With their win over the Milwaukee Brewers on Tuesday night, the Chicago Cubs lowered their magic number for clinching a playoff spot to just three, as the San Francisco Giants also won to keep their dwindling wild card hopes alive.
As it stands right now, the Cubs hold a nine-and-a-half game lead on the Giants for the second wild card spot in the National League with just 11 games left to play. Barring a catastrophic collapse by Chicago, and an insane surge by the Giants, the Cubs will reach the postseason for the first time since the 2008 season.
As for when that milestone can be achieved, the earliest date the Cubs can clinch a playoff berth on is Thursday. That would require the Cubs to beat the Brewers on Wednesday night at Wrigley Field, and the Giants would have to lose two consecutive games to the San Diego Padres on Wednesday and Thursday.
If the Giants win either of those games, then the earliest the Cubs would be able to clinch a playoff berth is on Friday, when they welcome the Pittsburgh Pirates to Wrigley Field.
Despite how close a guaranteed playoff berth is, the Cubs are surely still more focused on where they will be seeded in the postseason than on whether or not they’ll actually make it. Currently, the Cubs trail the Pirates by two games in the race for the top wild card spot in the National League, with the winner of that playoff seed getting the opportunity to host the NL Wild Card Game in their home stadium.
The Cubs will have a three game series against the Pirates this weekend, and that will undoubtedly go a long way toward determining which team could potentially host the winner-take-all game.
The Cubs do still have a glimmer of hope in the NL Central race, but the chances of grabbing a division crown are quickly fading. The St. Louis Cardinals still lead the Cubs by six games with just 11 games to play, and although the Redbirds do have to battle the Pirates in a three-game set at PNC Park next week, they still have eight games remaining against teams with losing records (Reds, Brewers, Braves), making a Cubs division push highly unlikely.
