The 2020 Chicago Cubs season was the 149th season of the

Chicago Cubs The Chicago Cubs are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The Cubs compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as part of the National League (NL) Central division. The club plays its home games at Wrigley Field, which is located ...

franchise, the 145th in the

National League The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the National League (NL), is the older of two leagues constituting Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, and the world's oldest extant professional team s ...

and the Cubs' 105th season at

Wrigley Field Wrigley Field is a Major League Baseball (MLB) stadium on the North Side of Chicago, Illinois. It is the home of the Chicago Cubs, one of the city's two MLB franchises. It first opened in 1914 as Weeghman Park for Charles Weeghman's Chicago Wh ...

. The Cubs were managed by David Ross, in his first year as Cubs manager, and played their home games at Wrigley Field as members of

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

National League Central Division The National League Central is one of Major League Baseball's six divisions. This division was created in 1994, by moving two teams from the National League West (the Cincinnati Reds and the Houston Astros) and three teams from the National League ...

. The Cubs opened the season on July 24 against the

Milwaukee Brewers The Milwaukee Brewers are an American professional baseball team based in Milwaukee. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) National League Central, Central division. The Brewers are named for t ...

and finished the season on the road against the

Chicago White Sox The Chicago White Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The White Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. The team is owned by Jerry Reinsdorf, and p ...

. The Cubs clinched a playoff berth on September 22, 2020, when the

Philadelphia Phillies The Philadelphia Phillies are an American professional baseball team based in Philadelphia. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the National League (NL) National League East, East division. Since 2004, the team's home sta ...

were swept in a doubleheader. This marked the Cubs' fifth playoff appearance in the previous six years. Four days later, they clinched the National League Central Division title for the first time since

2017 File:2017 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The War Against ISIS at the Battle of Mosul (2016-2017); aftermath of the Manchester Arena bombing; The Solar eclipse of August 21, 2017 ("Great American Eclipse"); North Korea tests a ser ...

. They finished the regular season 34–26 to win the division by three games. They received the No. 3 seed in the newly-expanded

playoffs The playoffs, play-offs, postseason or finals of a sports league are a competition played after the regular season by the top competitors to determine the league champion or a similar accolade. Depending on the league, the playoffs may be eithe ...

. However, they were swept in the

Wild Card Series The Wild Card Series (formerly known as Wild Card Game from 2012 to 2019 and in 2021) are games that serve as the opening round of the Major League Baseball (MLB) Major League Baseball postseason, postseason. A single wild card game was first ...

by the

Miami Marlins The Miami Marlins are an American professional baseball team based in Miami. The Marlins compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) East division. The club's home ballpark is LoanDepot Park. The franc ...

. The season was shortened to a 60-game schedule due to the ongoing

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

Previous season

The Cubs finished the 2019 season 84–78 to finish in third place in the Central Division. The Cubs failed to make the playoffs for the first time since

2014 File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wat ...

. The season marked the final year with

Joe Maddon Joseph John Maddon (born February 8, 1954) is an American former professional baseball manager and coach. He has managed the Tampa Bay Rays, Chicago Cubs, and Los Angeles Angels of Major League Baseball. Maddon began his coaching career in ML ...

as manager of the Cubs.

COVID-19 effects on season

On March 12, 2020, MLB announced that because of the ongoing

, the start of the regular season would be delayed by at least two weeks in addition to the remainder of spring training being cancelled. Four days later, it was announced that the start of the season would be pushed back indefinitely due to the recommendation made by the

CDC The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is the National public health institutes, national public health agency of the United States. It is a Federal agencies of the United States, United States federal agency, under the United S ...

to restrict events of more than 50 people for eight weeks. On June 23, commissioner

Rob Manfred Robert Dean Manfred Jr. (born September 28, 1958) is an American lawyer and business executive who is serving as the tenth Commissioner of Baseball, commissioner of Major League Baseball. He previously served as MLB's chief operating officer. Man ...

unilaterally implemented a 60-game season. Players reported to training camps at their home ballparks on July 1 in order to resume spring training and prepare for a July 24

Opening Day Opening Day is the day on which professional baseball leagues begin their regular season. For Major League Baseball (MLB) and most of the American minor leagues, this day typically falls during the first week of April, although in recent years ...

Television broadcasts

The season marked the debut season for the team's new cable television network, the

Marquee Sports Network Marquee Sports Network is a regional sports network operated by Sinclair Broadcast Group and the Chicago Cubs, launched on February 22, 2020. It is devoted exclusively to Cubs baseball, replacing a trio of channels (cable channel NBC Sports Chica ...

, which debuted in February 2020. All Cubs games, except for those subject to national broadcasts (on

Fox Foxes are small to medium-sized, omnivorous mammals belonging to several genera of the family Canidae. They have a flattened skull, upright, triangular ears, a pointed, slightly upturned snout, and a long bushy tail (or ''brush''). Twelve sp ...

, TBS and

ESPN ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). The ...

), were aired on Marquee. Previously, Cubs games were split between

NBC Sports Chicago NBC Sports Chicago (formerly Comcast SportsNet Chicago) is an American regional sports network that broadcasts regional coverage of professional sports teams in the Chicago metropolitan area, as well as college sports events and original sports- ...

WGN-TV WGN-TV (channel 9) is an Independent station (North America), independent television station in Chicago, Chicago, Illinois, United States. Owned by Nexstar Media Group, it is sister station, sister to the company's sole radio property, talk ra ...

, and ABC 7. On the day of the scheduled start of the shortened season, Marquee announced an agreement with

Comcast Comcast Corporation (formerly known as American Cable Systems and Comcast Holdings),Before the AT&T merger in 2001, the parent company was Comcast Holdings Corporation. Comcast Holdings Corporation now refers to a subsidiary of Comcast Corpora ...

, who had more than one millions cable subscribers in the Chicago area and which represented half of the market share for the home television market, the day of the first game of the season. Marquee was only able to work out a deal with one streaming provider,

Hulu Hulu () is an American subscription streaming service majority-owned by The Walt Disney Company, with Comcast's NBCUniversal holding a minority stake. It was launched on October 29, 2007 and it offers a library of films and television serie ...

, for the 2020 season. Marquee also had agreements with

DirecTV DirecTV (trademarked as DIRECTV) is an American multichannel video programming distributor based in El Segundo, California. Originally launched on June 17, 1994, its primary service is a digital satellite service serving the United States. It ...

, but no other providers. Following the season, Hulu dropped the network.

Offseason

Coaching changes

Prior to the end of the 2019 season, the Cubs announced that Joe Maddon would not return as manager for the Cubs in 2020. On October 24, 2019, the team announced that former Cub David Ross had been hired as the team's next manager. Maddon was later named the manager of the

Los Angeles Angels The Los Angeles Angels are an American professional baseball team based in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. The Angels compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West division. Since 1966, the team ha ...

. Third base coach

Brian Butterfield Brian James Butterfield (born March 9, 1958) is an American professional baseball coach, and a former minor league player, manager and infield instructor. He has coached for the New York Yankees, Arizona Diamondbacks, Toronto Blue Jays, Bosto ...

and strength and conditioning coach Tim Buss left the Cubs to join Maddon in

Anaheim Anaheim ( ) is a city in northern Orange County, California, part of the Los Angeles metropolitan area. As of the 2020 United States Census, the city had a population of 346,824, making it the most populous city in Orange County, the 10th-most p ...

. Former

San Diego Padres The San Diego Padres are an American professional baseball team based in San Diego. The Padres compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Founded in 1969, the club has won two NL penna ...

manager Andy Green was hired as bench coach. Craig Driver was hired to coach first base with Will Veneble moving to coach third. The Cubs also added

Mike Napoli Mike may refer to: Animals * Mike (cat), cat and guardian of the British Museum * Mike the Headless Chicken, chicken that lived for 18 months after his head had been cut off * Mike (chimpanzee), a chimpanzee featured in several books and document ...

(quality assurance coach) and Chris Young (bullpen coach).

Rule changes

For the 2020 season, MLB instituted several new rule changes including the following: * Single trade deadline – there will no longer be a waiver trade deadline later in the year. * 26-man roster – rosters will expand from 25 players, but no team may carry more than 13 pitchers. * Three-batter minimum for pitchers - a pitcher must face three batters in a game before they can be removed unless there is an injury or the end of an inning. Further rule changes came into effect in response to the COVID-19 pandemic including the use of the DH in the National League, a shortened schedule, and starting extra innings with a runner at second base. After the start of the season, MLB also instituted seven-inning games for doubleheaders.

Transactions

October 2019

Source

November 2019

Source

December 2019

Source

January 2020

Source

February 2020

Source

Regular season

Due to the pandemic and the shortened season, Major League Baseball instituted certain rule changes which included the use of a universal designated hitter, a runner on second base to start extra innings, and a revised schedule. On July 30, the league and the union agreed that all remaining doubleheaders on the season would be seven innings. The league and players also agreed on an expanded postseason, giving eight teams in each league a playoff berth.

Game log

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the regular season was shortened to 60 games with teams playing 10 games against each other member of their division while also playing four games against each team in the corresponding division in the other league. The Cubs, therefore, played 10 games against each team in their division and four games against each team in the American League Central Division. On July 6, 2020, MLB announced the Cubs 60-game schedule which began on July 24 and ended on September 27. , - style="background:#cfc;" , 1 , , July 24 , , Brewers , , 3–0 , , Hendricks (1–0) , , Woodruff (0–1) , , —, ,

, , 1–0 ,
W1
, - style="background:#fbb;" , 2 , , July 25 , , Brewers , , 3–8 , , Suter (1–0) , , Darvish (0–1) , , —, ,

, , 1–1 ,
L1
, - style="background:#cfc;" , 3 , , July 26 , , Brewers , , 9–1 , , Chatwood (1–0) , , Peralta (0–1), , —, ,

, , 2–1 ,
W1
, - style="background:#cfc;" , 4 , , July 27 , , @

Reds Reds may refer to: General * Red (political adjective), supporters of Communism or socialism * Reds (January Uprising), a faction of the Polish insurrectionists during the January Uprising in 1863 * USSR (or, to a lesser extent, China) during th ...

, , 8–7 , ,

Lester Lester is an ancient Anglo-Saxon surname and given name. Notable people and characters with the name include: People Given name * Lester Bangs (1948–1982), American music critic * Lester W. Bentley (1908–1972), American artist from Wisc ...

(1–0) , , Miley (0–1) , , Jeffress (1) , , , , 3–1 ,
W2
, - style="background:#cfc" , 5 , , July 28 , , @

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Mills Mills is the plural form of mill, but may also refer to: As a name *Mills (surname), a common family name of English or Gaelic origin * Mills (given name) *Mills, a fictional British secret agent in a trilogy by writer Manning O'Brine Places Unit ...

(1–0), ,

Reed Reed or Reeds may refer to: Science, technology, biology, and medicine * Reed bird (disambiguation) * Reed pen, writing implement in use since ancient times * Reed (plant), one of several tall, grass-like wetland plants of the order Poales * Re ...

(0–1) , , —, ,

Great American Ball Park Great American Ball Park is a baseball stadium in Cincinnati, Ohio. It served as the home stadium of the Cincinnati Reds of Major League Baseball (MLB), and opened on March 31, 2003, replacing Cinergy Field (formerly Riverfront Stadium), the R ...

, , 4–1 ,
W3
, - style="background:#fbb" , 6 , , July 29 , , @

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Gray Grey (more common in British English) or gray (more common in American English) is an intermediate color between black and white. It is a neutral or achromatic color, meaning literally that it is "without color", because it can be composed o ...

(2–0) , , Hendricks (1–1) , , —, ,

, , 4–2 ,
L1
, - style="background:#bbb" , —, , July 30 , , @

, , colspan=7, Postponed (inclement weather) ''(Makeup date: Aug 29)'' , - style="background:#cfc;" , 7 , , July 31 , ,

Pirates Piracy is an act of robbery or criminal violence by ship or boat-borne attackers upon another ship or a coastal area, typically with the goal of stealing cargo and other valuable goods. Those who conduct acts of piracy are called pirates, v ...

, , 6–3 , , Darvish (1–1) , , Williams (0–2) , , —, ,

, , 5–2 ,
W1
, - , - style="background:#cfc;" , 8 , , August 1 , ,

, , 4–3 , , Chatwood (2–0) , ,

Keller Keller may refer to: People *Keller (surname) * Helen Keller *Keller Williams, jam-band musician *Keller E. Rockey Places India * Keller, Shopian United States *Keller, Georgia *Keller, Indiana *Keller, Texas * Keller, Virginia *Keller, Washingt ...

(1–1) , ,

Wick Wick most often refers to: * Capillary action ("wicking") ** Candle wick, the cord used in a candle or oil lamp ** Solder wick, a copper-braided wire used to desolder electronic contacts Wick or WICK may also refer to: Places and placenames ...

(1) , ,

, , 6–2 ,
W2
, - style="background:#cfc;" , 9 , , August 2 , ,

, , 2–1 , , Jeffress (1–0) , , Ponce (0–1) , , —, ,

, , 7–2 ,
W3
, - style="background:#cfc;" , 10 , , August 3 , , Royals , , 2–0 , ,

(2–0) , ,

Duffy Duffy may refer to: People *Duffy (surname), people with the surname Duffy or Duffey *Duffy (nickname) *Duffy (singer) (born 1984), Welsh singer, born Aimee Ann Duffy Places *Duffy, Australian Capital Territory, a suburb of Canberra * Duffy, Ohio ...

(0–2) , ,

(2) , ,

, , 8–2 ,
W4
, - style="background:#cfc;" , 11 , , August 4 , , Royals , , 5–4 , , Hendricks (2–1) , ,

Singer Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or without ...

(0–1) , ,

Ryan Ryan may refer to: People and fictional characters *Ryan (given name), a given name (including a list of people with the name) *Ryan (surname), a surname (including a list of people with the name) Places Australia * Division of Ryan, an elector ...

(1) , ,

, , 9–2 ,
W5
, - style="background:#cfc;" , 12 , , August 5 , , @ Royals , , 6–1 , , Darvish (2–1) , , Bubic (0–2) , , —, , Kauffman Stadium , , 10–2 ,
W6
, - style="background:#fbb;" , 13 , , August 6 , , @ Royals , , 2–13 , , Keller (1–0) , , Chatwood (2–1) , , —, , Kauffman Stadium , , 10–3 ,
L1
, - style="background:#bbbbbb;" , – , , August 7 , , @ Cardinals , , colspan="7" , Postponed ( Cardinals' COVID-19 outbreak) ''(Makeup date: Aug 17)'' , - style="background:#bbbbbb" , –, , August 8 , , @ Cardinals , , colspan="7" , Postponed ( Cardinals' COVID-19 outbreak) ''(Makeup date: Aug 19)'' , - style="background:#bbbbbb" , – , , August 9 , , @ Cardinals , , colspan="7" , Postponed ( Cardinals' COVID-19 outbreak) ''(Makeup date: Sep 5)'' , - style="background:#cfc;" , 14 , , August 11 , , @

Indians Indian or Indians may refer to: Peoples South Asia * Indian people, people of Indian nationality, or people who have an Indian ancestor ** Non-resident Indian, a citizen of India who has temporarily emigrated to another country * South Asia ...

, , 7–1 , ,

(2–0) , , Plutko (0–1) , , —, , , , 11–3 ,
W1
, - style="background:#cfc;" , 15 , , August 12 , , @

, , 7–2 , , Hendricks (3–1) , , Carrasco (2–2) , , —, ,

Progressive Field {{Infobox stadium , name = Progressive Field , nickname = ''"The Jake"'' , logo_image = Progressive_Field_Logo.svg , logo_caption = , image = , caption = Progressive Fiel ...

, , 12–3 ,
W2
, - style="background:#cfc;" , 16 , , August 13 , , Brewers , , 4–2 , , Darvish (3–1) , , Anderson (0–2) , ,

(3) , ,

, , 13–3 ,
W3
, - style="background:#fbb;" , 17 , , August 14 , , Brewers , , 3–4 , , Peralta (1–1) , ,

(2–1) , , Hader (4) , ,

, , 13–4 ,
L1
, - style="background:#fbb;" , 18 , , August 15 , , Brewers , , 5–6 , , Phelps (2–1) , , Jeffress (1–1) , , Claudio (1) , ,

, , 13–5 ,
L2
, - style="background:#fbb;" , 19 , , August 16 , , Brewers , , 5–6 , , Yardley (1–0) , ,

Adam Adam; el, Ἀδάμ, Adám; la, Adam is the name given in Genesis 1-5 to the first human. Beyond its use as the name of the first man, ''adam'' is also used in the Bible as a pronoun, individually as "a human" and in a collective sense as " ...

(0–1) , , Hader (5) , ,

, , 13–6 ,
L3
, - style="background:#fbb;" , 20 , , August 17 , , Cardinals , , 1–3 , ,

Gallegos Gallegos is a Spanish surname. It is a regional name denoting someone from Galicia (Spain), Galicia. Notable people with the surname include: People *Alphonse Gallegos (1931–1991), American Roman Catholic bishop * Antonio Hernández Gallegos ...

(1–0) , , Hendricks (3–2) , , Miller (2) , ,

, , 13–7 ,
L4
, - style="background:#cfc;" , 21 , , August 17 , , @ Cardinals , , 5–4 , , Underwood Jr. (1–0) , , Webb (0–1) , , Jeffress (2) , ,

, , 14–7 ,
W1
, - style="background:#cfc;" , 22 , , August 18 , , Cardinals , , 6–3 , , Darvish (4–1) , ,

Ponce de Leon Ponce may refer to: *Ponce (surname) * *Ponce, Puerto Rico, a city in Puerto Rico ** Ponce High School ** Ponce massacre, 1937 * USS ''Ponce'', several ships of the US Navy *Manuel Ponce, a Mexican composer active in the 20th century * British sla ...

(0–2) , ,

(4) , ,

, , 15–7 ,
W2
, - style="background:#fbb;" , 23 , , August 19 , , Cardinals , , 3–9 , , Webb (1–1) , ,

(2–2) , , —, ,

, , 15–8 ,
L1
, - style="background:#cfc;" , 24 , , August 19 , , @ Cardinals , , 4–2 , , Jeffress (2–1) , , Miller (0–1) , , Kimbrel (1) , ,

, , 16–8 ,
W1
, - style="background:#fbb;" , 25 , , August 21 , , White Sox , , 1–10 , , Keuchel (4–2) , ,

(2–1) , , —, ,

, , 16–9 ,
L1
, - style="background:#fbb;" , 26 , , August 22 , , White Sox , , 4–7 , ,

González Gonzalez or González may refer to: People * González (surname) Places * González, Cesar, Colombia * González Municipality, Tamaulipas, Mexico * Gonzalez, Florida, United States * González Island, Antarctica * González Anchorage, Antarctica ...

(1–1) , , Hendricks (3–3) , , —, ,

, , 16–10 ,
L2
, - style="background:#cfc;" , 27 , , August 23 , , White Sox , , 2–1 , , Darvish (5–1) , , Cease (4–2) , , Jeffress (3) , ,

, , 17–10 ,
W1
, - style="background:#cfc;" , 28 , , August 24 , , @ Tigers , , 9–3 , ,

(3–2) , , Mize (0–1) , , —, , Comerica Park , , 18–10 ,
W2
, - style="background:#fbb;" , 29 , , August 25 , , @ Tigers , , 1–7 , ,

Turnbull Turnbull may refer to: People *See Turnbull (surname) *Malcolm Turnbull, former Prime Minister of Australia Places *Turnbull High School in Bishopbriggs, Scotland *Turnbull National Wildlife Refuge, located near Spokane, Washington, USA *Turnbull ...

(3–2) , , Chatwood (2–2) , , —, , Comerica Park , , 18–11 ,
L1
, - style="background:#fbb;" , 30 , , August 26 , , @ Tigers , , 6–7 , , Jiménez (1–1) , , Tepera (0–1) , , —, , Comerica Park , , 18–12 ,
L2
, - style="background:#fbb;" , 31 , , August 28 , , @

, , 5–6 , , Mahle (1–1) , , Hendricks (3–4) , , Iglesias (4) , , , , 18–13 ,
L3
, - style="background:#cfc;" , 32 , , August 29 , , @

, , 3–0 , , Darvish (6–1) , ,

Bauer Bauer is a German surname meaning "peasant" or "farmer". For notable people sharing the surname, see Bauer (surname). Bauer may also refer to: Education and literature * Bauer's Lexicon, a dictionary of Biblical Greek * Bauer College of Busin ...

(3–2) , , Jeffress (4) , ,

, , 19–13 ,
W1
, - style="background:#fbb;" , 33 , , August 29 , , @

, , 5–6 , , Kuhnel (1–0) , , Kimbrel (0–1) , , —, ,

, , 19–14 ,
L1
, - style="background:#cfc;" , 34 , , August 30 , , @

, , 10–1 , , Rea (1–0) , , Castillo (0–5) , , —, ,

, , 20–14 ,
W1
, - , - style="background:#cfc;" , 35 , , September 1 , , @

, , 8–7 , , Jeffress (3–1) , ,

Crick Crick may refer to: Places * Crick, Monmouthshire, Wales * Crick, Northamptonshire, England * Crick Road, Oxford, England People with the name * Crick (surname) Other uses * Crick, the cricket from ''Beat Bugs'' * Francis Crick Institute ...

(0–1) , , —, , PNC Park , , 21–14 ,
W2
, - style="background:#cfc;" , 36 , , September 2 , , @

, , 8–2 , , Hendricks (4–4) , , Musgrove (0–4) , , — , , PNC Park , , 22–14 ,
W3
, - style="background:#fbb;" , 37 , , September 3 , , @

, , 2–6 , , Brubaker (1–0) , ,

(3–3) , , —, , PNC Park , , 22–15 ,
L1
, - style="background:#cfc;" , 38 , , September 4 , , Cardinals , , 4–1 , , Darvish (7–1) , , Flaherty (2–1) , , Jeffress (5) , ,

, , 23–15 ,
W1
, - style="background:#fbb;" , 39 , , September 5 , , Cardinals , , 2–4 , , Wainwright (4–0) , , Alzolay (0–1) , ,

(3) , ,

, , 23–16 ,
L1
, - style="background:#fbb;" , 40 , , September 5 , , Cardinals , , 1–5 , , Helsley (1–0) , , Rea (1–1) , , —, ,

, , 23–17 ,
L2
, - style="background:#fbb;" , 41 , , , , Cardinals , , 3–7 , ,

Hudson Hudson may refer to: People * Hudson (given name) * Hudson (surname) * Henry Hudson, English explorer * Hudson (footballer, born 1986), Hudson Fernando Tobias de Carvalho, Brazilian football right-back * Hudson (footballer, born 1988), Hudso ...

(2–2) , ,

(2–2) , , —, ,

, , 23–18 ,
L3
, - style="background:#cfc;" , 42 , , September 7 , , Cardinals , , 5–1 , , Hendricks (5–4) , ,

Oviedo Oviedo (; ast, Uviéu ) is the capital city of the Principality of Asturias in northern Spain and the administrative and commercial centre of the region. It is also the name of the municipality that contains the city. Oviedo is located ap ...

(0–2) , , —, ,

, , 24–18 ,
W1
, - style="background:#cfc;" , 43 , , September 8 , ,

, , 3–0 , ,

(4–3) , , Mahle (1–2) , , Jeffress (6) , ,

, , 25–18 ,
W2
, - style="background:#fbb;" , 44 , , September 9 , ,

, , 0–3 , ,

(4–3) , , Darvish (7–2) , , Iglesias (6) , ,

, , 25–19 ,
L1
, - style="background:#cfc;" , 45 , , September 10 , ,

, , 8–5 , ,

(1–0) , ,

(5–3), , Jeffress (7) , ,

, , 26–19 ,
W1
, - style="background:#fbb;" , 46 , , September 11 , , @ Brewers , , 0–1 , , Hader (1–1) , ,

(0–1) , , —, , Miller Park , , 26–20 ,
L1
, - style="background:#cfc;" , 47 , , , , @ Brewers , , 4–2 , ,

(1–1) , , Hader (1–2) , , Kimbrel (2) , , Miller Park , , 27–20 ,
W1
, - style="background:#cfc;" , 48 , , , , @ Brewers , , 12–0 , ,

(5–3) , , Houser (1–5) , , —, , Miller Park , , 28–20 ,
W2
, - style="background:#cfc;" , 49 , , September 15 , ,

, , 6–5 , , Jeffress (4–1) , , Pérez (1–1) , , —, ,

, , 29–20 ,
W3
, - style="background:#cfc;" , 50 , , September 16 , ,

, , 3–2 , ,

(2–1) , , Maton (2–2) , , —, ,

, , 30–20 ,
W4
, - style="background:#cfc;" , 51 , , September 18 , , Twins , , 1–0 , , Hendricks (6–4) , , Hill (2–2) , , Jeffress (8) , ,

, , 31–20 ,
W5
, - style="background:#fbb;" , 52 , , September 19 , , Twins , , 1–8 , , Pineda (2–0) , ,

(5–4) , , —, ,

, , 31–21 ,
L1
, - style="background:#fbb;" , 53 , , September 20 , , Twins , , 0–4 , , Berríos (5–3) , , Darvish (7–3) , , —, ,

, , 31–22 ,
L2
, - style="background:#cfc;" , 54 , , September 21 , , @

, , 5–0 , ,

(3-2) , , Brubaker (1–3) , , —, , PNC Park , , 32–22 ,
W1
, - style="background:#fbb;" , 55 , , September 22 , , @

, , 2–3 , , Rodríguez (3–2) , ,

Chafin Chafin is a surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Andrew Chafin (born 1990), American Major League Baseball pitcher * Ben Chafin (1960–2021), American politician and lawyer * Don Chafin (1887–1954), American sheriff and a commande ...

(1–2) , , —, , PNC Park , , 32–23 ,
L1
, - style="background:#fbb;" , 56 , , September 23 , , @

, , 1–2 , , Williams (2–8) , , Hendricks (6–5) , , Rodríguez (4) , , PNC Park , , 32–24 ,
L2
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Foster Foster may refer to: People * Foster (surname) * Foster Brooks (1912–2001), American actor * Foster Moreau (born 1997), American football player * Foster Sarell (born 1998), American football player * John Foster Dulles (1888–1959), American ...

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Guaranteed Rate Field Guaranteed Rate Field is a baseball stadium located on the South Side, Chicago, South Side of Chicago, Illinois, United States. It serves as the home stadium of the Chicago White Sox, one of the city's two Major League Baseball (MLB) teams, and i ...

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Bold = Cubs team member

Season standings

Record vs. opponents

Opening Day starters

Season summary

June

* June 23 – The league instituted a shortened 60-game season due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Spring training (or Summer Camp) began on July 1 with the first games to begin on July 23 and 24.

July

* July 1 – Cubs players reported to Wrigley Field for testing ahead of summer camp and 60-game schedule. * July 6 – The Cubs had no players test positive for COVID-19 and are believed to be the only team in the National League without any positive tests. * July 13 – David Ross and five other "Tier 1 individuals" missed morning workouts due to delayed COVID-19 tests. * July 16 – The Cubs announced that Kyle Hendricks would be the opening day starting pitcher on July 24 against the

, marking the first time Hendricks would make an opening day start in his career. * July 24 – On the latest Opening Day in MLB history, Kyle Hendricks pitched a complete game shutout as the Cubs beat the Milwaukee Brewers 3–0 at

. It marked the first complete game shutout by a Cub pitcher on opening day since

1974 Major events in 1974 include the aftermath of the 1973 oil crisis and the resignation of United States President Richard Nixon following the Watergate scandal. In the Middle East, the aftermath of the 1973 Yom Kippur War determined politics; f ...

. Ian Happ hit a two-run homer in the third and Anthony Rizzo added a solo shot in the eighth for the Cubs in the win. * July 25 – In game two of the opening series against the Brewers, Yu Darvish pitched only four innings and allowed three runs. A two-run homer by Kyle Schwarber brought the Cubs within one in the fifth, but the Cub bullpen struggled surrendering five runs in four innings of work as the Cubs lost 8–3. *July 26 – Tyler Chatwood pitched well, giving up only one run on three hits in six innings. Meanwhile,

Willson Contreras Willson Eduardo Contreras (born May 13, 1992) is a Venezuelan professional baseball catcher for the St. Louis Cardinals of Major League Baseball (MLB). He has previously played in MLB for the Chicago Cubs. Contreras made his MLB debut in 2016 ...

homered and drove in two runs while Ian Happ added a two-run homer and drove in three on the day. Anthony Rizzo hit a solo home run as well as the Cubs blew out the Brewers 9–1. *July 27 – The Cubs traveled to Cincinnati to face the

for a four-game series. Jon Lester pitched well, throwing five innings of a no-hit ball before being lifted after throwing 76 pitches. Meanwhile, the Cub offense continued its hot start to the season, scoring six runs in the first two innings.

David Bote David C. Bote ( , born April 7, 1993) is an American professional baseball infielder in the Chicago Cubs organization. He made his MLB debut in 2018. Amateur career Bote attended Erie High School in Erie, Colorado as a freshman and later transf ...

and

Steven Souza Jr. Steven Jeffrey Souza Jr. (born April 24, 1989) is an American former professional baseball right fielder. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Washington Nationals, Tampa Bay Rays, Arizona Diamondbacks, Chicago Cubs, Los Angeles Dodg ...

drove in two runs apiece and Anthony Rizzo hit his third homer in four games as the Cubs took a 7–0 lead. However, the Cub bullpen continued its struggles, surrendering five runs prior to the ninth. Craig Kimbrel entered in the ninth with an 8–5 lead, but walked four and hit a batter to force in two runs while only getting one out. Jeremy Jeffress was summoned to record the final two outs of the game with the bases loaded as the Cubs held on for the 8–7 win. *July 28 – Javier Báez had three hits and homered twice while driving in three runs in game two of the series against the Reds. David Bote added a home run and

Nico Hoerner Nicholas Mackie Hoerner (born May 13, 1997) is an American professional baseball second baseman and shortstop for the Chicago Cubs of Major League Baseball (MLB). He played college baseball at Stanford University, and was selected by the Cubs i ...

drove in two runs as the Cubs beat the Reds 8–5. Alec Mills pitched well, allowing only two runs on two hits in six innings. The Cub bullpen did surrender three runs as it continued to struggle, but it was not enough for the Reds. The win moved the Cubs into sole possession of first place early in the season. *July 29 – Kyle Hendricks could not duplicate his opening day start, giving up six runs in 4.1 innings of work as the Cubs fell behind 7–0. The Cub bullpen continued to struggle, preventing any chance at a comeback by surrendering a grand slam and giving up six runs in 3.2 innings. Kris Bryant drove in two runs and David Bote hit a two-run homer, but it was not enough as the Cubs were routed 12–7. The Cubs did turn a triple play in the eighth inning when Bryant caught a line drive, stepped on third, and threw to first with the bases loaded in the eighth. Replays showed that the ball likely hit the ground before Bryant caught it. *July 30 – The league and the union announced that any remaining doubleheaders would be seven-inning games. *July 31 – After a rainout of the final game of the Reds' series, the Cubs returned home to face the

Pittsburgh Pirates The Pittsburgh Pirates are an American professional baseball team based in Pittsburgh. The Pirates compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) Central division. Founded as part of the American Associati ...

. Jason Heyward and Anthony Rizzo drove in two runs each and Jason Kipnis homered to give the Cubs a 6–1 lead. Yu Darvish pitched six scoreless innings while the Cub bullpen, especially Craig Kimbrel, struggled again. In the ninth, Kimbrel gave up two solo home runs to narrow the lead to 6–3, but was able to get the final three outs as the Cubs won 6–3.

August

*August 1 – In game two versus the Pirates, Tyler Chatwood pitched 6.2 innings of scoreless baseball. Jeremy Jeffress relieved and pitched 1.1 innings of perfect relief. Meanwhile, Javier Báez and Ian Happ hit solo home runs while Kyle Schwarber added a two-run homer in the eighth to extend the Cub lead 4–0. In the ninth,

Kyle Ryan Kyle Ryan (born September 25, 1991) is an American professional baseball pitcher who is currently a free agent. He previously played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Detroit Tigers and Chicago Cubs. Career Detroit Tigers Ryan was drafted by ...

surrendered three runs to bring the Pirates within one run, but

Rowan Wick Rowan D. Wick (born November 9, 1992) is a Canadian professional baseball pitcher for the Chicago Cubs of Major League Baseball (MLB). He previously played for the San Diego Padres. Career Amateur Wick attended Carson Graham Secondary School in ...

got the final two outs to hold on for the 4–3 win. *August 2 – Jon Lester allowed a first inning home run, but settled in after that, holding the Pirates scoreless for five more innings. The Cubs tied it in the fifth on a double by Kyle Schwarber while the Cub bullpen pitched well, holding the Pirates scoreless. After a rain delay, the game went to extra innings with the new rules for the first time on the season for the Cubs. In the 11th, Anthony Rizzo moved the runner to third with a fly to left and Javier Báez singled to plate the winning run. The 2–1 win moved the Cubs' record to 7–2 on the season with the sweep of the Pirates. *August 3 – With the

Kansas City Royals The Kansas City Royals are an American professional baseball team based in Kansas City, Missouri. The Royals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. The team was founded as an expans ...

visiting Chicago, Alec Mills pitched seven shutout innings while Javier Báez drove in a run on a sacrifice fly and Kris Bryant, returning to the lineup after missing the prior two games, hit his first homer of the season. That was all the Cubs would need as Rowan Wick notched a four-out save to blank the Royals 2–0. *August 4 – Kyle Hendricks pitched seven innings while scattering seven hits and allowing only two runs against the Royals. Jason Heyward hit his first home run of the year, a two-run home run in the second inning. Jason Kipnis also hit a two-run homer in the fourth while Willson Contreras added a solo home run in the eighth. With a 5–2 lead in the ninth, manager David Ross gave Craig Kimbrel another chance, but he allowed two runs while only getting one out. Kyle Ryan was brought in after Kimbrel faced the minimum of three batters to get the final two outs as the Cubs held on for a 5–4 win. The win moved the Cubs to 9–2 on the season and four games ahead of the Reds in the Central Division. *August 5 – Yu Darvish continued the Cubs' strong starting pitching performances as the series with the Royals switched to

Kansas City The Kansas City metropolitan area is a bi-state metropolitan area anchored by Kansas City, Missouri. Its 14 counties straddle the border between the U.S. states of Missouri (9 counties) and Kansas (5 counties). With and a population of more ...

, pitching seven innings and allowing only one run. Javier Báez drove in two runs and the Cub offense added four runs in the last two innings to pull away for the 6–1 win, the Cubs' sixth straight. The win pushed the Cubs to a 10–2 start, only the fourth time the team had won at least 10 of their first 12 games to start a season since 1901. *August 6 – Tyler Chatwood struggled, allowing eight runs in 2.1 innings of work. The Cub bullpen also struggled, surrendering five runs. The Cub offense mustered only two runs in the ninth as the Cubs were blown out by the Royals, 13–2. *August 7 – The Cubs next traveled to St. Louis to face the Cardinals. The Cardinals, due to positive COVID-19 tests while in Milwaukee, had not played since July 30. Due to further positive COVID-19 tests of Cardinals players, the series scheduled for August 7 through August 9 was postponed. *August 11 – Returning to play after the cancellation of the series against the Cardinals, the Cubs traveled to Cleveland to face the

. Jason Heyward homered and drove in four runs as the Cubs routed the Indians. Ian Happ drove in two runs while Jon Lester pitched six strong innings and allowed only one run. The Cub bullpen pitched three scoreless innings as the Cubs won 7–1 moving their record to 11–3 on the season. *August 12 – Kyle Hendricks allowed one run in six innings while Anthony Rizzo and Kris Bryant each homered as the Cubs swept the Indians, winning 7–2. David Bote and Jason Heyward drove in two runs each in the win while the Cub bullpen surrendered only one run. The win moved the Cubs 5.5 games into first place in the division and matched their best start since

1970 Events January * January 1 – Unix time epoch reached at 00:00:00 UTC. * January 5 – The 7.1 Tonghai earthquake shakes Tonghai County, Yunnan province, China, with a maximum Mercalli intensity scale, Mercalli intensity of X (''Extrem ...

. *August 13 – The Cubs returned home to face the Brewers for a four-game series. Yu Darvish pitched six hitless innings before giving up a home run in the seventh. Kyle Schwarber homered for the Cubs as the Cubs led throughout. Rowan Wick allowed a ninth-inning run before getting the final out and earning his third save on the season as the Cubs won 4–2. The win moved the Cubs to an MLB-best record of 13–3 and equaled the franchise's best start since 1907. *August 14 – Tyler Chatwood was scratched with back tightness, so Alec Mills made the start and pitched well, giving up one run through five innings as the Cubs took a 3–1 lead. However, in the sixth, Christian Yelich hit a three-run homer to give the Brewers a 4–3 lead. The Cubs could manage nothing further and lost 4–3, dropping the Cubs' record to 13–4 on the season. *August 15 – The Cubs jumped out to an early 3–0 lead on a solo home run by Anthony Rizzo in the first and a Rizzo RBI double in the second.

Colin Rea Colin D. Rea (born July 1, 1990) is an American professional baseball pitcher in the Milwaukee Brewers organization. He previously played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the San Diego Padres, Miami Marlins, and Chicago Cubs and Milwaukee Brew ...

made the start for the Cubs and pitched into the fourth, allowing three runs.

Casey Sadler Casey Scott Sadler (born July 13, 1990) is an American professional baseball pitcher in the Seattle Mariners organization. He has previously played for the Pittsburgh Pirates, Tampa Bay Rays, Los Angeles Dodgers, Chicago Cubs and Mariners. Caree ...

gave up the lead in the sixth, but

homered to tie it in the eighth. In the 10th, Jeremy Jeffress allowed the runner from second to score and gave up another run. The Cubs could only score one in the bottom of the 10th and the Cubs fell 5–4. The loss marked the first time on the season the Cubs had lost back-to-back games. *August 16 – Jon Lester allowed five runs on nine hits in six innings, but left with the game tied at five on the strength of a Jason Kipnis two-run scoring single in the sixth. However, in the seventh,

Jason Adam Jason Kendall Adam (born August 4, 1991) is an American professional baseball pitcher for the Tampa Bay Rays of Major League Baseball (MLB) and the United States national team. He has previously played in MLB for the Kansas City Royals, Toronto ...

, making his Cub debut surrendered a Ryan Braun RBI single to put the Cubs behind 6–5. The Cubs could not push across another run, losing their third straight to the Brewers 6–5 and falling to 13–6 on the season. *August 17 – In game one of a doubleheader against the Cardinals at Wrigley Field, Kyle Hendricks allowed three runs in 6.1 innings of work. However, the Cubs could only manage a solo home run by Ian Happ and the Cubs lost 3–1 in seven innings pursuant to the new doubleheader rules. The loss marked the fourth straight for the Cubs. In game two of the doubleheader, the Cubs, as the visitors, were held without a hit into the sixth, but managed a run in the first inning. Trailing 4–1 in the sixth, Willson Contreras doubled to score Javier Báez to move within two. David Bote then hit a pinch-hit three-run homer to give the Cubs a 5–4 lead. Jeremy Jeffress pitched a scoreless seventh as the Cubs ended their five-game losing streak, winning 5–4. *August 18 – Yu Darvish pitched six innings and scattered eight hits while allowing just one run. Ian Happ homered in the third and Kyle Schwarber hit a two-run homer in the fifth to give the Cubs a 4–1 lead. The Cubs held on from there with Rowan Wick notching a four-out save, beating the Cardinals 6–3. *August 19 – In their second doubleheader in three days, the Cubs fell behind the Cardinals early as Alec Mills allowed a first inning grand slam to Matt Carpenter. Ian Happ hit his fifth homer in the first, but the Cubs could manage no further runs until the seventh despite leaving seven runners on base. Mills lasted 3.2 innings and gave up six runs as the Cubs lost 9–3. In the second game of the twin bill, Adbert Alzolay pitched six innings and allowed only one unearned run. On the strength of Victor Caratini's two-run scoring single, Alzolay left the game with a 2–1 lead. However, Jeremy Jeffress allowed the tying run in the sixth, sending the Cubs, as the visitors, to the seventh and final inning tied. In the seventh, David Bote singled with the bases loaded to score two and give the Cubs a 4–2 lead. With Rowan Wick having pitched 1.1 innings the night before, David Ross went to Craig Kimbrel for the save. Kimbrel struck out the side to earn his first save of the year as the Cubs beat the Cardinals 4–2 and move to 16–8 on season. *August 21 – After an off-day, the Cubs welcomed the

to Wrigley. Jon Lester was too welcoming however, surrendering eight runs on nine hits in 3.2 innings of work. The White Sox pounded out six home runs and 10 runs, blowing out the Cubs 10–1. *August 22 – The White Sox continued to pound Cub pitching in game two of the series though Kyle Hendricks allowed only three runs in 5.1 innings of work.

José Abreu José Dariel Abreu Correa (born January 29, 1987) is a Cuban-born professional baseball first baseman for the Houston Astros of Major League Baseball (MLB). He has previously played in MLB for the Chicago White Sox. Overall he has had a fantas ...

hit three of the Sox five home runs in the game as the Sox won again 7–4. *August 23 – Looking to avoid the sweep, the Yu Darvish pitched seven innings and allowed only one run. However, the Cubs offense continued to struggle as they trailed 1–0 going in to the sixth. A two-run home run by Kyle Schwarber in the sixth gave the Cubs a 2–1 lead. Jeremy Jeffress walked a tight rope looking for a four-out save and loaded the bases in the ninth, but induced a ground out to end the game. The 2–1 win moved the Cubs to 17–10 on the season, three games ahead of the Cardinals in the division. *August 24 – David Bote homered and drove in four while Javier Báez hit two home runs and drove in three as the Cubs beat the

Detroit Tigers The Detroit Tigers are an American professional baseball team based in Detroit. The Tigers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the American League (AL) Central division. One of the AL's eight charter franchises, the club was f ...

9–3 in Detroit. Alec Mills pitched seven innings and allowed three runs to earn the win while the Cub bullpen pitched two scoreless innings. The win marked the 11,000th victory in team history. The Cubs are the second team, after the Giants, to reach this milestone. *August 25 – Tyler Chatwood struggled in his return from the injured list, lasting only 1.1 innings, walking five batters, and giving up two runs. José Quintana also returned from the injured list and took over in the third. After being chased in the sixth,

allowed a grand slam, charging three runs to Quintana as the Cubs were routed 7–1. The loss dropped the Cubs to 18–11 on the season. *August 26 – Jon Lester pitched well, surrendering only one run in five innings. The Cub bullpen, however, allowed five runs in the sixth and another in the seventh, putting the Cubs down 7–3. The Cubs rallied in the ninth, scoring three, but Javier Báez and Kyle Schwarber flied out to end the game as the Cubs lost 7–6. Jason Heyward chose to sit out the game in the aftermath of the Jacob Blake shooting. *August 28 – After an off day, the Cubs took an early 2–0 lead on homers by Anthony Rizzo and Kyle Schwarber. Kyle Hendricks however surrendered five runs in six innings as the Cubs trailed the Reds 6–2 in Cincinnati entering the ninth. Willson Contreras hit a two-run homer in the top of the ninth and Jason Heyward followed with a solo homer to bring the Cubs within one. However, the Cubs could manage no more, losing 6–5. *August 29 – In a doubleheader against the Reds, Yu Darvish pitched six scoreless innings as the Cubs beat the Reds 3–0. Anthony Rizzo hit two home runs in the game and Jason Heyward drove in a run in the win. In the second game, the Cubs trailed 4–1 after three innings. David Bote hit a two-run homer in the fourth and Ian Happ tied it with an RBI double in the fifth. Nico Hoerner drove in the go-ahead run in the sixth on a sacrifice fly, but the Cubs could manage no further. In the seventh, the Cubs turned to Craig Kimbrel to lock down the save. However, Kimbrel walked three and gave up the game-tying single. Kimbrel then threw his third wild pitch of the inning to give the Reds the walk-off 6–5 win. The loss dropped the Cubs record to 19–14 in the season. *August 30 – Ian Happ, Jason Heyward, and Kyle Schwarber each hit two home runs in the game marking the first time in MLB history to have three starting outfielders hit multiple home runs in the same game. Schwarber's last home run was a grand slam in the ninth as the Cubs routed the Reds 10–1. Tyler Chatwood got the start, but left with elbow pain in the third. The Cub bullpen, led by José Quintana's three innings, allowed only one run in 6.2 innings of relief. The win moved the Cubs to 20–14 on the season.

September

* September 1 – After an off day, the Cubs traveled to face the Pirates and jumped to an early 6–1 lead in the fifth on an Ian Happ lead-off homer, RBIs by Jason Kipnis and Javier Báez, and a two-run homer by Kyle Schwarber. Jon Lester could not keep the lead, however, surrendering four runs in the sixth to tighten the score at 6–5. Following a rain delay prior to the bottom of the eighth, Pirates' third baseman Ke'Bryan Hayes, who was making his Major League debut, homered to tie the game. Going to extras, both teams scored with a runner starting at second in the 10th, the Cubs on Jason Heyward sacrifice fly and the Pirates on a fielder's choice. In the 11th, Happ singled to start the inning and score Kipnis from second. Meanwhile, Jeremy Jeffress who got the final outs in the 10th, walked a batter, but prevented the runner from scoring in the bottom of the 11th as the Cubs won 8–7. * September 2 – Kyle Hendricks pitched six innings while allowing only one run in game two of the series against the Pirates. Javier Báez hit a three-run homer in the fourth while Anthony Rizzo drove in two runs and plated two more when reaching on an error in the eighth as the Cubs pulled away for an easy 8–2 win. The win moved the Cubs to 22–14 on the season with 24 games remaining. * September 3 – Alec Mills pitched five innings while allowing four runs and the Cub bullpen surrendered two unearned runs putting the Cubs behind 6–2. The Cubs left nine men on base and were unable to score any further runs, losing to the Pirates 6–2. Ian Happ left the game after fouling a ball off his face, but x-rays were negative. * September 4 – The Cubs returned home for a five-game series against the Cardinals. Yu Darvish pitched well, allowing only one run in seven innings while striking out 11 batters. He lowered his league-leading ERA to 1.44 on the season. Meanwhile, Willson Contreras went 3–4, homering and driving in all four Cubs runs in the 4–1 Cub victory. The win pushed the Cubs 4.5 games into first place in the division. * September 5 – The Cubs took an early one-run lead in game of the Saturday doubleheader on Ian Happ home run in his return to the lineup. Happ homered again in the fifth, but the Cub offense could not score any further. Adbert Alzolay surrendered two runs on two hits in 2.2 innings, but walked five. Ryan Tepera also surrendered two runs in relief as the Cubs lost game one 4–2. In game two as the visitors, the Cub offense continued to struggle, managing only one run. Colin Rea got the start and gave up four runs in two innings as the Cubs lost 5–1. The loss dropped the Cubs to 23–17 on the season. * September 6 – Playing on

Sunday Night Baseball ''Sunday Night Baseball'' is an exclusive weekly telecast of a Major League Baseball game that airs Sunday nights at 7:00 p.m. EDT on ESPN during the regular season. The games are preceded most weeks by the studio show ''Baseball Tonight: ...

, Jon Lester was shelled, giving up five runs in 3.1 innings. The Cub offense managed three runs on an Anthony Rizzo homer and a Jason Kipnis two-run homer, but it was not enough as the Cubs lost their third straight game to the Cardinals, 7–3. * September 7 – In the final game of the season against the Cardinals, Kyle Hendricks pitched eight innings while allowing only one run. Anthony Rizzo drove in a run grounding into a double play in the first and drove in another in the third on a sacrifice fly. Jason Kipnis and Willson Contreras added run-scoring hits as the Cubs won 5–1. * September 8 – With the wind blowing in at Wrigley, David Bote drove in two runs with a triple and Javier Báez also tripled to score a run as the Cubs took a 3–0 lead on the Reds. Alec Mills pitched six scoreless innings and the Cub bullpen followed suit as the Cubs won 3–0. The win moved the Cubs to 25–18 on the season and extended their division lead to three games over the Cardinals. * September 9 – Yu Darvish walked consecutive Red batters in the first inning and gave up a three-run home run to Mike Moustakas. He settled down after that, allowing no further runs, but the Cubs offense was shutout by Trevor Bauer. The 3–0 loss left the Cubs only 2.5 games ahead of the Cardinals in the division. * September 10 – Following a 75-minute rain delay, Adbert Alzolay gave up three runs in 3.2 innings and left trailing 3–0. However, the Cub offense finally broke through, scoring five runs in the fourth as Nico Hoerner drove in two on a double while Ian Happ drove in two on an infield single. Hoerner drove in another run in the fifth and Cameron Maybin drove in his first run as a Cub as the Cubs pulled away for the 8–5 win. The win moved the Cubs back to three games ahead of the Cardinals in the division with 15 games remaining in the season. *September 11 – The Cubs traveled to Milwaukee to face the Brewers, but the Cub offense continued its struggles, failing to score through nine innings. Jon Lester recovered from his prior poor start, allowing three runs in six innings of work. The Cub bullpen also held the Brewers scoreless through eight innings. However, in the ninth, Ryan Braun hit a sacrifice fly to give the Brewers the 1–0 win. The loss dropped the Cubs to 26–20 on the season. *September 12 – The Cub offense continued to struggle, falling behind 2–0 behind Kyle Hendricks' strong 7.2 innings of work. Entering the ninth without scoring in 17 straight innings against the Brewers, Javier Báez and Anthony Rizzo singled off Josh Hader before Jason Heyward hit a three-run home run to give the Cubs the 3–2 lead. Ildemaro Vargas followed with a solo home run to push the lead to two. Craig Kimbrel allowed consecutive singles to start the bottom of the ninth, but rallied to get the next three batters to give the Cubs the 4–2 win. *September 13 – Alec Mills threw a no-hitter in the final game of the series against the Brewers, striking out five and walking three in the 12–0 win. David Bote hit a three-run homer and Victor Caratini also drove in three as the Cubs won easily. The no-hitter was the 16th in Cub history and the first since Jake Arrieta in

2016 File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses during the 2016 Nagorno-Karabakh ...

. The win moved the Cubs to 28–20 on the season. *September 15 – After an off day, the Cubs returned home to face Cleveland. Javier Báez gave the Cubs an early 1–0 lead on a second inning home run. Yu Darvish quickly surrendered the lead, giving up three runs through five innings. In the fifth, Kris Bryant singled to score a run and Anthony Rizzo followed with a double to score Bryant and tie the game. In the seventh, Willson Contreras gave the Cubs the lead with a sacrifice fly. Báez the stole second and came all the way around to score as the throw to second went into the outfield. With a 5–3 lead in the ninth, Jeremy Jeffress surrendered a two-run home run to Francisco Lindor to blow the save. In the bottom of the ninth, Bryant walked and Rizzo singled to put runners on the corners. Contreras was then hit by a pitch to load the bases with one out. Pinch-hitter Cameron Maybin was hit on the first pitch he saw to force in the winning run as the Cubs won 6–5. *September 16 – The Cubs took an early 2–0 lead against Cleveland in the final game of the series on RBI singles by Jason Heyward and Cameron Maybin. Jon Lester, pitching in perhaps his final game at Wrigley Field, allowed two runs in five innings to surrender the lead. The game remained tied into the 10th before Kris Bryant singled and Anthony Rizzo was intentionally walked loading the bases. Willson Contreras and Kyle Schwarber each struck out before Javier Báez singled to score the winning run with two outs. The win moved the Cubs' record to 30–20 on the season, the first time they were 10 games over .500 since they were 13–3 to start the season. *September 18 – After an off day, the Cubs welcomed the

Minnesota Twins The Minnesota Twins are an American professional baseball team based in Minneapolis. The Twins compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central Division. The team is named after the Twin Cities area w ...

to Wrigley Field. Kyle Hendricks pitched eight shutout innings and struck out 10 while the Cubs scored a first inning run on a Willson Contreras single. That was all the Cubs would need as Jeremy Jeffress pitched a shaky ninth, but earned the save as the Cubs won 1–0 moving them to a season-high 11 games over .500. *September 19 – Alec Mills gave up four runs in six innings of work while the Cub bullpen surrendered an additional four runs as the Cubs were blown out 8–1. The Cubs sole run came on an RBI double in the second by David Bote. The loss dropped the Cubs' record to 31–21 on the season. *September 20 – In the final home game of the season, the Cub offense continued to struggle, failing to score a run. Yu Darvish surrendered four runs in six innings of work, but Nico Hoerner had a chance to tie the game with the bases loaded in the bottom of the ninth. Hoerner struck out, however, as the Cubs lost again, this time 4–0. Kyle Schwarber was removed from the game by Cubs manager David Ross after appearing to not give full effort on a line drive that turned into a triple in the third inning. The loss reduced the Cubs' division lead to 3.5 games over the Cardinals. *September 21 – The Cubs traveled to Pittsburgh to face the Pirates with seven games remaining in the season. Jon Lester pitched six shutout innings and Kyle Schwarber bounced back from being benched in the prior game to double twice and drive in two runs. Javier Báez drove in a run with a bunt single while David Bote and Victor Caratini each drove in a run to give the Cubs the easy 5–0 win. The win reduced the Cubs magic number to win the division to four with six games remaining. Kris Bryant left the game after injuring his oblique on a swing and miss. *September 22 – José Quintana returned from the IL to make the start and allowed one run in two innings of work. Adbert Alzolay pitched four innings and also surrendered a run as the Cubs fell behind to the Pirates 2–0. Anthony Rizzo tied it in the eighth with a two-run home run, his first home run on the year with a runner on base. However, Andrew Chafin surrendered a walk-off home run to Jacob Stallings in the bottom of the ninth as the Cubs lost 3–2. The Cubs did clinch a playoff spot with the Phillies losing both games of a doubleheader earlier in the evening, marking their fifth playoff appearance in the last six years. The Cubs magic number for the division remained at four with the Cardinals winning and narrowing the division lead to 3.5 games. *September 23 – Anthony Rizzo homered to lead off the game, but Kyle Hendricks surrendered back-to-back homers to the first two Pirate batters to give the Pirates a 2–1 lead. The Cub offense continued to struggle and could push no other runs across as the Cubs lost 2–1. The loss moved the Cubs to 32–24 on the season. However, a Cardinals loss that night moved the Cubs' magic number to three to clinch the division. *September 24 – Alec Mills struggled in his second start since throwing a no-hitter, giving up four runs and eight hits in 3.2 innings of work. The Cub bullpen also struggled, surrendering three runs to the Pirates at the Cubs fell behind 7–0. The Cub offense continued to struggle, managing only two hits and failing to score as the Cubs lost their fifth game of their previous six, but retained a magic number of three to win the division. *September 25 - The Cubs' offense finally woke up as they returned to Chicago to face the White Sox for the final series of the season. Willson Contreras hit two home runs, the first in the third inning with two on. Contreras, in celebration, launched a massive bat flip on his way to third base which angered the White Sox. Kyle Schwarber and Javier Báez hit solo home runs while Victor Caratini hit his first home run of the season, a two-run shot, to give the Cubs a 7–0 lead. In the seventh, Contreras was hit by a pitch which appeared intentional and led to the ejection of the pitcher,

Jimmy Cordero Jimmy Gerard Cordero (born October 19, 1991) is a Dominican professional baseball pitcher for the New York Yankees of Major League Baseball (MLB). He previously played for the Washington Nationals, Toronto Blue Jays, and Chicago White Sox. Caree ...

, and Sox manager Rick Renteria as well as pitching coach Don Cooper. The Cubs pushed the lead to 10–0 when Contreras hit his second homer in the ninth off White Sox second baseman

Yolmer Sánchez Yolmer Carlos Javier Sánchez (born June 29, 1992) is a Venezuelan professional baseball infielder in the New York Mets organization. He made his Major League Baseball (MLB) debut in 2014 with the Chicago White Sox, and has also played in MLB for ...

. The Cub win and a Cardinal loss reduced the Cubs' magic number down to one for the division. *September 26 – Kris Bryant, who had missed several games due to an injury, returned to the lineup and singled in his first at-bat. Trailing 2–1 in the third, Bryant hit his first home run since August 12, a grand slam that gave the Cubs a 5–2 lead. However, Jon Lester surrendered five more runs, seven in total as the Cubs lost 9–5. Despite the loss, a Cardinal loss to the Brewers clinched the division for the Cubs, the first division win since

. *September 27 – On the final day of the regular season, the Cubs, who were locked in to the three seed in the NL playoffs, sat regulars Anthony Rizzo, Willson Contreras, and Jason Heyward for rest prior to the playoffs. Despite this, the Cubs jumped to an early lead on another Kris Bryant home run, a two-run home run by David Bote, and a two-run scoring single by Cameron Maybin. A Billy Hamilton steal of home capped a six-run second inning for the Cubs. Hamilton hit his first home run as a Cub in the fourth and the Cubs pushed the lead to 10–1 in the seventh on a single by Javier Báez. The Sox made a run late, narrowing the lead to 10–8 in the bottom of the ninth, but the Cubs held on for the win.

Transactions

June

Source

July

Source

August

Source

September

Source

Regular season roster

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the resulting proposed shortened season, teams started the season with a 30-man roster. The rosters reduced to 28 after two weeks and then were to return to the new-normal roster size of 26 after that. It was decided later to keep rosters at 28 for the remainder of the season.
''(Contains all players who played in a game for the Cubs during the 2020 season.)''

Postseason

Game log

, - style="background:#fbb;" , 1 , , September 30 , ,

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, , 1–5 , ,

Alcántara Alcántara is a municipality in the province of Cáceres, Extremadura, Spain, on the Tagus, near Portugal. The toponym is from the Arabic word ''al-Qanṭarah'' (القنطرة) meaning "the bridge". History Archaeological findings have atteste ...

(1–0) , , Hendricks (0–1) , , — , ,

, , 0–1 , - style="background:#bbb;" , — , , October 1 , ,

, , colspan="8" , ''Postponed (inclement weather)'' , - style="background:#fbb;" , 2 , , October 2 , ,

, , 0–2 , , Boxberger (1–0) , , Darvish (0–1) , , Kintzler (1) , , Wrigley Field , , 0–2 , - , - style="text-align:center;" , Legend: = Win = Loss = Postponement
Bold = Cubs team member

Wild Card series

The Cubs hosted both games of the Wild Card series against the

. They would have hosted game 3 as well, had it been necessary. It was announced that Kyle Hendricks would make the start for the Cubs in Game 1 of the series on September 30. Yu Darvish started Game 2 of the series.

Game 1

Hendricks pitched well through six innings, giving up no runs. However, the Cub offense struggled again, failing to score a run through four innings. Ian Happ homered in the fifth to give the Cubs a 1–0 lead. However, in the seventh, Hendricks gave up a three-run home run to Corey Dickerson to give the Marlins a 3–1 lead. Jeremy Jeffress relieved Hendricks and promptly gave up a single and a home run to Jesús Aguilar to increase Marlin lead to 5–1. The Cubs only managed two further baserunners as the Cubs lost game one 5–1. The loss put the Cubs on the verge of elimination from the playoffs in the best-of-three game series.

Game 2

The game scheduled for October 1 was postponed due to the potential for rain throughout the day. The game was rescheduled to October 2. Darvish pitched six scoreless innings before allowing a homer to

Garrett Cooper Garrett Nicholas Cooper (born December 25, 1990) is an American professional baseball first baseman for the Miami Marlins of Major League Baseball (MLB). He previously played for the New York Yankees. Early life and education Garrett Nicholas Co ...

and a run-scoring single to

Magneuris Sierra Magneuris Sierra (born April 7, 1996) is a Dominican professional baseball outfielder in the Atlanta Braves organization. He has previously played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the St. Louis Cardinals, Miami Marlins and Los Angeles Angels. ...

in the seventh to give the Marlins a 2–0 lead. The Cub offense continued to struggle in the postseason, failing to score a run. The Cubs lost 2–0 and were eliminated from the postseason.

Postseason rosters

, style="text-align:left" , *Pitchers: 11 Yu Darvish 24 Jeremy Jeffress 28 Kyle Hendricks 30 Alec Mills 34 Jon Lester 39 Andrew Chafin 43

Dan Winkler Daniel Allen Winkler (born February 2, 1990) is an American professional baseball pitcher who is a free agent. He previously played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Atlanta Braves and Chicago Cubs. Career Winkler attended St. Anthony High ...

46 Craig Kimbrel 52 Ryan Tepera 56

62 José Quintana 73 Adbert Alzolay *Catchers: 4 Josh Phegley 7 Víctor Caratini 40

*Infielders: 2

9 Javier Báez 13

16 Ildemaro Vargas 17 Kris Bryant 27 Jason Kipnis 44 Anthony Rizzo *Outfielders: 6 Billy Hamilton 8 Ian Happ 12 Kyle Schwarber 15 Cameron Maybin 22 Jason Heyward , - valign="top"

Achievements and records

* Kyle Hendricks was named NL Player of the Week for the first week of the season after throwing a complete game shutout in the season opener. * Yu Darvish was named NL Pitcher of the Month for August. He went 5–0 with a 1.09 ERA and struck out 40 with just seven walks in the month. * Following his no-hitter on September 13, Alec Mills was named NL Player of the Week. In two starts, Mills threw 15 shutout innings while allowing only four hits and six walks.

Statistics

Regular season

Batting

''(final statistics)'' ''Note: G = Games played; AB = At bats; R = Runs; H = Hits; 2B = Doubles; 3B = Triples; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in; SB = Stolen bases; BB = Walks; K = Strikeouts; AVG = Batting average; OBP = On base percentage; SLG = Slugging percentage; TB = Total bases'' Source

Pitching

''(Final statistics)'' ''Note: W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; G = Games pitched; GS = Games started; SV = Saves; IP = Innings pitched; H = Hits allowed; R = Runs allowed; ER = Earned runs allowed; BB = Walks allowed; K = Strikeouts'' Source

Postseason

Batting

''(Final statistics)'' ''Note: G = Games played; AB = At bats; R = Runs; H = Hits; 2B = Doubles; 3B = Triples; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in; SB = Stolen bases; BB = Walks; K = Strikeouts; Avg. = Batting average; OBP = On base percentage; SLG = Slugging percentage''

Pitching

Farm system

On June 30, it was announced that the 160 minor league baseball teams' seasons were canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. This marked the first time in the history of Minor League Baseball that a season had been canceled. Source

Major League Baseball draft

The 2020 Major League Baseball (MLB) First-Year Player Draft occurred on Monday, June 10 through June 11, 2020. The draft assigned amateur baseball players to MLB teams. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the draft was shortened to only five rounds.

Sources

External links

Chicago Cubs 2020 Schedule
at MLB.com
2020 Chicago Cubs at ESPN2020 Chicago Cubs season at Baseball Reference
{{DEFAULTSORT:2020 Chicago Cubs Season

Cubs 2020 in Illinois 2020s in Chicago Chicago Cubs seasons National League Central champion seasons