CHICAGO — Cubs manager Craig Counsell doesn’t ever quantify one game as more important than the rest.

That’s hard to do in a 162-game season where you can point to one game in April, June or September as the reason why a team does or doesn’t make the postseason. They’re all equally important, and he told a story last month of a former teammate who came into the clubhouse every day with the same saying.

“‘Biggest game of the year,’” Counsell recalled. “Every single day. So I think that’s kind of how you treat it in general.”

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It’s what’s allowed the Cubs to brush off bad moments and quickly turn the page, no matter what happens each day. The Cubs haven’t lost more than three games in a row this season and have yet to be swept by a team this year.

After dropping Friday night’s series opener against the crosstown White Sox, the Cubs bounced back and won two in a row to take the set, all with a looming series against the Milwaukee Brewers, who they’re tied with in first place atop the National League Central, immediately after this.

“Attention is definitely on today and this series, and think about Milwaukee when we get there,” Cubs second baseman Nico Hoerner said after Sunday’s 5-4 win. “Obviously a big series. But, White Sox series have always been kind of close and chaotic and crazy games and memorable games in the last two or three years. It felt great to come out with a win.”

Monday’s game is the biggest game of the year thus far. That’s because of how Counsell approaches it, but also because these are direct opportunities for the Cubs to cement themselves as the forerunners in the division, the first of eight games over the final 57 games of 2025. Sure, July seems early to quantify as “big games”, but the schedule means they’ll be done playing each other in mid-August, so these are eight opportunities to affect Milwaukee directly.

“Look, it’s two teams that are playing really well, that have postseason aspirations,” Counsell said on Sunday. “Obviously, it feels like we’re going to be battling for the division. It’s still July, but these are big games.”

The Cubs were cruising as the weather was heating up. On June 17, they were a season-high 6.5 games ahead of the Brewers in the division. The Cubs haven’t been terrible since then – they’re 18-15 since then, a .545 winning percentage.

But Milwaukee, pesky Milwaukee, is 23-9 over the same time, a whopping .719 winning percentage, the best mark in baseball. They’ve done that with a stereotypical Brewers-like team – they play good defense, pitch well, have a good bullpen and squeak out wins, like Sunday’s 3-2, walk-off victory over the Miami Marlins.

“Obviously, they’ve played really great baseball here, especially lately,” Hoerner said. “Add in two other teams over .500, and it’s a strong division right now. Obviously, that’s why you need 162 games to really see the test of it.

“And fortunately, we play them a lot between now and the end of the year. It’s going to be fun.”

Surely, that means the players know the weight of the three-game set?

“It’s going to be a good series, but I’m ready,” Cubs closer Daniel Palencia said. “I’m ready for everything. Just excited to be there and play the best baseball we have.

“We are going day by day, and that’s it. Every game matters, and every out matters, every hit. Right now, it’s just trying to be day by day.”

Because Monday is the biggest game of the year.

Then, Tuesday is the biggest game of the year.

And then Wednesday … you get the picture.