The division lead is still substantial but no longer comfortable enough to ignore a two-game slide. Philadelphia sits 4.5 games back with roughly two weeks left.
Chicago is 84-67 and strong at Wrigley, so this is not a soft landing. The Cubs are firmly in the wild-card race and have their own October positioning to protect.
Atlanta remains 4.5 games ahead of Philadelphia in the NL East. The Braves are 4-6 over their last 10 and begin a road series in Chicago tonight at 7:40 PM ET.
