The Cubs lost to the Brewers last night, but the still drew a notch closer to locking down, officially, their Wild Card spot. That’s because the Giants lost on a walk-off to the Padres, dropping the Cubs’ magic number for clinching a playoff spot to just two.
Unfortunately, though, the Pirates also won last night, drubbing the Rockies, and expanding their lead over the Cubs to three games. If the Cubs are going to take the top Wild Card spot and claim home field advantage in the Wild Card Game, then, it might just take a sweep this weekend. It can still be done even if the Cubs take only two of three, but they’d need a bit of help from the Pirates the rest of the way, as there are only 10 games left in the season.
Remember: all the Cubs need to do is tie the Pirates, because they’ve got the tiebreaker.
As for the other relevant team, the Cardinals whipped the Reds, holding their lead over the Pirates steady at 4.0 games. The Cubs are 7.0 games behind the Cardinals, and that dream is done.