CHICAGO -- If this was last season, there probably would have been plenty of smiling faces in the D-backs' clubhouse Sunday afternoon. NFL games would likely have been on and fantasy football talk would have flowed freely.

But that 2022 edition of the D-backs was a young team, which had long ago said goodbye to the pennant race and was looking for positive signs in its development.

This year’s D-backs are right smack dab in the middle of a Wild Card race, so even though they won the first three games of their series with the Cubs, the mood in the Wrigley Field visitors' clubhouse was somber following a 5-2 loss in the series finale.

• Games remaining: at NYM (4), vs. CHC (3), vs. SF (2), at NYY (3), at CWS (3), vs. HOU (3)
• Standings update: The D-backs (75-69) hold the No. 3 Wild Card spot and are a half-game ahead of the Marlins and 1 1/2 games ahead of the Reds and Giants. The D-backs trail the Cubs by two games for the No. 2 spot.

“I’ll bundle everything up tonight at some point and think through it a little more clearly,” D-backs manager Torey Lovullo said. “I’m frustrated by the day. We made a lot of mistakes today. There were some things that haven’t been taking place over the past three days, so if we tighten that up, we’re going to be fine moving forward.”

The D-backs boarded a charter flight bound for New York after the game, where they will open a four-game series against the Mets on Monday night.

By the time they touch down in the Big Apple, outfielder Alek Thomas said they will have moved on from the frustrating loss.

“Leaving here, it’s going to sting a little bit for a while,” Thomas said. “Once we get to New York and get settled in there, I think we’re going to be happy about the success we had here. We definitely feel pretty good about taking three out of four from these guys. They’re a good team, good pitching staff, good hitters, good coaches. So to come out of here [with three out of four] was pretty cool.”

The series was a good test for a young D-backs team, one featuring many players who are in their first playoff race.

The stands at Wrigley Field were packed all series, the fans were loud, one contest went 10 innings and another featured a 1-0 complete game. There was a slight chill in the air for a couple of the games and a lot at stake, so it had a little bit of the feeling of a postseason series.

“I think it’s definitely going to help us with this playoff push, playing in these types of environments,” said Thomas, who made his big league debut last year. “It’s great to be able to get that taste of what the postseason might be like and keep on pushing forward and on to the next series.”

The Cubs had come into this series with the D-backs riding a four-game winning streak and having won 11 of their last 15 games.

Arizona won the first game of the series 6-2 before Gallen's 1-0 shutout on Friday and a tense 3-2 win in 10 innings on Saturday.

That Saturday victory pulled the D-backs to within one game of the Cubs for the second Wild Card spot, but they leave Chicago now two back with a three-game series between the two clubs coming up next weekend in Arizona.