As of this morning, the Cubs are in a dead heat with the Milwaukee Brewers, both teams at 74-71 ... with St. Louis now 4 games back ... and only 17 games left to play. The Cardinals aren't out of it at this point (they have 4-game series against both the Cubs and the Brewers coming up, which, if they swept both, would put them right back up there), but it's looking like a 2-horse race at this point. No more head-to-head games between us and Milwaukee, though, so it's "how we finish" at this point. The Cubs have all sub-500 teams left on the schedule, while the Brewers have series against 2 over-500 teams, and 2 teams still in contention (counting the Cardinals). The Brewers are home for 10 of the 17 games (and they are far better at home than on the road), while the Cubs have 11 of their 17 games on the road (but they've been pretty even in their home/road records).
It sure looks like things will come down to that final series, with the Cubs in Cincinnati (where the Reds, 8 games out at this point, should just be "playing out the schedule"), and the Brewers hosting the Padres (and San Diego could well be still "in the chase" in the West then).
I'm almost afraid to turn on the TV ...
