Aug. 08--The Cubs are a bit ahead of schedule in their rebuilding plan, but no one seems to mind, particularly president Theo Epstein.
"It's good to sneak up on people," he said before the Cubs 7-3 win over the Giants. "Maybe this is our last chance to play unencumbered and free and sneak up on people. You always want to top what you did the year before. Guys are having a lot of fun.
"If you can't have fun being around this team, in this situation at this moment in time, you might want to find another line of work. This is a heck of a time to be associated with the Cubs and be in Chicago."
The Cubs are 1 1/2 games ahead of the Giants for the second wild-card spot.
At the plate: Kyle Schwarber's two-run single highlighted a five-run fifth inning that gave Jon Lester a nice cushion. Jorge Soler added a two-run double in the inning, and David Ross had an RBI single. The Cubs scored in the first on Schwarber's double and Chris Coghlan's RBI single. Dexter Fowler homered in the eighth.
On the mound: Lester started for the Cubs against Ryan Vogelsong, who replaced the injured Mike Leake. Lester allowed two runs on six hits over seven innings, striking out three. Hector Rondon pitched 1 2/3 scoreless innings to end it.
In the field: Taking over for benched shortstop Starlin Castro, Addision Russell made two nice plays on off-target throws. The first was from David Ross on a steal attempt, and the second was on a double play grounder that Lester made a poor throw to second on.
Key number: 18
Schwarber has reached base in 18 of his 20 starts.
Next: Vs. Giants, 3:05 p.m. Saturday.
