Good morning or good evening, wherever you may be. It is just past 3:00 a.m. in "The City."

Where shall I begin, to tell the story of how great...Oops, I was channeling again. Channeling can be fine, but sometimes, you have to have better source material than Love Story to work from.

At any rate, Cubs Win! Cubs Win! Cubs Win! They handily defeated the AZ D'backs by a final score of 7 - 2 to once again move into sole possession of 1st place in the NL Central with an overall record of 61 - 55. That's one game ahead of the Cards who saw their eight game winning streak snapped by the Braves. In addition, the Cubs are now two full games ahead of the Brewers, who won their game against the Reds, the Cubs next opponent, tonight, @ 8:05 p.m.

Ian Happ, Javier Baez, and Kris Bryant all homered, with Baez getting three RBIs with his blast. Bryant is on his own streak, having gone 9-for-11 in the three game series. Cubs manager, Joe Maddon, says that Bryant is "Locked in." As the reigning NL MVP, Bryant is once again the reason that the Cubs may yet contend in spite of the injury to Willson Contreras. The Cubs face the Reds tonight @ "The Friendly Confines" @ 8:05 p.m.

The Tigers once again snatched defeat from the jaws of victory as they fell to the Twins, 4 - 6 to stay mired in 4th place in the AL Central with a record of 53 - 64. Yes, dear readers, the Tigers are still a bad team. Can Tigers manager Brad Ausmus survive their ineptitude? Somehow, I doubt it.  The Tigers are in TX tonight to face the Rangers, who are bad, but not as woeful as the Tigers, @ 8:05 p.m.

My beloved 1st place Red Sox eked out a win last night over the 2nd place in the AL East Yankees, 3 - 2. It was two rookies who keyed the win. Recently promoted third baseman, Rafael Devers, the Sox' top prospect is no longer the top prospect, he has arrived. He was the first left-handed hitter to hit a home run off of the fireballing pitcher Aroldis Chapman since 2011. Devers won't be 21 until October and he has moved through the Sox minor league system very rapidly.  His homer tied the game so that the Sox' other rookie, left-fielder Andrew Benintendi could drive in the winning run for the Sox, who are now 5. 5 games ahead of the Yankees as they await their next opponent, the Indians, for a makeup game @ the unusual starting time of 6:05 p.m. The Indians will only be in town for this one game before the Cardinals come to town for a two game series @ Fenway starting Tuesday night.

The Caps were once again winners as they defeated the visiting Great Lakes Loons yesterday afternoon by a score of 6 - 1. That gives the Caps an MWL East record of 35 - 13, 3.5 games ahead of the 2nd place TinCaps. The Caps welcome Mary's sentimental favorites, the Dayton Dragons, to the Fifth/Third Ballpark tonight @ 7:00 p.m.

I got in some time with the girls yesterday and I think my playing was great. However, I am still having trouble with bar chords due to a lack of hand strength in my left hand. I guess I have to use my exercise tool more frequently.

Otherwise, I have an appointment for physical therapy today and also an opportunity to work in the kitchen crafting some vegan sausages and perhaps some baked tofu cubes. Mary will be busy indexing while I will be out this afternoon for that previously mentioned appointment and a much-needed haircut.

The current temperature is 63° though it feels like 59° under mostly cloudy skies. Today's high is forecast to be 78° under partly cloudy skies. The NWS has forecast a 60% chance for T-storms both Wednesday and Thursday. As always, that is always an iffy forecast on the shores of the "Big Lake." The sun will rise this morning @ 6:49 a.m. and set later tonight @ 8:48 p.m. Ciao.