Perhaps with just a little bit of good karma from Taylor Swift, a Wild Card berth that once appeared to be in the Cubs' wildest dreams is suddenly not so far-fetched.
It had been a cruel summer for the North Siders up until the past two weeks, when their change in fortunes coincided with manager Craig Counsell being gifted a Taylor Swift candle. Counsell and clubhouse manager Danny Mueller have been lighting the candle -- which is labeled "This Smells Like Taylor Swift" -- before games, and it has sparked their recent winning ways.
"We've gone on a nice little run here, so we're going to credit Taylor Swift," Counsell said.
That "nice little run" includes nine wins in their past 12 games, and after every win a tally is marked on the label of the candle. It seemed like the Swift magic might have run its course on Wednesday afternoon with the Cubs trailing by seven runs entering the seventh inning. But they erupted for 11 runs over the final three frames, and the Pirates could only muster blank spaces on the box score in response.
In case you wanted more proof that the Cubs were trouble for pitchers over this Swift-inspired stretch of winning, look no further than research from MLB.com's Sarah Langs. Chicago has scored 73 runs in its past seven games, which is the most for the club in a seven-game span since 1961.
The Cubs, of course, are not out of the woods yet. They know all too well that they'll need to keep this run going over the final month to have any chance of muscling their way into a playoff spot, but they are now two games over .500, 5 1/2 games out of the third Wild Card and there is only one team ahead of them.
Everything has changed for this team, and all it took was a Taylor Swift candle.