With slightly less than two-thirds of the season left, manager David Ross has detected some tendencies among his players.
“We know our strengths and weaknesses, and we got to play clean games,” Ross said.
Lately, the Cubs held their ground against the White Sox, Brewers and Cardinals. The reason?
“A new spark in [Christopher] Morel as of late that has helped us play better baseball,’’ Ross said. “He gives us a good hitter at the top of the lineup.”
Morel hit a single Sunday night against 40-year-old Cardinals craftsman Adam Wainwright in the third inning to extend his franchise record of reaching safely in his first 20 major-league games — the longest of any major-leaguer, according to the Elias Sports Bureau.