The Cubs are running out of runway, and the margin keeps shrinking.
Chicago lost 3-2 to the Miami Marlins on Tuesday night, failing to clinch a postseason berth for the second straight game and dropping a series at home with four games left in the regular season. The Cubs threatened plenty, but once again they never found the one inning that would let them take control.
The result leaves the Cubs tied with the Phillies for second place in the NL Wild Card race, with the Padres one game ahead in the top spot. Arizona also kept rolling, stretching its winning streak to four games and sitting three games out of a Wild Card spot. The Cubs do still own the tiebreaker over the other NL Wild Card contenders, but two losses in a row to a Marlins club that has already been eliminated is not the finish they wanted, especially with what could be their final home series of 2026.
Chicago’s offense did scrape together moments. Michael Conforto and Ian Happ each doubled, and Happ later scored on Dansby Swanson’s game-tying single in the bottom of the sixth.
But the Cubs were stuck in the same familiar lane: enough contact to stay alive, not enough damage to break the game open. They finished 1-for-8 with runners in scoring position, and Craig Counsell said after the game that the team did not create enough on offense.
The missing piece felt especially noticeable with Alex Bregman out. The thought of Bregman hitting between Seiya Suzuki, Michal Busch, and Michael Conforto is enough to make you wonder whether Chicago might have pushed a few more runs across against Marlins starter Ryan Gusto.
Bregman’s second half has been huge, with his OPS jumping from .696 in the first half to .978, which leads all third basemen currently. He had also been on a strong September run, posting a .968 OPS with three home runs before Sunday’s freak injury put his season at risk.
The Cubs also couldn’t lean on extra-base thunder to change the script. Conforto and Happ provided the doubles, but the rally that followed Swanson’s knock fizzled when Carson Kelly ended the inning by taking three straight sliders from Michael Peterson. Chicago had the tying run, but not the punch to go beyond it.
On the mound, Kevin Gausman gave the Cubs a solid start after seven days between outings. He worked 5.2 innings, allowed six hits, and struck out seven. The damage came in the sixth, when Kyle Stowers hit a two-run homer, his second straight night going deep for Miami.
Gausman’s night ended later in that same inning after a diving tag play at third base while covering the bag to catch Heriberto Hernandez. Counsell said afterward, "His left shoulder got extended kind of weird.
Just grabbed on him a little bit. He's a little sore right now, but we'll treat it and see how he is in the next couple of days."
Gausman said in postgame that he banged it good but felt like it was a couple-day thing. At this point, it sure sounds like this was his final start before the postseason.
Javier Assad finished the sixth, then Ryan Rolison came on in the seventh and was tagged with the loss after a run scored on an overturned double play. If the play had stood - a slick underhand toss from Nico Hoerner to Swanson - the inning would have ended still tied. Instead, Miami got the run and Rolison took the hit.
There is still a bigger roster picture hanging over all of this. Jed Hoyer said Monday that Bregman wants to try to play in the regular season, and he was also asked about Justin Steele being part of the rotation conversation for the final series in Boston. Both developments point to the same reality: the Cubs are thinking about October, but first they have to get there.
That’s where the tension sits now. The rotation looks in good shape after strong outings from Shota Imanaga and Gausman, but the Cubs still need to lock up a playoff spot before they can fully start arranging things for the postseason.
Hoyer made that clear on Monday as well. Until the berth is secured, the planning stays on hold.
Matthew Boyd will start Thursday’s regular-season finale at Wrigley Field against Tyler Phillips of the Marlins in the last 1:20 p.m. game of 2026.
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