The Cubs are better than the Brewers in all things but one
And it's been enough to keep them the Cubs from seriously challenging them
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Podcast - Bears Season PRECRAP - Sept. 7, 2026
It's a big week for the Cubs as they try to catch back up to the Phillies to reclaim home field advantage in the NL Wild Card round, something that seemed all but certain just a couple weeks ago.
But you wonder how many days the Cubs will have to play with a shorthanded bench. I mean, I assume Matt Shaw will leave the team for at least two days to attend the Republican Midterm Convention in Dallas, right?
The same reason the Cubs' home playoff hopes are waning is also responsible for their complete inability to use seven games in ten days against the Brewers over the last week and a half to make any headway in the division race. The Cubs have a better offense than Milwaukee, they play better defense than the Brewers and with the demise of Kyle Harrison they even now have a deeper starting rotation than they do. But the one area where the Brewers hold an undisputed edge is the very reason the Cubs have won just two of the five meetings so far in this seven game set.
If the Cubs had even a mildly functional bullpen they would have won all five of the games. The Cubs have blown leads in all three losses. They even smacked the wet faced baby giraffe around for five runs and ended up with nothing to show for it. Yesterday, Craig Counsell tried to get Matt Boyd through the eighth with a 2-1 lead because he knew going to the bullpen yet again was just the definition of insanity. The Cubs left the eighth inning down 4-2 and nearly came back to tie it in the ninth when a homer by Petecrow that made it 4-3 had been immediately preceded by Luis Lara pulling back what would have been Pedro Ramirez's second homer of the game.
A terrible bullpen tanking a Cubs' season is nothing new.
