It was so quiet inside Wrigley Field’s underground clubhouse that you could hear Yu Darvish’s shower shoes squeaking as he walked through the room.



By late Sunday afternoon, a splatter of mud covered one side of the silver nameplate at Darvish’s locker. The Cubs couldn’t contain their frustrations or hide their disappointment after this 3-2 loss to the Cardinals, which officially eliminated them from the National League Central race and clinched St. Louis’ first playoff berth since 2015. Sensing the fallout from this four-game sweep, Darvish hadn’t just thrown his cleats at his locker.



“Everything,” Darvish said, bending down from his chair and picking up a piece of a bottle that had shattered onto the carpet.



Darvish had just finished two rounds of group interviews with the Chicago media and Japanese reporters. After a rough adjustment period during the first year of his $126 million contract, Darvish dismissed...