CHICAGO _ College football season is upon us, and this Cubs-Reds game was akin to Alabama-Mercer.
It was decided shortly after kickoff. Sorry, first pitch.
The Cubs scored three against an outfit that appeared to need shelter on a day with a heat index of 101. Playing behind Cincinnati starter Homer Bailey who entered 1-11, the Reds booted a grounder, misplayed a Jason Heyward smash into a triple and made a weak attempt at a foul pop down the third-base line.
But let's not go all negative here. Give the Crimson Cubs credit for taking full advantage during a 9-0 romp that represented their fifth straight victory.
Chicago earned the four-game series sweep at Wrigley thanks to a near-perfect effort by Kyle Hendricks, who allowed just two hits and a walk over seven innings, improving to 10-10 with a 3.86 ERA.
They got gargantuan home runs from David Bote (451 feet) and Kyle Schwarber (444), well-placed RBI singles and grind-y at-bats throughout the game. While the Reds were looking like an overwhelmed program in search of a guaranteed paycheck in the first, the Cubs' top two hitters were making Bailey (1-12) perspire.
Daniel Murphy hit a soft single to third on the fifth pitch of his at-bat. Javier Baez reached on an error on pitch No. 9.
That kind of patience bodes well for October.
Worried about a jinx? Fangraphs.com computed a 98.7 percent chance that the Cubs make the playoffs _ and that was before this blowout that boosted the Cubs to a season-best 23 games over .500.
