Both the Red Sox and the Cubs won two out of three from the first-place teams they’re chasing — the evil, evil Yankees and barely dislikable Astros, respectively.

Of course, things are looking a lot brighter for the Red Sox, who with the win went 20 games over .500. The Cubs, on the other hand, pulled themselves up to .500, period. And whereas the Red Sox lead the AL wild card race by two games, the Cubs are five and a half back in the NL.

Additionally, the Blue Jays seem to have faded in the AL East while the Cubs would still have to leapfrog the Cardinals to hunt down the Astros.

And, oh yeah, the Cubs play the very hot Giants and Diamondbacks this week. Yippee!