CHICAGO -- In a season with so many teams clustered in the top couple of tiers of baseball's standings, one day can shake things up for a team. So it was on Wednesday for the Chicago Cubs , who can see their immediate future with a lot more clarity now than when the day started.

The Cubs' 10-3 rout of the Mets didn't change their place in the National League seeding hierarchy, but it did solidify it, an appropriate outcome on a day when Chicago's roster appears to be taking its eventual postseason shape. It also snapped a season-worst skid.

The Cubs got production up and down their lineup while dispatching of a Mets team desperately clinging to the NL's last playoff slot. Rookie Matt Shaw homered among his three hits, Michael Busch 's two-run homer was his 31st of the season and

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