The 1995 Cubs were a curious bunch. New manager Jim Riggleman had them in first place through most of May, then a 9-20 June seemingly took them out of contention.
They were 65-68 and five games out of the wild card spot in the 144-game season when they began an 11-game season-ending homestand against the Pirates, Cardinals and Astros September 21. They lost the first game of a four-game set to Pittsburgh, then took the final three and were thus one game under .500 at 68-69 and 4½ games out of the then-single wild card spot when they opened the series against the Cardinals on a Monday evening, September 25.