It's no secret how the Chicago Cubs have raced out to the best record in the majors.
The National League Central club, who OddsShark.com pegs as the early Fall Classic favorites, has scored the most runs in baseball and given up the fewest.
Thanks to that potent offense and stingy pitching staff, the Cubs own a 24-6 mark after sweeping aside the Pittsburgh Pirates and Washington Nationals. As ESPN's Baseball Tonight noted via Twitter, the last time the Cubs owned such a record was 1907, when the team won the World Series.
So, just what exactly does this year's squad need to match ...
The Chicago Cubs improved to 24-6 with Sunday's 4-3 win over the Washington Nationals in 13 innings, becoming the first team since the 1984 Detroit Tigers (26-4) to win 24 or more of its first 30 games in a season, per MLB Stat of the Day.
Only the 10th team in MLB history to start 24-6 or better, the Cubs boast an astounding plus-102 run differential, leading all of the majors in both runs scored (184) and allowed (82).
They already have a commanding lead in the National League Central, sitting 7.5 games ahead of the Pittsburgh Pirates (17-14) and nine clear ...
They don't hand out trophies in early May.
No one understands that truism better than the average Chicago Cubs fan. A 107-year-and-counting championship drought is bound to feature more than a few hot starts.
But after finishing a four-game sweep of the Washington Nationals in dramatic fashion with a 4-3, 13-inning victory Sunday at Wrigley Field, the Cubs solidified their status as the best team in baseball.
Sunday's win, which came on a walk-off home run by Javier Baez, moved Chicago to 24-6. That's the Cubs' best 30-game start since 1907, when they won the first of two consecutive titles, as SportsCenter highlighted:
That ...
With Saturday's 8-5 win over the Washington Nationals, the 2016 Chicago Cubs became the second-fastest major league team (since at least 1900) to reach a run differential of plus-100, per Sportsnet Stats.
The Cubs needed just 29 games to get to the century mark, trailing only a 1902 Pittsburgh Pirates club that got to plus-100 in its 26th game en route to finishing with a 103-36-3 record.
That Pirates team easily won the National League, but it didn't have an opportunity to play in the World Series, which was first contested the following year.
The Pirates lost to the Boston Red Sox (then ...
Chicago Cubs starting pitcher Jake Arrieta witnessed his home scoreless streak come to an end at 52.2 innings when he surrendered an RBI double to Milwaukee Brewers outfielder Alex Presley in the fifth inning of Thursday's eventual 7-2 Cubs victory, per Sportsnet Stats.
Arrieta's streak, unsurprisingly, is the longest of its kind by any Cubs pitcher in Wrigley Field history.
Although Presley's RBI double was the only earned run charged to Arrieta on Thursday, the Cubs ace did walk four Brewers and allow three hits en route to his league-leading fifth win of the 2016 season.
Last year, he posted a 22-6 record to go ...
Coming off a National League Cy Young Award in 2015 and a dazzling start this season, Chicago Cubs ace Jake Arrieta is seeking big money and a long-term contract from the team that helped him reinvent his career.
Continue for updates.
Cubs, Arrieta Far Apart in Contract Talks
Friday, April 29
Per MLB Network's Jon Heyman, Arrieta is seeking a seven-year deal, and the Cubs are currently offering four years, with "no optimism" that a deal gets done soon.
Arrieta has been nearly unhittable since the 2015 All-Star break. He had a 0.75 ERA, 55 hits allowed and 113 strikeouts in 107.1 innings in ...
Chicago Cubs star Kris Bryant missed one game after leaving the field during the Cubs' April 28 victory over the Milwaukee Brewers after suffering a mild sprained right ankle while running the bases in the third inning. However, he's ready to return.
Continue for updates.
Bryant Active vs. Braves
Sunday, May 1
Bruce Levine of WSCR in Chicago reported Bryant will bat third and play left field against the Atlanta Braves on Sunday.
Bryant One of the Top Stars Leading 1st-Place Cubs
Bryant is hitting .289 with four home runs, 15 RBI and a .372 OBP for the first-place Cubs (17-5).
The 24-year-old had a hot 2015 spring ...
Chicago Cubs ace Jake Arrieta gave up an earned run in the fifth inning of his start against the Milwaukee Brewers on Thursday, which ended his scoreless streak inside the friendly confines of Wrigley Field at 52.2 innings.
The Cubs passed along word of the remarkable run on their official Twitter feed and noted Elias Sports Bureau research showed it was the second-longest home scoreless-innings streak in MLB history.
Milwaukee ended the streak with what started as a routine inning. Yadiel Rivera struck out, and Hernan Perez grounded out to begin the fifth after four scoreless frames from Arrieta. But then ...
The Chicago Cubs' title aspirations have hit an early speed bump this season with catcher Miguel Montero battling an injury to his back.
Continue for updates.
Montero Placed on DL
Thursday, April 28
Per Gordon Wittenmyer of the Chicago Sun-Times, the Cubs placed Montero on the disabled list and called up Tim Federowicz to take his place.
Montero sat out Chicago's game on Tuesday against the Milwaukee Brewers with back stiffness.
After being acquired by the Cubs prior to last season, Montero had a strong bounce-back campaign with a .248/.345/.409 slash line in 113 games.
As good as Montero was with the bat in 2015, though, his real effect was ...
Chicago Cubs ace Jake Arrieta has throttled into a sphere of superstardom following a few mundane seasons with the Baltimore Orioles, but the 2015 National League Cy Young Award winner is sick of anonymous claims that he's been aided by the use of performance-enhancing drugs.
In an interview with USA Today's Bob Nightengale published Tuesday, Arrieta said he's heard the criticism lobbed his way ever since he started fanning batters like one of the league's best.
"I've heard players, and I’m talking about some of the best players in the league, question whether I’ve taken steroids or not," Arrieta said. "Some of the things ...
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