The Chicago Cubs are in a precarious position with just over a week to go in the regular season, as they find themselves out of a playoff spot with nine games remaining.
The Cubs lost an extra-innings heartbreaker to the Cardinals on Thursday, dropping them four games behind St. Louis with nine games left to play. To make matters worse, the Milwaukee Brewers also won, leaving the Cubs a game behind Milwaukee for the second wild card spot in the National League.
The Washington Nationals were off on Thursday, leaving them a game ahead of the Brewers.
National League Central:
St. Louis 86-67
Milwaukee 83-70 3 GB
Chicago 82-71 4 GB
Chicago Baseball
National League Wild Card:
Washington 83-68
Milwaukee 83-70 1 GB
Chicago 82-71 2 GB
Cubs
At a time of year the Cubs needed to start putting together victories, they have gone the opposite direction, losing their last three games and leaving themselves in very real danger of missing the playoffs for the first time in five years.
The Road Ahead:
The Cubs do still have a measure of control over their destiny, as they have three games remaining against the Cardinals this weekend and three more coming in the final weekend of the regular season in St. Louis.
If the Cubs can win three games in a row against St. Louis, they would only trail the Cardinals by one game with six contests remaining, but that will certainly be a tough hill to climb against a team that has been one of baseball’s best over the last two months.
Brewers
The Brewers took care of business on Thursday, beating the San Diego Padres and vaulting back into sole possession of the second wild card spot in the National League. The Brewers are now 12-2 in their last 14 games, and are surging despite losing star Christian Yelich for the season.
The Road Ahead:
After a series win over the Padres, the Brewers will welcome the lowly Pirates to town for three games. The Pirates have lost 10 of their last 12 games, and are on their way to a last place finish in the Central Division barring a strong comeback.
Cardinals
The Cardinals have lowered their magic number to clinch the Central Division to seven by virtue of their win over the Cubs, and they are hoping to get back to the postseason for the first time since the 2015 campaign.
The Road Ahead:
The Cardinals have three games left against the Cubs, and then have a three-game set in Arizona before returning home to St. Louis for the final series of the season against Chicago.
Nationals
After their last day off of the season, the Nationals will have a sprint to the finish, playing 11 games in the final 10 days of the regular season beginning on Friday night against the Marlins.
The Road Ahead:
The Nationals, who would host the National League Wild Card Game as things stand right now, play their final eight games of the regular season at Nationals Park, including five contests against the Philadelphia Phillies.
The Phillies are hanging on for their postseason lives, trailing the Brewers by four games in the wild card hunt, and they would have to jump three teams to climb back into the playoffs.
