CHICAGO – The Cubs took the field Wednesday night with a chance to clinch their spot in the National League postseason field. They headed back into the clubhouse with uncertainty still hovering overhead, even as a trip to the playoffs remained the probable outcome.
With a 3-2 loss to the Marlins at Wrigley Field, the Cubs did not hold up their end of things when it came to sealing a place on the October stage as an NL Wild Card team. Chicago remains in win-and-in mode with four games remaining on the regular-season slate. The Diamondbacks defeated the Rockies later Wednesday night, keeping the Cubs from securing their spot for at least another day.
The Cubs and Phillies both lost Wednesday, keeping them tied with the same 87-71 record. The Padres are currently a half-game ahead in the race for the top Wild Card spot, pending the result of their late game against the Dodgers. Chicago holds a tiebreaker over both the Phillies and Padres.
Kevin Gausman turned in the type of performance that the Cubs had in mind for an October setting. The righty had his splitter working well, generating 19 whiffs (swinging strikes) out of 21 overall with his signature pitch. Gausman struck out seven over 5 2/3 innings, including three in an impressive escape in the fifth.
After the Marlins had Javier Sanoja lead off with a ground-rule double that disappeared into the ivy in right-center field, Gausman struck out the next three batters in order to strand the runner. One frame later, the Cubs’ righty allowed a two-run homer to Kyle Stowers that served as the only real blemish on his line.
The larger issue was Chicago’s lack of situational hitting for a second night in a row.
After going 1-for-18 with runners in scoring position and leaving 15 runners on base in Tuesday’s 12-inning loss to Miami, the Cubs’ offense struggled to get much going against righty Ryan Gusto. He gave Miami 5 1/3 innings and left with two runners aboard. Dansby Swanson then delivered a broken-bat, two-run single to snap Chicago out of a 1-for-25 skid with RISP, pulling the game into a 2-2 tie.
The Marlins scratched across one run against Cubs lefty Ryan Rolison in the seventh to take the lead for good.