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Sports

Bad blood. A 20-5 defeat. 3 takeaways from the Chicago Cubs’ 4-game series split with the Cincinnati Reds.

CINCINNATI — The Chicago Cubs might be wondering what could have been this week against the Cincinnati Reds.Riding a three-game winning streak after taking the first two games of the four-game series, the Cubs couldn’t sustain momentum the rest of the week.AdvertisementThe Reds clobbered them 20-5 in the finale Thursday, piling up 20 hits for a series split. A 59-minute rain delay only prolonged the inevitable.An eight-run third inning doomed the Cubs and ended Justin Steele’s outing. The game got so out of hand that infielder Andrelton Simmons pitched for the first time in his career in the eighth — and he gave up five runs on five hits and a walk. AdvertisementRight fielder Seiya Suzuki exited the game in the fourth with a sprained left ring finger. He suffered the injury the previous inning when he jammed the finger sliding into second on a stolen base. Manager David Ross sounded optimistic Suzuki avoided a serious injury after he checked out OK, which included a negative X-ray.Cubs right fielder Seiya Suzuki, left, is checked on by trainers and manager David Ross after suffering an injury while sliding into second on a stolen base in the third inning against the Reds on Thursday in Cincinnati. (Dylan Buell / Getty Images)The Cubs get an off day Friday to regroup before heading to the South Side for a quick weekend series against the White Sox at Guaranteed Rate Field. The Sox won both games at Wrigley Field in early May. Javier Báez and Amir Garrett are no longer around to continue their feud, but heightened tensions between their former teams haven’t dissipated.Cubs reliever Rowan Wick and Reds first baseman Joey Votto have taken over as the protagonists in the bad-blood drama between the sides. The brouhaha from late in Wednesday’s game carried over into Thursday’s series finale. Willson Contreras, who homered in the fifth and admired his shot, was hit with the first pitch of his seventh-inning at-bat. Manager David Ross then was ejected for the second straight game and seventh time in his managerial career. Ross wasn’t interested in rehashing what prompted another conversation with the umpire crew.Cubs manager David Ross argues with umpire Will Little after being ejected in the seventh inning of a game against the Reds on Thursday at Great American Ball Park in Cincinnati. (Dylan Buell / Getty Images)“I’ll keep that between the umpires,” Ross said. “A lot of it just goes back to (Wednesday).”Contreras then had words with Votto after Wick struck out the Reds slugger to end the seventh. The Cubs’ bullpen started to run onto the field but made it only halfway before returning to the pen as the situation dissipated.Reds first baseman Joey Votto, left, exchanges words with Cubs catcher Willson Contreras after striking out in the seventh inning Thursday in Cincinnati. The Reds won 20-5. (Aaron Doster / AP)It’s unlikely this will be the end of the animosity between the Cubs and Reds and, more specifically, Wick and Votto. The teams still play 15 times, including six consecutive games to end the season.AdvertisementHoerner’s contact-oriented approach has been a welcomed part of the Cubs lineup that too often last season featured too much swing-and-miss.The Cubs’ regular lineup this season features more contact hitters — to the determent of the long ball at times. Hoerner figures to play a big role for the Cubs going forward. Adding power to his offensive profile would be huge for Hoerner and the team.There are some signs of that happening. Hoerner homered during the second inning Thursday in his first start off the injured list.Cubs shortstop Nico Hoerner crosses the plate after hitting a solo home run during the second inning against the Reds on Thursday in Cincinnati. (Aaron Doster/AP)“Two weeks is not too bad,” Hoerner said this week of his IL stint. “I was able to be swinging pretty soon afterward. That wasn’t really a concern in the rehab side of it.”The home run marked his third of the season, which tied his career high, doing so in 101 plate appearances. Hoerner’s career high came in 2019 (82 PAs). He hadn’t homered in 2020 or 2021, a stretch of 296 PAs.Chicago Tribune SportsWeekdaysA daily sports newsletter delivered to your inbox for your morning commute.Hoerner entered Thursday with the highest flyball rate (20.5%) and extra-base hit rate (7.0%) of his career. Getting more pop from Hoerner, combined with his contact rate and defensive performance at shortstop, would take his all-around game to the next level.AdvertisementWith two doubleheaders next week, the Cubs will gain a 27th player and need two additional starters.One player who won’t be brought up to help: top pitching prospect Caleb Kilian. The right-hander is lined up to start Monday after starting Wednesday for Triple-A Iowa. Kilian wasn’t sharp in that outing.However, Ross said before Thursday’s series finale that Kilian is not being discussed as an option for either of the doubleheaders Monday and Saturday. In nine starts with Triple-A Iowa, Kilian has posted a 2.06 ERA, 1.271 WHIP, 41 strikeouts and 15 walks in 39⅓ innings. It’s his first season pitching at that level.“It just looks like real big-league stuff,” Ross said. “He’s having a great season and (his) stuff’s trending up. The velocities moving up. There’s just a lot of good things to like about him. … He’s having a great season, and I’m sure we’ll see him sooner rather than later.”Kilian, acquired from the San Francisco Giants in the Kris Bryant trade, must be added to the 40-man roster in the offseason to be protected from the Rule 5 draft. The Cubs will want to get a look at him sometime this season. Bringing him up for a doubleheader spot start would require putting him on the 40-man, and the Cubs likely want to maintain flexibility there as long as possible.The organization is positioning to be major sellers at the trade deadline again, which would open spots for Kilian not only for the 40-man but in the rotation.

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A very dark place

For many, mental health has only recently come into focus due to the COVID-19 pandemic. However, for those of us incarcerated by the Illinois Department of…

Sports

Roman Abramovich’s fall from grace in the Premier League was swift. Here’s how he was forced to sell Chelsea.

Standing by the bar in a small Stamford Bridge hospitality suite was a figure who had had not been spotted at the stadium in three years: Roman Abramovich.Last November, the Chelsea owner was back in London at his English Premier League club to host the president of Israel. There was no obvious security entourage around the Russian billionaire and little fuss, just close associate and Chelsea director Eugene Tenenbaum.AdvertisementAfter making small talk with guests and posing for photos with President Isaac Herzog in front of the pitch, the party moved onto an afternoon tea event for around 50 people, with scones and cucumber sandwiches.Abramovich was feted with speeches praising his work through Chelsea to campaign against antisemitism. It looked like the gradual reintroduction of Abramovich into a more high-profile role around Chelsea again, attached to his social activism.AdvertisementThere was, maybe, a British visa to be regained after he withdrew his application for a renewal in 2018.Then everything rapidly changed from Feb. 24 when Russia invaded Ukraine.Three months later, Abramovich is being replaced as Chelsea owner by a group fronted by American investor Todd Boehly, a prospect unimaginable when the oligarch was on the field in Abu Dhabi on Feb. 9 lifting the FIFA Club World Cup.Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich applauds his team during a 6-0 victory against Arsenal in the Premier League on March 22, 2014. (Alastair Grant/AP)It would turn out to be the 21st and last men’s team trophy in 19 years running the team his wealth transformed from being glamorous but only occasionally competing for the biggest trophies, into one of the most successful in European football.Abramovich tried to cling onto Chelsea, even as anger over Russia’s unprovoked aggression toward its neighbor intensified, backed not just by loyal fans but club greats including John Terry hailing him as “the best.”Within hours of the war beginning, Abramovich was accused in the House of Commons of having links to corrupt activity and paying for political influence in Russia. The demands grew for Abramovich to be sanctioned by the British government, which had already thwarted his efforts to regain the visa in recent years, according to a legislator.Sensing the need to act, Abramovich offered cosmetic changes to the ownership on Feb. 26 with the pledge to relinquish “stewardship and care” of the club to its charitable foundation trustees.They had not signed off on the plan, though, and the vague proposal did not quell the anger that a man accused of being so closely linked to Russian President Vladimir Putin could retain the ownership of a high-profile status symbol in the heart of London.AdvertisementAnother public play to shield his reputation from Putin’s war came on Feb. 28 when Abramovich’s PR pushed an apparent move for him to broker peace. Abramovich did not condemn the war, and he has yet to do so despite talking about the need to publicly condemn atrocities only two days before the invasion. The rare comments came in a statement launching a new partnership backing the Jerusalem-based Holocaust museum.“Yad Vashem’s work in preserving the memory of the victims of the Holocaust,” Abramovich said, “is instrumental to ensure that future generations never forget what antisemitism, racism and hate can lead to if we don’t speak out.”Yet, Abramovich never has practiced what he preached, even as Putin framed the war as one of denazification, falsely called the Ukrainian leadership “Nazis” despite President Volodymyr Zelenskyy being Jewish, and areas were reduced to rubble by Russian bombing and shelling. Yad Vashem suspended its partnership with Abramovich, as did the Imperial War Museum in London, where he funded a Holocaust exhibition and which hosted an event for him hours after the start of Russia’s war on Ukraine.It was only six days into the invasion when Swiss billionaire Hansjorg Wyss leaked that Abramovich was actually trying to quickly dispose of Chelsea and the club was publicly put up for sale.“I hope,” Abramovich said, “that I will be able to visit Stamford Bridge one last time to say goodbye to all of you in person.”A week later, any immediate hopes of returning to London were ended by the government. Sanctions and travel restrictions were placed on Abramovich, his assets were frozen, and Chelsea was allowed to operate only under the terms of a government-issued license until the end of May.AdvertisementNew match tickets couldn’t be sold by Chelsea. Players couldn’t be handed new contracts. Even merchandise stores had to close.The job of finding a buyer for Chelsea was placed with the New York-based Raine Group merchant bank. An array of prospective investors went public, some seemingly more viable owners than others, before the bank produced a shortlist of four bidders in early April.The sale ended where it began with Wyss.The Raine Group — working with Abramovich’s associates on the board leading Chelsea — eventually selected the group featuring Wyss and fronted by Boehly, part-owner of the Los Angeles Dodgers, with investment from Clearlake Capital.The sale price was 2.5 billion pounds ($3.2 billion), the most ever for a team in world sports, with the proceeds having to go to a foundation supporting Ukrainian victims of the war. Boehly also had to pledge to invest 1.75 billion pounds ($2.2 billion) in the coming years in the teams and infrastructure.The final stage of the process encapsulated how laced in politics the process was with approval needed from the British and European authorities that sanctioned Abramovich, ensuring he would not profit from the sale.AdvertisementIt was an unceremonious end to his 19 years as owner.After buying Chelsea for 140 million pounds in 2003, Abramovich ended up with nothing. Not even a return of the 1.6 billion pounds of loans he had to write off to allow the club to be sold and continue playing.It was never about money for Abramovich, though. More about status and winning trophies.“In hindsight, especially with the public profile it would bring me, maybe I would have thought differently about owning a club,” Abramovich was quoted as telling Forbes a year before losing control of Chelsea. “But, at the time, I just saw this incredible game, and that I wanted to be a part of that in one way or another.”No more, in England at least.Ultimately, though, the association with Putin that Abramovich spent so long trying to distance himself from cost him the ability to retain the ownership of Chelsea.