Start each day with the Chicago Tribune's top sports stories, delivered to your inbox
Sports Friday, May 22, 2026 | | |
| | | | | Good morning, Chicago. The Cubs entered the 2026 season as consensus favorites to topple the Brewers in the National League Central and were 5½ games ahead after their second 10-game winning streak left them with a 27-12 record on May 8. But after Wednesday’s 5-0 loss to the Brewers at Wrigley, where the Cubs were swept and outscored 19-5 in the three games. The Brewers suddenly have a 1½-game lead. As the
"L" flag flew from the Wrigley flagpole, the Cubs were back to chasing their old rivals, searching for answers over a meltdown no one saw coming. Two months into the season, the Cubs already have run the gamut of emotions, going from dominant to docile in the blink of an eye. “Things happen, and we’ve got to move on from them,” manager Craig Counsell said. Today’s eNewspaper edition | Subscribe to more newsletters | Asking Eric | Horoscopes | Puzzles & Games | Today in History | | | | Chicago Cubs rookie Moisés Ballesteros’ hot start has morphed into a tough stretch over the last three weeks: 3-for-49 (.061) in his last 15 games. | | | | | Kyle Busch, a two-time Cup Series champion who won more races than anyone across NASCAR’s three national series, has died at 41. | | | | | Northwestern faces Johns Hopkins at home Friday at Martin Stadium in the first NCAA Division I women’s lacrosse semifinals hosted outside of the Eastern time zone. | | | | | Kyler Gordon has a soft-tissue injury and Jaylon Johnson is absent from the Chicago Bears voluntary offseason program with three weeks remaining until a summer break. | | | | | It’s back to the drawing board at left tackle for Chicago Bears offensive line coach Dan Roushar — and that board looks pretty similar to a year ago. | | | | | A crushing sweep at home at the hands of the Milwaukee Brewers leaves the Chicago Cubs looking up at their archrivals again after a 2-9 stretch dropped them out of first place. | | | | | NASCAR driver Kyle Busch died Thursday at 41, three days before he was set to run the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway. Here is what to know. | | | |