Another day, and another couple wins for the other contenders in the NL Central. But this time, the Cubs did *not* also win, sooooo …
The Cubs’ lead over the Cardinals slipped to 3.5 games (four in the loss column), and 4.0 games over the Brewers (five in the loss column). The Cardinals beat the Reds with ease, the Brewers beat the Nationals, and they’ll get them again tonight. It’s a charitable stretch for the Cardinals and Brewers right now and a very tough one for the Cubs, but that’s one of those things that really does tend to even out over the course of a full season. The Cubs will just need to put together a better offensive showing tonight.
For what it’s worth, the Cardinals went a silly 22-6 in August, but climbed only from 7.5 games back to 3.5 games back. Also, in the ENTIRE month, the Cardinals played just eight games against teams with winning records.