Written by Mark Gonzales at Chicago Tribune.com
The 12 1/2-game lead the Cubs built nearly four weeks ago gave them a cushion that was welcomed and needed when they endured a three-week slump to finish the first half.
As the Cubs return to action Friday, the need to start quickly hasn’t been talked about as much as it was at the end of spring training.
The Cubs hope playing 17 of their next 19 games in Chicago will help them get their bearings and strengthen their grip on the National League Central.
“Guys will start to come back and regroup,” said Ben Zobrist, whose Cubs face the American League West-leading Rangers at Wrigley Field. “Sometimes all it takes is a few days to get your mind totally off of it, let your body rest a bit, and the energy and the mental focus are able to kind of be back where you want it to be.”
Rest and health will be paramount for the Cubs, who had to move Zobrist around in the lineup and on the field in the wake of Dexter Fowler’s strained right hamstring, which sidelined him for the last three weeks of the first half, when the Cubs went 5-16.
But the Cardinals (Matt Carpenter, Brandon Moss and Kevin Siegrist) and Pirates (Gerrit Cole, Francisco Cervelli and Ryan Vogelsong) are coping with injuries as well, yet moved within striking distance. The Cardinals trail the Cubs by seven games, and the Pirates are 7 1/2 back. The Cubs have 14 games left against their closest pursuers, including seven consecutive Sept. 23-29.
But the challenge starts this weekend with Rangers left-hander Cole Hamels returning to Wrigley to face the Cubs on Sunday for the first time since throwing a no-hitter for the Phillies on July 25, 2015.
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