Break point.

They had the best record in the league late into June, and proceeded to lose 12 out of 17 — including a current run of six losses in their last seven games. Four games have been shaved off in the division.

That lead is still healthy, even if the skid is not, and if they’d built this exact cushion rather than regressing to it, we’d all be fired up.

Instead, they no longer have the best record in the league, and because sports fans live acutely, there’s a prevailing sense of angst and gloom, with some shade of hysteria seemingly just around the corner.

That’s the state of the Chicago Cubs.

The Texas Rangers, on the other hand, do still have the best record in their league, even though their last week-plus has been as ugly as the Cubs’ last half a month.

In fact, for 104 minutes yesterday, Texas had the best record in either league.

Actually, that distinction lasted a bit more than five hours, but the way Boston 11, Texas 6 went, there were approximately no minutes during that ballgame that felt very good.

When I was a kid, I couldn’t wait for the All-Star Break, so that I could talk my parents into letting me stay up late enough for Jim Sundberg’s lone at-bat off the bench in the Mid-Summer Classic, or Jim Kern’s inning late in the game.

Today, I can’t wait for the All-Star Break, though for an entirely different reason.

We may not remember this when the playoffs are underway, but the best team in the league — which for a while yesterday was the best team in baseball, at least by the inarguable measure — could use a few days off.

We all could, probably.