Jeff Roberson/AP Photos
ST. LOUIS – The last game before the All-Star break is unique. No other game has the power to set a lingering taste for four straight off days before the regular season resumes.
And for a team hovering on the line between adding or subtracting at the trade deadline, the importance of the Cubs’ series finale against the Cardinals seemed to balloon after they dropped both games of a Saturday doubleheader.
That’s not how the players, who have a superhuman ability to compartmentalize, would look at it. And front office members have practice reeling in the emotions of following an up-and-down season to make calculated team-building decisions.