Rozner: Sad and sudden end to Cubs' 2018 season

It probably seems like it happened so fast.

That's because sudden death in sports is so utterly final for the defeated.

And, yet, it is so filled with life for the victor.

Never mind the lack of fairness or the absurdity of it. This is what Bud Selig dreamed of, teams being punished in a single moment after surviving eight months to get here.

Just days after waking up with the best record in the National League, the Cubs are headed to the golf course while three teams with fewer victories will play on in the postseason.

Nicely done, Hall of Fame commissioner.

The Cubs did not go quietly into the October night, losing 2-1 to the Rockies in 13 innings at Wrigley Field in Game 164, and it was past midnight and into Wednesday morning when the Cubs bowed out, labeled as underachievers after being the top dog in the National League for most of 2018.

They fought with all they had left, refusing to quit to the very bitter end.

But is it all so very shocking? And are they really underachievers?

The Cubs were on fumes and the Brewers were all gassed up and speeding in the left lane, while the Cubs could only watch as they approached in the rearview mirror, ultimately forced to let them pass.

It's been going on for a month so it's hardly a surprise, and what occurred in the Wild Card Game was just the finish to an exhausting season for the Cubs, one in which they staggered to the finish and did not appear to be going anywhere even if they had survived Colorado and the Coin Flip.

This game - the great pitching and the inability of the offense to find a timely hit - merely exposed the Cubs for what they've been for many weeks.

Sure, it was gut-wrenching and heart-crushing after Javy Baez had come through - finally - to tie the game in the eighth, only to see Kyle Hendricks give up a two-out, RBI single in the 13th to Tony Wolters, a .170 hitter.

For a team with so many injuries, so many issues in the bullpen and so many more on offense, a one-game playoff was the worst possible scenario.

"It's the seventh game of the World Series," said Cubs manager Joe Maddon, "right out of the chute."

But even if the Cubs had made it through Tuesday's nail-biter, where would they have been anyway? Still without a lockdown closer, most of the rotation used the last 24 hours and certainly not with the bullpen weapons possessed by the Brewers.

While the rotation rebounded from its early-season woes, the offense was getting nothing from too many key parts to think the Cubs could have made a deep run.

"It's just kind of been kind of hot and cold all year," said Kris Bryant, who fought through a shoulder injury. "I don't have an answer for that. Sometimes, it's just great pitching and you have to tip your cap."

And as disappointing as it was, Bryant added some perspective.

"We won 95 games. That's nothing to hang your head about. We had the second-best record in the N.L.," Bryant said. "It's obviously not the result we wanted. The goal was to win the division and the World Series."

It's still a team that averaged 97 victories the last four years, making the playoffs in four straight seasons for the first time ever.

"Well, obviously we wanted to win the division, and we had that much of the way. That just did not occur," Maddon said of Monday's game that would have kept them from having to play Tuesday. "It's always disappointing when you don't reach your ultimate goal, and that's to play the last game of the season and win it."

Expectations are so much higher now that the Cubs didn't even celebrate reaching the postseason in 2018.

Think about that.

In just another odd twist to this season, the Cubs clinched while blowing a 6-run lead to the Pirates last Wednesday night. They were too busy winning that game in extras and trying to capture the Central that it never crossed any Cubs' mind to throw a party.

That's a good thing, to have progressed so far as a franchise that reaching October just isn't that big a deal anymore.

So as you ponder the future and call for the heads of everyone involved, if that's your inclination, perhaps a step back is reasonable.

The Cubs were beat up and finally just beat, no shame in any of it after reaching three straight NLCS.

By the end of the season, the Cubs simply weren't good enough to continue in the tournament.

The bullpen was out of bullets and the lineup was lifeless.

It happens. That's baseball.