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The Cubs entered a four-game series with the Giants last Thursday, trailing to them in the NL wild card race. Those four games are now over, and Chicago was the victor in all of them: suddenly, the Cubs are 3.5 games up on the Giants, who are now closer to the NL West-leading Dodgers than they are Chicago. They can thank Los Angeles for that, as the Dodgers were also swept, albeit in a three-game set, by the overall wild card leader, the Pirates.
It’s convenient for both the Dodgers and Giants that they were shut down at the same time, as Los Angeles was unable to pull away while San Francisco failed to capitalize and further close the gap between them. The Giants also aren’t out of the wild card chase by any means: it’s August 10, and they’re only 3.5 games back, and have a three-game set to wrap up the season series against Chicago at the end of this month. The Cubs don’t need this kind of consolation and “get ‘em next time” speak, though, as they were 49-66 with the second-to-worst record in the NL on this date in 2014 -- and last held a playoff spot at this point in the season in 2008.
The lineup isn’t perfect, but Starlin Castro has been benched in the hopes of upgrading it, and Kyle Schwarber has provided a boost of offense they weren’t able to get from other young players like Jorge Soler and Addison Russell. The rotation has had its troubles during the season, but now, with Jake Arrieta and Jon Lester leading the way, they’ve turned things around and look like a playoff-capable force now. There are still almost two months of regular season left, but thanks to a strong weekend, it’s the Cubs’ wild card spot to lose. They’re not immune to doing just that, but hey, this beats spending the next two months waiting to find out where they’ll draft next June.
- Following the conclusion of Sunday's game, there was a bomb threat at Wrigley Field. Thankfully, there was only the threat, and nothing terrible occurred to the remaining people in the park.
- On a less terrifying subject, look at what the Internet did to Bryce Harper's awesome hair.
- The Yankees didn't trade their prospects for deadline upgrades even as the Blue Jays loaded up, and this is why.
- The Nationals are 1.5 games back of the surging Mets in the NL East, and at this point it looks like this race is going to go down to the end of the season. The two teams face each other in two more series, with the last one the final of the season.
- Dodgers' second baseman Howie Kendrick will undergo an MRI on his hamstring on Monday after exiting Sunday's game with a strain.
- Chase Utley has long refused to be traded from the only organization he's known, but with the Phillies rebuilding and nearly all of Utley's long-time teammates already gone, he may be ready to finally go.
- The Red Sox designated Justin Masterson for assignment after he wasn't much help out of their bullpen, either. With Masterson's control and velocity both missing, and a last-place team no longer willing to spend the innings on him, one wonders how much longer he'll stick around in the majors.
- Hey, it's not all bad for the Red Sox. Jackie Bradley Jr. remembered he's allowed to collect hits on the same day he channeled Willie Mays out in center field.
- Carlos Correa has been flat-out ridiculous since he was promoted to the majors, to the point where asking if he's the best shortstop in the game right now isn't as awkward as it should be.
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