Cardinals sweep their way back into the NL Wildcard race

Molina (R) settles pitcher Martinez (L) in Cards key win

What a difference four days have made for the Saint Louis Cardinals. After being swept this past weekend by the arch-rival and NL Central-leading Chicago Cubs, it seemed their season was over.

National League standings following games of Sunday, September 17, showed the Cardinals with a 77-72 record. That left the team 4.5 games behind the Colorado Rockies for the final NL Wildcard berth with just 13 left to play.

Flash-forward five days. Following an off-day on Monday, the Cards proceeded to sweep the host Cincinnati Reds in a three-game series.

Meanwhile, the Rockies were collapsing on a four-game losing streak. The Milwaukee Brewers, also residing in the NL Central and also chasing Colorado, have dropped their last two games.

Suddenly, the Cardinals are right back in that NL Wildcard race. Thursday night's 8-5 win at Great American Ball Park raised their record to 80-72. That leaves Saint Louis tied in the loss column with Milwaukee, just a game behind Colorado.

"These guys were coming off a tough weekend, and they did a nice job of clearing their minds of that," Cardinals manager Mike Matheny said per MLB.com's Mark Sheldon.

Winter Meetings Heat Up the Windy City

Samardzija, Robertson on South Side, Maddon on North Side

Late last night, free agent lefty Jon Lester announced that he had chosen the Chicago Cubs over his old team, the Boston Red Sox.

With the Lester signing, it became official that not only are the Cubs fully invested in contending sooner rather than later, but that competitive baseball is returning to the Windy City.

Lester is the biggest, but not the only, major Chicago development this off-season, or here in San Diego at the 2014 Winter Meetings. The Cubs have also added a new manager in the respected Joe Maddon, and at these Meetings have signed another pitcher, Jason Hammel, and dealt for a new catcher, Miguel Montero.

But it's not even just the Cubs who are bringing excitement back to the Chicago baseball scene. On the city's South Side, the White Sox have made their own splash.

Free agent ace Jon Lester chose the Cubbies over Red Sox

At the Winter Meetings, the Chisox have dealt for starting pitcher Jeff Samardzija, one of the top #2-type rotation arms in the game. Then they signed the top closer available, David Robertson. Earlier in the off-season they added veteran 1st baseman Adam LaRoche and lefty Zach Duke.

All of this activity is showing that both Windy City franchise's want to return to winning as soon as possible. Each finished with identical 73-89 records in 2014, leaving the Chisox in 4th place in the AL Central and the Cubbies in 5th place in the NL Central.

For now, the Cubs appear to be leaping ahead of the White Sox in overall talent. They have one of the top prospect groups in the game, with a number of youngsters either already in the majors, or poised to make it in the next year or so.

With Maddon at the helm, and with an involved leadership group, the days of losing look to be coming to an end on the North Side. Meanwhile, the South Siders are not sitting back and yielding the town to the Cubs. Watch for even more White Sox moves in the coming weeks.