Len & Lin: This Must Be the (First) Place

The Cubs are ten games over .500 since the All Star break, picking up eight games in the standings, and now find themselves atop the NL Central after taking 2 of 3 from the Brewers in Milwaukee. The northsiders move up in class as they come back to Wrigley to face the Arizona Diamondbacks and Washington Nationals. They'll do so with an improved bullpen courtesy of trading with Detroit for reliever Justin Wilson as well as backup catcher Alex Avila, who's no stranger to Chicago from his time on the Southside last season. It's trade deadline baseball, which means that the team as constituted now is likely to be the team that manager Joe Maddon rides the rest of the way.