreless frames in the fourth and fifth before giving up a three-run homer to Berti in the sixth. Davies left the game after the sixth, having given up a career-high eight runs on seven hits while striking out two and walking three.

Given Kyle Hendricks’ return to form — after a rough April, eight of his last nine turns on the mound have been quality starts — and the return of Adbert Alzolay coming soon, having Davies pitching well would give the Cubs needed rotation depth.

Where their offense has a wins above replacement near the top third in baseball and the bullpen has the second-highest strikeout rate and lowest ERA, the starters have lagged behind. Their 4.57 ERA going into Friday was the twelfth-highest in baseball, and that mark will suffer after Davies’ eight-run night.

Joc Pederson had five home runs in June going into Friday’s game and added his sixth and seventh of the month in his first two at-bats. Pederson had exit velocities of 113.6 and 112.2 miles per hour Friday night for the highest he’s had since 2019. This was Pederson’s second multi-homer game of the season; he also hit two in Pittsburgh on May 25.

The Marlins’ Duvall had his ninth career multi-homer game Friday. Along with his third inning grand slam, Duvall hit a two-run shot off of Dan Winkler in the seventh to the left field bleachers.

Before Friday, the Cubs had lost just three games at Wrigley Field since May 1 after losing seven games at home in April.

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Smallwood, co-authored and edited several books on Black icons and was editor of N’digo for more than 30 years. He died June 11 from complications of cancer and COVID-19.

David Smallwood caught the journalism bug as a teen, writing for Black X-Press, the newspaper then published by his mentor, the late pioneering civil rights activist and journalist Lu Palmer.

That was from 1973 to 1975. At the same time, he was working his way up at the Chicago Sun-Times, where he worked from 1972-1977, starting as what was then called a “copyboy,” then moving to wire room clerk, library clerk, and finally, reporter.

It was the beginning of a prolific career. Mr. Smallwood would take his love of words to the Black press, as assistant editor at Jet Magazine, and as a member of the teams that built Dollars & Sense magazine and N’Digo “magapaper” into renowned publications.

Mr. Smallwood, of Park Forest, who was diagnosed last year with multiple myeloma, died June 11 from complications of the rare blood and bone cancer, and COVID-19. He was 66.

“David was compassionate. David was super intelligent. David was an amazing writer,” said his wife, Louise Fort, to whom he was married for 18 years, and with whom he had three daughters. “He was a humble soul, who cherished his daughters and loved his wife. God has him in His arms, and I will always have him in my heart. He will be greatly missed.”

Provided

Born in Chicago to Annie Mae Smallwood and Frank Cook on Feb. 1, 1955, Mr. Smallwood was raised on the South Side, attended Dixon Elementary School and Lindblom High School, and was involved in researching and writing its 100-Year History, a project launched by alumni in 2007.

Lindblom alumni in 2018 created a GoFundMe campaign to try to finish the book in time for the school’s 2019 centennial celebration. Mr. Smallwood, who had co-authored and edited four books, was endeavoring to complete the project when he fell ill.

“Greetings, fellow Eagles and Eagles supporters. It’s been a while, so I’m writing to update you on the status of the Lindblom History Project, which as you know has been an ongoing effort for the past decade or so to write the history of the first 100 years of our beloved high school,” he wrote in a Jan. 1 update on the GoFundMe page.

“Well, in short … we’re still working on it!” he wrote. “In the Spring, I came down with cancer … which landed me in the hospital and rehab for two months in August and September, unable to walk and with a broken left arm (fractures are common with the disease). Bad as that sounds, I’m on the mend and rebounding nicely, thank God. If I haven’t communicated with some of you recently that volunteered … this partially explains why.”

Mr. Smallwood began working at the Sun-Times after high school with the paper awarding him a full-ride National Achievement Scholarship. He attended Shimer College in Mount Carroll for a year, then transferring to University of Illinois at Chicago, where he earned his bachelor’s degree in communications in 1976 — one of 150 students selected for a pioneering student-designed curriculum.

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He spent a year at Johnson Publishing Co.’s Jet magazine, then helped launch Dollars & Sense in 1979; as associate editor, he helped turn that newsletter into a national magazine. He also wrote for the Chicago Reporter and taught journalism at Columbia College.

Mr. Smallwood later served as communications director at Olive-Harvey College, from 1987-1994, and in 1989, was tapped by Hermene Hartman to help launch N’Digo, a combination newspaper/magazine of African American profiles.

“David Smallwood was the first person I went to with the idea of N’Digo. He was a masterful writer. I wanted him on the team. He said ‘I am in.’ And he was all in. He became the editor,” said Hartman, with whom Mr. Smallwood co-authored the 2017 “N’Digo LEGACY: BLACK LUXE – 110 African American Icons of Contemporary History.”

“He read every word of every paper to make sure that it was right, with meaning and context. He often stayed at the office, sleeping on a couch, on deadline days. He understood and was part of the mission to change the narrative of Black Chicago. We were ahead of our time. David worked diligently, always realizing the beauty and power of the written word. His touch always made it better,” Hartman said.

Over the next 32 years, Mr. Smallwood would serve as contributing editor, production editor, then editor.

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In 1996, he co-authored “Profiles of Great African Americans,” with journalists Stan West and Allison Keyes. And in 2009, co-authored two tomes, “Black Enough/White Enough: The Obama Dilemma,” with then Illinois State Sen. Rickey R. Hendon; and “The Cool Gent: The Nine Lives of Radio Legend Herb Kent,” with the late Herb Kent. He ran a media consulting business from 2004-2018.

On his LinkedIn page, Mr. Smallwood writes: “I have well over half a million of my own words in print under my byline in newspapers, magazines and books, and have edited about two million words of other writers that have seen the printed page and/or appeared online.”

A member of the National Association of Black Journalists, Mr. Smallwood mentored two generations of journalists he either hired, trained or edited. He enjoyed reading and writing, and on holidays, could be found barbecuing, watching sports and reading the newspaper, his family said.

Besides his wife, survivors include daughters Clarissa Reed, Danielle Smallwood, and Emerin Smallwood; his sons from a previous marriage, Christopher and Damon; and 12 grandchildren.

Services are at 1 p.m. Wednesday at Leak and Sons Funeral Home, 18400 S. Pulaski Rd., Country Club Hills. Visitation is from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. Tuesday at the funeral home.

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