A five-game winning streak wasn’t enough to lift the Chicago Cubs out of last place in a tightly packed National League Central.

But the Cubs will get another chance to torment another NL East team on Monday night, when they continue a homestand against the Philadelphia Phillies in the opener of a four-game series.

Colin Rea (2-0, 3.63 ERA) is slated to take the mound for the Cubs against Aaron Nola (1-1, 4.03) in a battle of right-handers.

Both teams continued going in opposite directions while completing a home series Sunday. The Cubs closed out a three-game sweep of the New York Mets with a 2-1, 10-inning win, while the Phillies suffered their fifth consecutive loss as the Atlanta Braves finished a three-game sweep with a 4-2 victory.

The series is the second in as many weeks between the Phillies and Cubs, whose respective streaks began when Chicago rolled to a 10-4 win last Tuesday.

That victory continued an offensive awakening for the Cubs, who scored 59 runs in their first 14 games before scoring seven runs apiece while splitting a pair of games with the Pittsburgh Pirates and the Phillies on April 12-13.

The Cubs scored a combined 23 runs in wins over the Phillies and Mets last Wednesday and Friday before relying on strong pitching and timely hitting Saturday and Sunday. Carson Kelly hit a tiebreaking, pinch-hit three-run homer in Saturday’s 4-1 win before pinch hitter Michael Conforto forced extra innings Sunday with an RBI double in the ninth.

Pete Crow-Armstrong scored the winning run in the 10th, when he took third on a wild pitch before racing home on Nico Hoerner’s sacrifice fly to hand the skidding Mets their 11th straight loss.

Chicago is tied for fourth place in the NL Central with the Milwaukee Brewers.

“It’s a big swing for us,” Conforto said. “The offense being held to no runs up to that point and our pitchers putting on a performance against a team that’s fighting for their lives. It’s just a big moment.”

Big moments have been few and far between for the Phillies, who went 2-7 on a nine-game homestand. Only the Mets have a worse record in the NL, but Philadelphia has the worst run differential (minus-38) in the majors.

The homestand was the worst homestand of nine games or longer for Philadelphia since a 1-8 mark June 12-21, 2009. The 21-game start to the season is the worst for the Phillies since the 2015 team also opened 8-13.

The Phillies have been outscored 37-9 during their skid. Kyle Schwarber staked Philadelphia to a 2-0 lead with a first-inning homer Sunday, but the hosts put just four runners into scoring position the rest of the way.

Schwarber was robbed of a potential game-tying hit to end the game when his liner to right with two on was snared on the run by Ronald Acuna Jr.

“Sure, there’s frustration,” Schwarber said. “I see the guys in here and the way that they’re working. It’s inevitable. At some point, it’s going to change.”

Rea and Nola opposed each other last Tuesday. Rea earned the win by allowing three runs over six innings of bulk relief as the Cubs began their winning streak. Nola didn’t factor into the decision after giving up three runs over five innings.

Rea is 2-2 with a 3.32 ERA in nine career games (six starts) against the Phillies, while Nola is 7-2 with a 4.28 ERA in 12 starts against the Cubs.

–Field Level Media

Denver slugged its way past Minnesota in 2023 on its way to the NBA title. The Timberwolves derailed a Nuggets repeat with a Game 7 upset in 2024.

Act III of this sometimes-bitter rivalry kicks off Saturday afternoon when No. 3 Denver hosts No. 6 Minnesota for Game 1 of the Western Conference quarterfinals.

Since the calendar turned to 2023 the teams have played 28 times, including the playoffs, and each has won 14 games. The Timberwolves dominated the four regular-season matchups in 2024-25 but the Nuggets took three of the four meetings this season, including an overtime thriller on Christmas night.

And there is star power, most notably from Minnesota’s outspoken guard Anthony Edwards and Denver’s more muted triple-double machine Nikola Jokic. Both are expected to play at a high level so the outcome could come down to the supporting cast and injuries.

For the Timberwolves, Edwards and Jaden McDaniels have missed time with knee injuries and Naz Reid, one of the many who will try to stop Jokic, has been dealing with ankle and shoulder injuries.

The Nuggets have gotten healthier after a season full of injuries. Aaron Gordon played just 36 games due to multiple hamstring injuries and Christian Braun, who will draw the primary assignment on Edwards, was limited to 54 games because of an ankle sprain.

Peyton Watson missed 25 of the last 30 games with a hamstring strain, and Spencer Jones missed the last two weeks of the season with the same injury.

The status for both for Game 1 is unclear, with head coach David Adelman’s latest update coming Wednesday when he told reporters, “Peyton and Spence both practiced, not contact, all non-contact stuff. Spence did more yesterday, as far as his player development, they look good, but neither guy’s clear as of yet. My hope is they’ll play in Game 1. If not, we’ll play the group that is healthy.”

Edwards averaged 30.3 points in three games against Denver this season. Jokic, who averaged a triple-double for the second straight season (27.7 points, 12.9 rebounds and 10.7 assists), feasted on Minnesota. In four games against the Timberwolves, he averaged 35.8 points, 15 rebounds and 11.3 assists.

Minnesota, like every other team, will make containing Jokic a priority. But it won’t be easy.

“Probably gotta call God and talk to him for a little bit and ask him for a few favors,” Timberwolves forward Julius Randle said of guarding Jokic. “It’s going to be a tough matchup. He’s an incredible player.”

Jokic leads the NBA’s top-ranked offense that averaged 122.1 points a game and 125 against Minnesota. The Timberwolves gave up an average of 114.6 points this season, which was 12th in the league.

Denver retooled its roster in the offseason for another run at a championship. The Nuggets traded Michael Porter Jr. to Brooklyn for Cam Johnson, and the salary relief led to signing Bruce Brown and Tim Hardaway Jr. and trading for Jokic’s backup, Jonas Valanciunas.

Brown was on the 2023 team that beat the Timberwolves in the first round and, despite winning in five games, called it the hardest series on the road to the title.

Denver is expecting another tough one in 2026, and the sense of urgency is there.

“To win a championship, you need the guys to step up at the right moment. If it is not your night one game, it’s OK because the next one is coming soon,” Jokic said. “I think we need everybody on our roster. Everybody needs to step up.”

–Field Level Media

The surging Colorado Rapids host an Inter Miami side in flux on Saturday in Commerce City, Colo.

The Rapids (4-3-0, 12 points) posted a 6-2 home rout of the Houston Dynamo last Saturday. Rafael Navarro and Kosi Thompson each scored a brace and Josh Atencio also scored for Colorado. The Rapids also added an own goal from Houston in the first minute of second-half stoppage time.

Conversely, just four months after its first MLS Cup title, Inter Miami coach Javier Mascherano resigned for personal reasons on Tuesday. The Herons (3-1-3, 12 points) tied the New York Red Bulls 2-2 last Saturday and turned to sporting director Guillermo Hoyos as interim coach.

Hoyos’ relationship with Miami’s star forward Lionel Messi, who leads the team with five goals, dates back more than 20 years to their time together at Barcelona’s La Masia academy.

“Friendship is not negotiated,” said Hoyos about Messi. “There is a friendship there, one that has spanned various years, and one that we share with many players because we have worked together in different countries.

“Yet, that friendship does not mean that we can be right on top of him, constantly hovering over him, every single day. I believe that everything must be respected: his privacy, and everything else.

“One must exercise great prudence, and, above all, proceed quietly, while striving to grow and evolve within this dynamic. For, naturally, all of this is new, and being alongside the greatest player in history is truly an extraordinary experience on the pitch. I am grateful, deeply grateful.”

After its dominant performance, Colorado coach Matt Wells, Navarro, Thompson and Atencio were all named to the Team of the Matchday. The Rapids have scored 19 goals on the season, which is tied with the Vancouver Whitecaps for the most in Major League Soccer.

Colorado’s Dante Sealy scored a goal in a 1-0 U.S. Open Cup match against Union Omaha on Tuesday. The 23-year-old forward is still in search of his first MLS goal in a Rapids’ uniform.

“I had him in my office and told him to focus on the process, the habits — and the goals are only an outcome,” Wells said of Sealy. “If you start focusing on the goals you are in trouble.”

–Field Level Media