NL Wild Card standings prove Cubs are getting sickeningly familiar Brewers reminder

In case there was any doubt, there shouldn't have been, the Milwaukee Brewers had another reminder for the Chicago Cubs on Monday. As has become the norm when the Cubs play in Milwaukee, Craig Counsell's squandered a late lead that highlighted the gap that remains between the two division rivals.

Entering play on Tuesday, the Cubs trail the Brewers by eight games in the National League Central. The division race is all but over, and focus for the Cubs needs to be on securing the top spot in the National League Wild Card race.

That is the unfortunately reality of the Cubs playing the Brewers at this point in the season. The reality is the Brewers are the better team, and more times than not, that is going to prove the case each time they play each other. With each loss to the Brewers, the twist of the knife for the Cubs is the ground they are losing in the Wild Card race.

Cubs are getting painfully familiar Brewers reminder as NL Wild Card race tightens

After their loss to the Brewers on Monday, and the Philadelphia Phillies squeezing out a one-run victory over the Atlanta Braves, Philadelphia nows has a half-game lead over the Cubs. Why that matter is that the Wild Card series between the two teams would be in Philadelphia, instead of Chicago.

If there is one silver lining for the Cubs, if they end the season tied with the Phillies at the top of the Wild Card, they hold the tie-breaker. The same is also true for the Cubs against the San Diego Padres and Arizona Diamondbacks. The Diamondbacks enter the day as the third Wild Card team in the National League.

Making matters worse for the Cubs, after these next two games against the Brewers, they have series against the Pittsburgh Pirates and Atlanta Braves. The Cubs have split the first ten games against the Pirates this season, and the Braves are currently the third-best team in the National League. Meanwhile, the Phillies have a series against the Houston Astros this week, followed a weekend clash with the Braves, and the Washington Nationals next week.

If the Cubs don't right the ship quickly, they could quickly lose ground to the Phillies to the point the conversation becomes moot by the end of next week. An outcome that should force Jed Hoyer to answer the question he has failed to provide an answer to during his tenure as the president of baseball operations, if not now, when?

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