Win or lose, there will be a celebration at Wrigley Field on Friday. And the Chicago Cubs are hoping it will just be the first of many celebrations this season.
Despite losing to the Milwaukee Brewers 5-4 on Thursday night, the Cubs clinched the National League Central title as the St. Louis Cardinals lost to the San Francisco Giants 6-2.
The Cubs are the first team to secure their postseason spot this year and it’s the first time they’ve topped the division since 2008 after making the playoffs last year as one of the wild card teams and ultimately reaching the NLCS.
Oozing with young talent and bolstered by the addition of some key veterans in the offseason, it was no big shock that Chicago was the preseason World Series favorite.
It didn’t take long to see why, either. The Cubs roared out of the gate, going 17-5 in April, and kept up a terrific pace through the first half, but a less-than-stellar July really hurt their chances of challenging the 2001 Seattle Mariners’ record of 116 regular-seasons wins.
The Cubs will come short of that, though they should still break the 100-win mark, and they’ve also got this to say for their dominance this season: only four teams have clinched in fewer games during the division era, according to ESPN.com.
Kris Bryant and Anthony Rizzo power the offense. Addison Russell and Dexter Fowler are difference-makers at the plate and in the field. Jake Arrieta, Jon Lester and Kyle Hendricks have been terrific in the rotation while John Lackey, Ben Zobrist and Jason Heyward have fit right in after signing as free agents. Aroldis Chapman was brought in from the Yankees before the non-waiver traded deadline to fortify the back-end of their bullpen.
They’ve got over two weeks now to ensure all their players get as much rest as they need and they’ll have no problem setting up their pitching. The Cubs head into October as the team to beat and are in a great position to win the franchise’s first World Series since 1908.
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