Two for the Show

Any curse on the Cubs must be over.

There's no way a cursed team could play the kind of series they completed today, getting swept by the last-place Marlins, and still creep closer to the postseason.

The Magic Number dropped to two tonight as the Brewers continued to do their part by committing five errors and giving up a pair of four-run innings in a 9-5 loss to the Padres, who take a one-game lead in the Wild Card race with three to go.

Barring a total collapse, I think the cluster of five teams battling over the other three playoff slots - Philly and the Mets tied in the East, three teams still in the hunt in the West and all five of them in a tight Wild Card race - will benefit the North Siders. While they've managed to hold a two-game lead through a three-game losing streak, everyone else on the NL side will have spent the last week of the season going all-out, maybe burning themselves out, just to get there.

The race could be over tomorrow, folks. This year's Cubs could clinch a division title after being down farther than the '69 Mets were, and we all know how their season wound up. Keep your fingers crossed.