Maryland's Kevin Mooney (Aaron Fitt)

Dispatches From Minneapolis: May 21

MINNEAPOLIS — If there’s one constant in life, it’s that nothing lasts forever. The sun rises and sets on the righteous and the wicked alike, and even mighty empires are brought low eventually. Given enough time, the relentless beating any man, object or organization takes by bumping up against obstacles will wear it down to nothing.

Over the past two months, Illinois has made it easy to forget that truth, but in the middle of the night, in a mostly empty Target Field, the longest winning streak in the nation ran aground on the shores of the only undefeated force in[…]