The Chicago Cubs beat the St. Louis Cardinals 3-2, as Kris Bryant showed off his great base running, scoring the winning run from first base on a hit to left-center field.

Anthony Rizzo dumped a hit in front of Dexter Fowler and with Bryant running on a full count the 2016 MVP read the play perfectly and came all the way around to score. Fowler’s throw to the plate was pretty good, but catcher Yadier Molina couldn’t get a handle of the ball, as Bryant crossed the plate safely.

Kris Bryant scores the go-ahead run from first on a single https://t.co/bVOpNiOkI2

— Matt Clapp (@TheBlogfines) July 22, 2017

That came after Jon Lester allowed back-to-back home runs in the top of the eighth. The Cubs responded with their three-run rally that began with a two-out RBI-double by Ben Zobrist. Bryant singled to drive in Zobrist before he was driven in by Rizzo.

The Cubs are now 0.5 game back of first place.

The Cubs were obliterated in the 8th inning of Friday’s series opener against their rival St. Louis Cardinals, allowing nine runs to score and spoiling an excellent Jake Arrieta start. The devastating collapse led to some very extreme knee-jerk reactions, with fans clamoring for the Cubs to pull the trigger for Orioles closer Zach Britton.

The rumors surrounding the Cubs and Britton started last week when MLB.com reporter Mark Feinsand tweeted that the Cubs were entertaining the idea of trading for the lefty-reliever.

Industry source thinks Cubs will trade for Britton. “If you have a chance to add Britton to your club, you do it. Theo has the minor-lgrs."

— Mark Feinsand (@Feinsand) July 17, 2017

While the overreaction from a poor bullpen performance by the fans is not what is making this deal happen, a few sources have confirmed that the Cubs are still very much interested in acquiring Britton. A source told me he felt that “Britton is still very likely,” and that he felt the Cubs were considered the favorites to acquire the Orioles top reliever.

I've also been told that SP Kevin Gausman is also still a possibility. No word on the asking price, but #Cubs still very interested in both

— Sean Sears (@sean_sears6) July 22, 2017

Of course, the left-handed closer had an incredible 2016 season, finishing with 47 saves and 0.54 ERA. However, Britton has been dealing with a forearm injury that has limited him to just 15 appearances this season. And while the results have still been solid, 2.81 ERA with 5 saves, he has given up 22 hits and allowed five runs during that small span.

For comparison, Britton only allowed 38 hits and four earned runs though all of 2016, raising some red flags on whether or not the dominating 29-year-old lefty is truly back. However, that is not stopping the Cubs from continuing their search for more arms.

Now, the other fascinating  part about this situation is that the Cubs are also still drawn to Orioles starter Kevin Gausman. No one has mentioned Gausman as one of the players Baltimore has made available, however GM Dan Duquette and owner Peter Angelos have both mentioned center fielder Adam Jones and third baseman Manny Machado as ‘untouchable’ at this time. However, both have failed to mentioned Gausman as one of those players they would refuse to move.

I wrote about the Cubs scouting one of Gausman’s starts last month, and with his age (26-years-old) and controllable contract (arbitration eligible for the next three seasons), Gausman is exactly the type of pitcher the Cubs would love to add to the back of their rotation. And when he is on, Gausman has some incredibly filthy stuff.

7 strong innings and 8 strikeouts from @KevinGausman in last night's victory over Washington. #Birdland pic.twitter.com/GevNVpSK0C

— Baltimore Orioles (@Orioles) May 9, 2017

His numbers have been rough this season with an ERA still sitting above six, but he is coming off a promising 2016 season where he finished with a 3.61 ERA and a K/9 of 8.72. While his 2017 numbers are awful, Gausman as the Cubs 4th or 5th pitcher for this season and for the future looks a lot more promising than trotting out John Lackey again or paying to keep Jake Arrieta around long term.

Plus, think of the work that could be done by Cubs pitching coach Chris Bosio working with Gausman on a consistent basis. The guy throws an incredible split-finger/change-up, which he uses as a strike out pitch, but think if he could start using that pitch to induce soft contact and more ground balls? And then remember who the Cubs have in the middle infield. Are you smiling yet? Because you should be smiling.

At this point, I personally, am more excited about the potential to land Gausman than I am Britton, however adding either of these arms is going to be tricky. The Cubs do not have the blue chip trade pieces they did a few weeks ago in Eloy Jimenez and Dylan Cease. Ian Happ is proving to be too important of a piece to move at this point, so it is going to have to be a slew of prospects that get this deal done.

I don’t know if the Cubs have enough known talent in their farm system to make this deal work, but the Orioles are scouting the Cubs prospects on a regular basis right now. If Baltimore can pick out a few hidden gems in the Cubs system, maybe this deal can work? Regardless, keep an eye on Zach Britton as the Cubs appear to be the favorites to land the talented lefty-arm.

#Cubs pitching vs White Sox will be Hendricks, Lackey, Arrieta and Lester

— Carrie Muskat (@CarrieMuskat) July 22, 2017

As the Cubs begin arguably their biggest series of the season today against the St. Louis Cardinals, Jason Heyward looks to continue to play a brand of baseball that has helped Cubs fans forget what turned into a miserable debut season for the Cubs right fielder.

I won’t bombard you with Heyward’s 2016 stats because I think we all know just how bad Heyward was offensively. He posted career lows in damn near every offensive category you can think of and the only thing that helped Heyward stay on the field was his sparkling glove (He’d go on to win his fourth Gold Glove of his career.)

Immediately following the 2016 season, Heyward moved out to the Cubs Spring Training facility in Arizona to begin work to rectify a disappointing 2016 season. I wrote extensively about the work Heyward put into changing the mechanics of his swing and although it looked really pretty at the time, I was very clear when I said, “I won’t get too excited until I see how it looks against big league pitching.”

Safe to say the swing looks pretty good.

Heyward has resurrected himself to be a legitimate offensive threat that Cubs fans used to fear when he was playing with those same Cardinals that invade Wrigley Field today. He’s slashing .269/.328/.415, which may not jump off the page at you, but if you’ve watched any Cubs games this season, you see a noticeable difference in Heyward’s approach. Instead of rolling over on pitch after pitch like he did last season, he’s making solid contact and spraying the ball all over the field.

Heyward Doesn’t Give A Shit What You Think

As great as Heyward has been for the Cubs this season, there are still a lot of Cubs fans that feel like Heyward owes them something after a disappointing 2016. For those that feel like Heyward stilll has to prove himself this season, the Cubs right fielder delivered a crystal clear message as reported by Sahadev Sharma of the Athletic.

“I don’t feel like I have to prove shit as far as what I can do,” Heyward said. “There are a lot of things I have done. As far as this season goes, I’m not thinking about any other season.”

Well alrighty then!

He’s right though. Although he struggled last season, Heyward was still the consummate teammate and clubhouse guy. We all know the speech he delivered to spark the Cubs during Game 7 of the World Series and while that is all fine and dandy, I’m more impressed with his work ethic during the off season. He spent weeks in isolation trying to figure out what went wrong with his swing and every Cubs fan is enjoying the rewards of his work ethic today.

What if he didn’t do that though? What if he sat back and realized that no matter what he did in the off season, he would still collect $184-million dollar contract. I think that’s the hidden value of Jason Heyward to the Chicago Cubs. He’s a team first guy that wants to win baseball games more than improve his individual statistics. When asked if he thought he was playing his best baseball as a Cub, Heyward stayed true to form when he stated,

“That’s not for me to assess. I show up every day and try and do my job the best I can.”

I think every Cubs fan will agree with me when I say that a dangerous Heyward bat will play a big part if the Cubs plan on making another post-season run. We all know he’s going to deliver rock solid defense in right field and now that he’s gotten his offensive issues resolved, he’s just another left-handed bat that has to be reckoned with throughout the rest of the season.