Saturday’s 2-0 loss to the Brewers was the Cubs’ 135th game of the year. It was also the final date before the calendar flips to September, when everything that’s hurt the Cubs this season will be overcome or end their hopes for another World Series.
Whatever happens, the Cubs’ resilience will be tested even more. Most recently, they recovered from a humbling home sweep by the Nationals by winning three straight in New York. But unlike the recent past, there hasn’t been a prolonged hot streak this season.
At least not yet.
“It’s been a dogfight for us all year, just as far as getting on a roll,” Anthony Rizzo said. “There’s highs and lows. Hopefully we can go on a high for the next two months and not look back. But if another punch comes, we’ll be able to take it and keep going.”
September would be a pretty good time for that next roll.
The Cubs’ four-game winning streak was snapped and they fell two games behind St. Louis in the NL Central race, pending the outcome of the Cardinals’ game later Saturday night. And if the Cubs are to get hot and win a lot down the stretch, it’ll be in the division. They have five left with Milwaukee and seven to go with the Cardinals, not to mention dates with spoilers Pittsburgh and Cincinnati.
“You have to play really good games against the Cardinals, you have to play good games against Milwaukee and you cannot take Pittsburgh and Cincinnati lightly, because they’re good players and they’re trying to put up numbers for the future,” said Cole Hamels, who gave up two runs in six innings.
“It’s a matter of really grinding out the amount of games that we have. We really have to come away with a good record on the road and at home. That will be the case to see who really makes it.”
Last season, it was the Brewers who made it across the line to win the division. They trailed by five games as late as Sept. 2 last year but swiped the Central with a 19-7 September and win over the Cubs in a tiebreaker.
As Milwaukee showed - and the Cubs don’t need any reminders of - the last month can change everything.
“It’s just if a team gets hot and things start clicking, and you get on that two-week stretch where we won a bunch of games in a row and somebody else struggles, that’s a wrap,” the Brewers’ Christian Yelich said, “because there’s not enough time to make it up.”
On Sunday, the Cubs are expected to get back Ben Zobrist (who was seen working out on the field after Saturday’s game) and sooner or later Willson Contreras will return from his hamstring injury, with both bolstering roster. But the Cubs still have to take care of their business in the season’s final month.
“I know we’re going to add some guys, which are going to be a big help,” Hamels said. “It really does. It comes down to us, and who wants it more. This division is not going to be easy. It was never going to be easy.”
The Brewers showed that last year, and despite a downturn from 2018, Cubs manager Joe Maddon still sees them as a threat. But he’s also optimistic about his own group.
“I really believe our guys are in a good place mentally right now,” Maddon said. “I love the spirit before the game. It’s good. I love it in the clubhouse in the morning when you walk in. I have no issues. Our guys are going about their business properly.”
