The Cubs headed to Cleveland with plenty of momentum and optimism.

An 8-2 stretch, a 4-game winning streak and a red-hot offense provided that.

A pair of difficult losses to the Guardians would have seemingly put a dent in that — but that isn’t the case.

The Cubs battled back from a 5-run deficit on Monday before falling to Cleveland. Tuesday, it was Matthew Boyd and the Guardians’ vaunted bullpen that stymied the Cubs’ hitters all night in a 2-1 loss.

“Tough losses, for sure,” Cubs second baseman Nico Hoerner said after the Cubs’ 2-1 loss on Tuesday. “Nothing as far as lulls and energy and things like that, we just didn’t come out on top the last two days.”

[WATCH: Nico Hoerner recaps the last two games in Cleveland]

Cleveland is no slouch, after all — they have the best record in baseball at 71-49. The Guardians are also an MLB-best 37-20 at home. The Cubs could have easily walked away with 2 wins or been 1-1, but that’s baseball.

And after Wednesday’s finale against the Guardians, the Cubs don’t play another team with a winning record until the Yankees come to town on September 6. The Cubs will have to keep that energy if they hope to crawl back into the Wild Card hunt. After Tuesday’s loss, the Cubs are 4.5 games back of the Braves for the final spot.