The Chicago Cubs have already wrapped up the Central Division title and home-field advantage through at least one round of the playoffs, but they still have some goals to achieve before the season ends next week.
To help keep up with what they’ve still got to play for, and to see who they could potentially play in the next round, we’re proud to present the Cubs Playoff Update.
Home-Field Advantage Magic Number: 3
The Cubs moved two steps closer to wrapping up home-field advantage throughout the National League playoffs (World Series home-field will go to the American League by virtue of the All-Star Game), finishing off a 6-1 win over the Cincinnati Reds on Tuesday night.
Jon Lester pitched a dominant game for the Cubs, giving up just one run in seven innings of work as he continued to bolster his Cy Young Award credentials. Anthony Rizzo also had a big night at the plate, driving in three runs to help the Cubs to their 96th win of the season.
Meanwhile, the Washington Nationals fell in a 1-0 heartbreaker to the Miami Marlins. Jose Fernandez gave up just three hits and struck out 12 batters in eight innings of work, and Tanner Roark was a tough-luck loser as he gave up one run in seven innings for the Nationals.
The Cubs’ magic number to guarantee a better record than the Nationals is technically four, but since the Cubs hold a 5-2 advantage in the season series with Washington, they only have to tie the Nationals to guarantee home-field advantage in both rounds of the National League playoffs.
Chicago Baseball
National League Wild Card Race
If the Cubs are able to clinch home-field advantage, it would give them the best record in the National League and would guarantee them a first round series against the winner of the National League wild card game.
That race tightened up considerably on Tuesday, as there is now a three-way tie for the top spot in the standings. The New York Mets lost 5-4 to the Atlanta Braves on Tuesday night at Citi Field, and the San Francisco Giants and St. Louis Cardinals both picked up victories, thus causing all three teams to hold identical 80-71 records on the year.
In the unlikely scenario that all three teams would end up tied at the end of the regular season, there would have to be two playoff games to determine the participants in the National League wild card game. The first game would take place on the Monday following the regular season, and the loser of that game would then play the third team in a game Tuesday to determine who would advance to the actual wild card game on Wednesday.
Cubs’ Quest for 100 Wins: Four Wins Away
The Cubs have not won 100 games in a single season since the 1935 campaign, and their win on Tuesday put them within just four wins of reaching that goal. The Cubs currently have 11 games remaining in the regular season, and they would have to go just 4-7 over that span to reach the century mark in victories.
