Cubs fans are riding an emotional roller coaster thanks to a tight NL Central race

Heading into Thursday's scheduled day off, the Chicago Cubs sit among the best teams in baseball with a 60-42 record. They boast a top offense in baseball and have spent most of the season in first place. All seems good, right? Well, despite the success, they find themselves a game back of first and in a dog fight with the Milwaukee Brewers.

Those dang, pesky Brewers.

A team that was 6 1/2 games back of the Cubs as recently as June 17 has gone on an absurd run and has taken over first place for the time being. The Cubs have exposed some of their warts, which they will want to address at the deadline, but they have not completely fallen off the rails. Overall, they are 15-14 since June 17 and 24-20 (.545) since June 1. Not the greatest stretch but far from awful. It has taken the Brewers going 26-6 (.786) since June 17 and 36-13 (.735) since May 24 to get ahead of the Cubs. They've won 72 percent of their games since Memorial Day, which translates to a roughly 118-44 pace. Crazy.

Cubs fans don't know what to do about those never-quit Brewers

It has Cubs fans tearing their hair out. "How do they keep doing this?" While memories of September 2018 are triggered, when the Brewers took the NL Central from the Cubs, going 11-2 in the final two weeks. Since then, the Cubs have looked up to Milwaukee both geographically and in the standings, for all but one (2020) season. It seemed like at the beginning of this season that was finally going to change. Yet, here the Brewers are again, finding ways to win with homegrown pitching, defense, speed, and successful revitalization projects. Milwaukee's limited payroll sees key guys getting traded away, walking in free agency...or even their hailed manager joining our side, and they still don't flinch.

Safe to say Milwaukee has become the Cubs' primary rival. The Cardinals will always be the all-time foe, but it's the Brewers who are currently the biggest competitive nemesis to the North Siders.

With all this talk about the Brewers' run and shades of 2018, the fact remains it's not even August yet. We are not sitting here in the final week. The Cubs are very good; they also need to shore up a few things. The Brewers are also a quality ball club but will likely not play at a 118-win pace the rest of the way; if they somehow do...then bless 'em. This is a classic race, one of which we see every year in baseball. The upcoming eight games that the two teams will play each other will be crucial. They will be emotional, heated, and nerve-wracking. If the Cubs want it, they have to take it themselves. Want to be the best? Show you are the best.

There is also the reality that the Wild Card is a very likely fallback if the Brewers indeed win the division. Seeding does not determine the winners in October, but it's also fair to say it's more desirable to win the division. Either way, the ultimate goal is October baseball for the Cubs and it's more real than ever in a tight division race. Buckle up.