It’s possible some of us are going to diverge on our impressions of this one. In my head, this team played itself out of contention before the trade deadline. The last road trip for this team did, at least for a moment, put the Cubs on the periphery of the playoff picture. But even then, they were facing a decent gap, two teams to pass, tiebreaker problems and a toughening schedule that all said the odds were pretty long.
If you were seeing things through those eyes, then you’ll probably see last night’s game differently. I see a team that hasn’t become a contender yet, but is trying to open a contention window.