With 18 games remaining in the regular season for both the Cubs and Brewers, the National League Central Division race is likely to be decided by which team blinks first.
The two teams haven’t been separated by more than 1 1/2 games since Aug. 30, or more than 2 1/2 games since July 27.
While the Cubs don’t stress out over falling behind Milwaukee, there’s no question they would rather not be playing catch-up down the stretch.
“I’d rather be in first,” manager Lou Piniella said before Tuesday’s game at Minute Maid Park. “I like the idea of controlling your own destiny. I like the idea of playing ahead. Once you learn to play ahead, it’s much easier than chasing.”
But the learning curve is getting steeper by the day.
The Cubs blew an early three-run lead to Houston on Tuesday night before losing 5-4 in 11 innings to fall one game behind the Brewers.
The Astros won on Adam Scott’s one-out triple to right-center off Ryan Dempster that scored pinch-runner Eric Bruntlett.
The Brewers beat Pittsburgh 6-1, while the Cardinals dropped a 7-2 decision to Cincinnati, suffering their fifth straight loss to fall four games out of first.
Has it suddenly become a two-way race between the Cubs and Milwaukee?
“They have had a tough go,” Piniella said of St. Louis. “The one thing they do have going for them is that they won a world championship last year. They have that to fall back on.
“Are they out of it? No. They have us directly in front of them [this weekend], and they have Milwaukee a week down the road or 10 days down the road. They’re still in this thing, no question.”
Coming off their 12-3 victory over St. Louis in Monday’s makeup game, the Cubs continued to hit the ball with authority Tuesday night, but didn’t have much to show for it.
With the game tied 4-4, they were foiled by some late-inning defensive gems, namely Luke Scott’s leaping catch in right that robbed Derrek Lee of extra bases leading off the seventh and Carlos Lee’s diving catch to end the eighth that kept Ryan Theriot from a probable two-run double.
They stranded runners in scoring position in the ninth and 10th, with Alfonso Soriano striking out against Brad Lidge to end the 10th with a runner on second.
Jason Marquis coughed up an early 4-1 lead and was removed with no outs in the sixth before Carlos Marmol and Bob Howry combined for four one-hit innings, striking out four hitters apiece in their two-inning stints.
The Cubs picked up where they left off Monday, taking an early lead on Jason Kendall’s one-out, RBI double in the second.
Houston tied it in the bottom of the inning when Scott scored from third on Kendall’s passed ball. Cliff Floyd coaxed a walk to start the third, and after Aramis Ramirez singled, Mark DeRosa cranked a three-run homer to left for a 4-1 lead.
DeRosa hadn’t homered since Aug. 20 and has hit only nine for the season after starting out with four in the first 14 games.
The Astros bounced back off Marquis in the fifth on Hunter Pence’s one-out, two-run triple. Then, after Carlos Lee singled to start the sixth and Mark Loretta doubled him in to tie the game, Marquis was lifted.
The Cubs put two on with one out in the ninth, but DeRosa grounded into an inning-ending double play. Despite hitting for average and playing solid defensively at three positions, DeRosa said he’s not at all satisfied with his season.
“It has been a weird year for me personally,” he said. “You look at it on the whole, it has been productive and we’re right where we need to be, but it has been kind of a weird journey.”
The same thing could be said for the Cubs, and it’s not over.
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psullivan@tribune.com
