Two pitches, two home runs and the Cubs season fell further into the abyss.
That was the story Saturday at Wrigley Field, where the Cubs gave closer Craig Kimbrel an 8-7 lead in the ninth inning. Yadier Molina sent the first pitch of the inning 379 feet into left-center field, and Paul DeJong sent his first pitch 440 feet to center.
The Cubs playoff chances seemingly vanished with those two swings of the bat. The 9-8 loss leaves them six games behind the first-place Cardinals and 2 ½ behind the Brewers for the wild card with seven games to play.