The Chicago Cubs will carry a three-game winning streak into their two-game set against the White Sox. The Cubs are also starting Tuesday only five games back in the NL Wild Card race and four games behind in the loss column following a wild Monday, when every team in front of the Cubs in the Wild Card standings who played all lost.
All of a sudden, the Cubs are right back in the mix for a Wild Card spot and almost every team around them is starting to implode.
San Francisco Giants
After a five-game winning streak following the All-Star break, the San Francisco Giants were at 54-41, a season-best 13 games above .500. They haven't won a game since last Tuesday. The Giants were swept on the road this past weekend by the Washington Nationals and on Monday they played a make up game against the Detroit Tigers.
San Francisco's offense was non-existent once again, losing 5-1, which extended their losing streak to six games. During the six-game losing streak, the Giants have scored a total of nine runs. That includes only scoring one run in three consecutive losses and four of their last five.
The good news is that the Giants begin a nine-game home stand on Tuesday, beginning with two against the lowly Oakland A's.
Philadelphia Phillies
The Philadelphia Phillies have now lost five of their last six games and for some reason they continue to trot out Kyle Schwarber in left field. When Schwarber was still with the Cubs, I thought the talk about his outfield defense being god awful was a bit exaggerated, but damn has he proven the doubters right for several years now. Schwarber is terrible out there and on Monday night he couldn't get to a ball down the line in the ninth inning with two outs, allowing the Baltimore Orioles to win 3-2.
The Phillies were shutout twice last week and on Sunday, they were on the verge of getting swept by the Cleveland Guardians, before winning in extra innings. They'll play two more against the Orioles this week, but the Phillies' schedule does get easier, especially in the first half of August, when they play the Kansas City Royals and Washington Nationals a combined 10 games.
Arizona Diamondbacks
The Arizona Diamondbacks were the darlings of the National League leading up to the All-Star break, but since then they've fallen into a tie with the Giants. Heading into Monday's series opener against a bad St. Louis Cardinals team, the Diamondbacks had lost four games in a row.
It looked like a great night, as Arizona erased a 5-2 deficit and took a 6-5 lead to the ninth inning. Unfortunately, left-handed reliever and former Cubs lefty Andrew Chafin blew the save. The Cardinals took a 7-6 lead with a two-out, bases loaded walk and then Chafin was replaced by Kevin Ginkel, who gave up a three-run double to Tyler O'Neill.
Arizona is 2-8 since play resumed following the All-Star Game. The Diamondbacks pitching staff is suffering big time, giving up 5+ runs in 8 of their last 10 games.
Reds, Marlins, Padres
The Miami Marlins were off on Monday and they desperately need a reset because they've been atrocious since the All-Star break. On Sunday, the Marlins beat the Colorado Rockies 3-2 in extra innings, snapping their eight-game losing streak.
The San Diego Padres lost 8-4 to the Pittsburgh Pirates on Monday night, when Yu Darvish was only able to toss 4.1 innings. Darvish served up seven earned runs on eight hits, including four home runs from the Pirates.
Two of the four long balls came from Carlos Santana.
The Padres are six games back of a Wild Card spot and trail the Cubs by one game. San Diego, who many predicted would win the NL West in 2023, are currently 48-53 and only 5-6 since the All-Star break.
Meanwhile, the Cincinnati Reds aren't exactly imploding just yet, but they have definitely slowed down since their wild month of June. They're still fighting it out with the Milwaukee Brewers in the NL Central and both teams faced off on Monday night.
The Reds took a 2-1 lead into the sixth inning, when the Brewers tied it and then Milwaukee walked it off in the ninth. Cincinnati is 5-6 since the All-Star break and 11-9 overall so far in July. Despite some great wins over the Giants and Diamondbacks last week, the Reds have had trouble against their division rivals, now losing five of their last six games against the Brewers.
Cincinnati plays two more games in Milwaukee this week before a three-game series on the road against the Los Angeles Dodgers. After that, the Reds play four against the Cubs.
NL Wild Card Standings (Start of 7/25)
Reds: 55-47 (+0.5)
Marlins: 54-47 (-)
Diamondbacks: 54-47 (-)
Giants: 54-47 (-)
Phillies: 54-47 (-)
Cubs: 48-51 (5 GB)
So, the Cubs start Tuesday five games back of a Wild Card spot and as you see in the standings, they're just four games back in the loss column with every team ahead of them at 47 losses compared to the Cubs' 51.
The Cubs should, emphasis on should, be able to make up a little more ground this week with two games against the White Sox, who have the third-worst record in the AL and are expected to begin their sell off, plus four games against the Cardinals, who are also predicted to trade away talent in the next week.
