PITTSBURGH — For a long while this season, something like an errant flip to a reliever covering first with the bases loaded in the late innings — causing said reliever to tumble awkwardly into the dirt as not one, but two runs cross the plate — would have spelled unthinkable disaster for the Cubs.
Fans would have bitterly tweeted. Writers would have unsheathed their poison pens. Talk-radio hosts would have barked at the moon.
