Let’s get this out of the way first thing, about the Cubs’ 7-0 win over the Rangers Monday night at Wrigley Field.

Yes, it was cold. All together now: “How. Cold. Was. It?”

The game time temperature was 34 degrees. Here are all the games in Wrigley Field history where the game time temp was 34 or lower:

Yes, it was cold. Where I was sitting, I was blocked from most of the effects of the 17 mile per hour wind blowing in, so it was… mostly tolerable. I’d estimate about 11,000 or the 27,017 announced actually showed up, and we were treated to an outstanding Cubs pitching and hitting performance. Justin Steele was absolute nails and the Cubs offense ran like crazy on the Rangers, stealing four bases on their way to a 7-0 win.

Steele allowed a two-out walk and single in the first inning before ending the inning scoreless, and I mention that mostly because that was the only time in the entire game where the Rangers had a runner past first base.

Part of that was Miguel Amaya throwing out Josh Smith trying to steal in the second [VIDEO].

Nice tag and catch by Jon Berti, too.

The Cubs didn’t score in the bottom of the first, but got to work in the second. Michael Busch led off with an automatic double that bounced into the seats in left. Craig Counsell, perhaps sensing that small ball would be the way to win on this frigid night, had Dansby Swanson sacrifice Busch to third. That, friends, was the 10th sac bunt of Swanson’s career and first since 2021.

Amaya scored Busch with this sacrifice fly [VIDEO].

Berti was hit by a pitch leading off the third. He then proceeded to steal second and third. Fun fact about that from BCB’s JohnW53:

Jon Berti became the first Cub in more than a century to be hit by a pitch at Wrigley Field, then steal second and third.The only one who had done it previously was Bernie Friberg, on July 22, 1924, against the Braves. He did not score, as Berti did.

Just four Cubs had done it on the road since then: Nelson Matthews at New York vs. the Mets in 1962, Shawon Dunston at Montreal in 1988, Eric Young Sr. at Detroit in 2001 and Pete Crow-Armstrong, on June 27 of last year, at San Francisco. PCA and Young scored on home runs; Matthews, on a single. Dunston did not score.

This was just the ninth game at Wrigley in which a Cub stole multiple bases and was hit at least once. There have been 15 such games on the road.

Berti beat the throw home on Ian Happ’s infield grounder [VIDEO].

The game remained 2-0 to the bottom of the fifth, Steele at one point retiring eight straight Rangers. In the bottom of the fifth, Seiya Suzuki walked with two out and stole second, the Cubs’ fourth steal on the night (PCA had stolen second in the fourth). The Cubs must have had a “go ahead and run on Kyle Higashioka” scouting report.

Busch then smacked a triple into the right-field corner [VIDEO].

The Cubs finally broke the game wide open in the bottom of the sixth. Amaya led off with a single and took third on this single by PCA. PCA advanced to second on the throw to third. The next two Cubs were routine outs, but Happ’s single scored both runners [VIDEO].

Happ then stole second, the Cubs’ fifth steal of the night. He scored on this single by Kyle Tucker [VIDEO].

Tucker took second on the bad throw to the plate, where he scored on this single by Suzuki [VIDEO].

The four-run inning was, to me, just about the best way to do such things — five singles, a stolen base, taking base advances where possible, just perfect execution. The five steals gave the Cubs 21 for the season, and they are currently tied with the Pirates for the MLB lead in stolen bases. (Plus, the Cubs have just one caught stealing, the Pirates have four.)

Steele completed seven innings on 91 pitches (64 strikes), so for anyone who was worried about Steele’s first couple of outings being rough, he put those fears to bed Monday evening. He allowed three singles and two walks and struck out eight [VIDEO].

Here’s more on Steele’s outing [VIDEO].

And more! [VIDEO]

Last note about Steele: He has a decision in all four of his starts this year (three wins, one loss). He didn’t get his fourth decision in 2024 until his 13th start (1-3) and didn’t get his third 2024 win until Aug. 4 (18th start).

Colin Rea wrapped things up by throwing a perfect eighth and ninth, retiring all six hitters on just 23 pitches. Here’s the final out [VIDEO].

And, for everyone out in the cold, the Cubs played this game in a snappy two hours, 13 minutes, their shortest game so far in this young season.

So, for today at least:

Here are Counsell’s postgame comments [VIDEO].

And, some postgame remarks from Steele (and his adorable son). [VIDEO]

One more note on the chilly night, from BCB’s JohnW53:

According to data at baseball-reference.com, this was the Cubs’ 47th game at Wrigley Field with a first-pitch temperature below 40. The data shows only three such games before 1962. There have been 24 since 2000.

The Cubs now are 20-27 in all frigid games.

(A note: There were probably more frigid games before 1962, there just isn’t reliable temperature data available from before then.)

The teams will meet again tonight at Wrigley Field, and it’s not going to be any warmer, though it should be less windy. (The wind Monday night held one fly ball from Tucker inside the ballpark that otherwise would have been well up in the bleachers.) Jameson Taillon will start for the Cubs and Patrick Corbin will go for Texas. Game time is again 6:40 p.m. CT and TV coverage will be via Marquee Sports Network.