The Latest Breaking News from Cubs

The Braves took the lead on Cubs right fielder Seiya Suzuki’s two-out error in the eighth inning. The Cubs dropped a game behind the Diamondbacks in the battle for the second wild-card spot and saw their lead over the Marlins for the third and final spot cut to a half-game.

The innocent romances of pre-2016 playoff years are relics, but if we can find our inner rubes — they’ve got to be in there somewhere — it might be a lot of fun.

Until Merryweather was able to escape his bases-loaded jam, sealing a scoreless inning in an eventual 6-3 win, the litany of reliever injury updates Saturday were top of mind.

Stroman allowed three runs in three innings in his first start back from the IL.

In the wake of the surprise news of Marcus Stroman’s return to the rotation, there was no word on how the Cubs will reorder their starters.

With the win, the Cubs moved back into the NL’s third wild-card spot.

Losing a series to an under-.500 team could cost the Cubs a playoff spot.

Hendricks pitched at Wrigley Field on Thursday for the last time this regular season. Whether he’ll be back is up to the Cubs.

Any promising signs the Cubs had shown in the first two games against the Pirates evaporated in an 8-6 loss Thursday.