MILWAUKEE — Yan Gomes hit a grand slam but the Chicago Cubs were officially out of contention for a postseason ticket, even before beating the Milwaukee Brewers 10-6 on Saturday.
The game in Chicago came to a close in the eighth inning when Miami ended its rivalry with Pittsburgh with a 7-3 victory. He thus earned a wild card ticket for the National League playoffs and left the Cubs out of contention.
The Cubs seemed to be in good shape to qualify on September 11, when they improved to 78-67 after beating Colorado. But they lost 11 of their next 15 games.
Before Saturday’s win in Milwaukee, they had lost four straight games by a total of five runs. Likewise, they lost nine games in a row.
Chicago (83-78) spent the top of the first inning venting its frustrations on Eric Lauer (4-6), who made his first appearance in the majors since May 20 with the Brewers (91-70), champion of the National Central Division, who rested their usual starters.
For the Cubs, Dominicans Christopher Morel 5-2 with two runs scored and one RBI, Jeimer Candelario 5-2 with one run scored, Alexander Canario 5-3 with one RBI. Panamanian Miguel Amaya 1-0.
For the Brewers, Venezuelans William Contreras 4-2 with one run scored, Andruw Monasterio 4-1 with one run scored. Dominicans Carlos Santana 2-1 with two runs scored and one RBI, Willy Adames 3-5 with two RBI. Mexican Rowdy Tellez 1-0. Puerto Rican Victor Caratini 5-2.
