The Chicago Cubs' playoff hopes took another hit on Wednesday night, surrendering three late leads to lose to the MLB-best Braves 6-5, dropping the Cubs to 82-76 on the season.
Accompanied by a doubleheader split between the Miami Marlins and New York Mets with the Fish benefitting from some late-game magic in Game 2, the Cubs and Marlins are now tied for the third and final Wild Card spot.
Because the Cubs dropped four of six games against Miami this season, the Marlins own the tiebreaker against the Cubs. Therefore, if the season were to end today, the Cubs would not be in a playoff spot.
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As for other contenders, the Arizona Diamondbacks picked up a shutout win over the White Sox to bring their lead on the second Wild Card spot to two games.
The Cincinnati Reds fell 4-3 to the Cleveland Guardians, leaving them 1.5 games behind the Cubs and Marlins for the final playoff spot.
Here are the remaining schedules for the Wild Card contenders:
Arizona Diamondbacks: 1 game @ White Sox, 3 games @ Astros
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Chicago Cubs: 1 game @ Braves, 3 games @ Brewers
Cincinnati Reds: 3 games @ Cardinals
Miami Marlins: 1 game @ Mets, 3 games @ Pirates
The Cubs will conclude their series against the Braves Thursday night at 6:20 p.m. local time, with Marcus Stroman on the mound.