Entering the weekend eight games out in the division, it's do-or-die time for the club.
With a chance to take the series from one of the best teams in baseball, the Chicago Cubs did what they've done on so many occasions of late: they failed to deliver with runners on base. Craig Counsell's club put two men on and nobody out in the eighth inning Thursday and then saw their 2-3-4 hitters go down in order - all via the strikeout.
That loss dropped the Cubs eight games back of Milwaukee in the NL Central race, and the only thing they have going for them right now is the two teams behind them in the wild card standings, the Dodgers and Mets, are floundering even harder than Chicago.