The Chicago Cubs are in a very bad spot following this weekend

The Chicago Cubs came into Sunday’s game with the Arizona Diamondbacks in big trouble. They are so close to letting their once-good-looking playoff cushion slip away.

That would be a very bad look for them as it felt obvious that they were going to make the playoffs halfway through August. Now, they are back to fighting for their lives.

It went from bad to worse on Sunday when the Arizona Diamondbacks completed the sweep of the Cubs. That makes it five losses in a row for the Cubs and they are 2-8 in their last 10.

The Diamondbacks needed this win badly as well. They are now in a playoff spot but it is hardly solidified. Their chances of making the playoffs would have decreased by a lot if they didn’t sweep this series.

The Chicago Cubs are in big trouble following a tough weekend series.

The Atlanta Braves won the NL East pretty convincingly but that is because they are great, not because the second-place team is bad. That’d be the defending National League champion Philadelphia Phillies who currently hold the top Wild Card spot and are very comfortable in it.

Now, that means that five teams (Arizona Diamondbacks, Chicago Cubs, Miami Marlins, Cincinnati Reds, and San Francisco Giants) are all battling it out for the final two Wild Card spots. They are all either holding a spot or within two games.

This is going to be a battle until the end. The Cubs need to get going again if they are going to be one of the teams above the line in the end. They need to play the best baseball of their season starting this week.

Following an off day on Monday, the Cubs have a three-game series with the Pittsburgh Pirates. After that is a 3 game series with the Colorado Rockies. These are the final two home series of the regular season.

They are also both against teams that the Cubs should be able to beat if they want to call themselves a playoff team. Both of them are well below them in the standings.

Anything less than 4-2 in this stretch is a disappointment. In all honesty, they should be striving for 6-0 or 5-1. That’s the best way to ensure getting in.

This series against the Diamondbacks was a complete letdown. However, it doesn’t have to come close to defining their season.