The Chicago Cubs took a loss against the San Francisco Giants on Tuesday but the team seems to feel like it’s in position to make a strong surge ahead of the playoffs.
Coming off of a series sweep of the Los Angeles Angels and a series win against the division rival Milwaukee Brewers before that, with superstar outfielder Kyle Tucker again looking like his old self, the team rang an optimistic note about its chances to seize first place in the National League Central before the regular season concludes.
“The season ebbs and flows,” outfielder Ian Happ told The Athletic’s Patrick Mooney on Tuesday. “Things aren’t over in June. Things aren’t over in August. You got to play the last 30. Every year, whether it’s our division or another division, stuff changes in the last 30 games.”
After their loss and the Brewers’ win against the Arizona Diamondbacks on Tuesday, the Cubs sit more than six games behind first place in the division. But with a firm lead in the wild card standings, they seem set to end their playoff drought one way or another.
Still, the team would surely like to take back the divisional lead if it can. And infielder Nico Hoerner sent a message on how he sees their chances to catch the Brewers with the race for the division entering its final stretch.
“Our eye is absolutely still on our goal from the start of the year, which is winning the division and putting ourselves in the best place for the playoffs,” Hoerner said, per Mooney. “Obviousy, (the Brewers have) played a lot of great baseball. Outside of the games that we played them, we can’t do anything about that. But we can control how we play from here out. … We’re in a good place to finish strong.”
The Cubs won’t have a chance to match up against the Brewers head to head for the rest of the regular season, but as they look to return to the top spot in the National League Central a potential playoff battle with their divisional foe could be in the cards.
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