Cubs’ 5-3 loss to A’s gives Brewers NL Central title

The pitch that sealed the National League Central race slipped out of the hands of A’s closer Mason Miller, clocked at 99.6 mph, and the bat of Cubs rookie Pete Crow Armstrong met it near the bottom of the strike zone.

Aside from a fifth-inning comeback, the Cubs offense didn’t really hold up. But with a runner on base and one out in the ninth, it was their last chance to close the gap.

However, Crow-Armstrong’s hard-hit ground ball was just a step away from A’s second baseman Zack Gelof, who threw the ball to second base to start a double play.

Wednesday’s 5-3 loss put the Cubs 10.5 games behind the leading Brewers before Milwaukee even plays a night game against the Phillies.

Given how the season had gone, the result was not surprising. But when it happened, with a week and a half to go, it showed just how lopsided the competition was. The Brewers were the first team to clinch a playoff spot.

“We’d obviously like to win the division or lead the wild card — obviously, in a different position,” said Justin Steele, who pitched 2 ⅔ scoreless innings Wednesday in his first game back from the injured list. “But, the cards fell where they needed to be, and we put ourselves in that position.”

“But I feel like there are people in the dressing room who have good reason to celebrate. At this point it’s about continuing to build on what you’ve done and continuing to improve as a player.”

The wild card might have been a more realistic option to make the playoffs. But the Cubs are out of the running, too. That became clear after the Cubs lost a three-game series in Colorado to the Rockies, who are in last place in the NL West.

The Cubs then returned to Wrigley Field and lost two of three games to the A’s, who have had the lowest payroll in MLB over the past two years, according to Spotrac.

The Cubs have slipped to 6 1/2 games out of the National League’s final wild-card spot, pending the conclusion of the Mets’ game Wednesday against the Nationals.

“We can’t afford to lose two out of three games, that’s for sure,” manager Craig Counsell said. “That puts us in an almost impossible situation.”

The Brewers, meanwhile, were already the division’s big favourites in June and have held a comfortable lead ever since.

“We didn’t win,” said Counsell, who managed the Brewers for nine seasons before signing a record-setting contract with the Cubs last season. “So they earned it, they deserve it, they beat us.”

Recent successful Brewers teams have been built on good pitching, so it was natural for this 2024 version to backtrack after Corbin Burnes was traded to the Orioles in the offseason and Brandon Woodruff was lost to shoulder surgery. Instead, their offense helped the team have an impressive year, with Counsell’s former college coach and bench coach Pat Murphy at the helm.

“They’ve always been a good team,” Swanson said. “They’ve always been able to pitch really well. They’ve always been able to play defense without really getting hurt, and they’ve obviously done that at a really high level this year. Then when you combine that with the offensive production from different players, it’s been a good recipe for their success.”

So what now for the Cubs?

“Obviously, coming into the year, I thought we had different expectations,” Swanson said. “That’s the reality of where we are right now. And there’s still 10 games left to hopefully make a difference.”