Welcome to Cubs Playoff Watch, your daily look at the Chicago Cubs as they continue to push toward their second consecutive division title.

Cubs’ Magic Number: 17

The Cubs were able to right the ship on Tuesday night as Jose Quintana pitched a brilliant game and Kris Bryant slugged a home run to give the team an 8-3 win over the New York Mets.

The win helped the Cubs maintain their two game lead over the St. Louis Cardinals, as they beat the Cincinnati Reds, and a two and a half game lead over the Milwaukee Brewers, who beat the Pittsburgh Pirates.

In the process, the Cubs snapped  their brief three game losing streak that saw their division lead shrink to just two games after a weekend sweep at the hands of the Brewers.

National League Playoff Picture:

The Los Angeles Dodgers finally snapped their lengthy losing streak, and they’ve also locked up at least a playoff spot as they try to right the ship after watching their lead over the Washington Nationals for the top seed in the National League shrink to four and a half games.

The Nationals will continue their push to try to overtake the Dodgers when they battle the Atlanta Braves at Nationals Park on Wednesday.

In the wild card race, the Colorado Rockies have moved back to three and a half games ahead of the Cardinals for the second wild card spot, but they still trail the Arizona Diamondbacks by three games for the top spot after beating Arizona in the first two games of their series at Chase Field in Phoenix.

What’s Next:

The Cubs will play two more games against the Mets at Wrigley Field before they welcome the Cardinals to the Friendly Confines for a massive three-game series over the weekend.

Meanwhile the Brewers will continue their series against the Pirates at Miller Park, and this weekend they will take on the Miami Marlins in South Beach as they try to keep pace with the Cubs atop the Central Division.