Cubs win fifth straight, close in on top wild card
The Cubs won their fifth straight game Saturday afternoon, holding on to beat the Cardinals despite a scary ninth inning (CHC 5, STL 4). St. Louis scored three in the ninth and had the tying run at the plate when the game ended.
Kris Bryant was the star on offense, going 2 for 3 with a run-scoring double, a solo home run and a walk. He and Jorge Soler hit back-to-back homers. The game-ended when another one of Chicago’s young players made a spectacular diving stop. Here’s the play Addison Russell made for the 27th out:
That’s an incredible play. The Cubbies used eight different pitchers in the win — long man Travis Wood started but didn’t make it out of the third — which is something that can only happen in September. It was a bullpen game by design.
The five straight wins have the Cubs sitting just five games back of the Cardinals in the NL Central with 14 games to play. They’re also only a half-game back of the Pirates for the first wild-card spot, pending Pittsburgh’s game against the Dodgers later Saturday. You can bet the Cubs will be Dodgers fans this weekend.
It might be too late for Chicago to make a serious run at the division title — our Sportline Projection Model has their NL Central odds at a mere 0.1 percent, which has more to do with how little time is left in the season than anything — but they are absolutely in position to take over that first wild-card spot. Remember, the Pirates just lost Jung Ho Kang to a season-ending knee injury. They’re without one of their best players.
Homefield advantage in that wild-card game could be a huge deal. The Cubs are 45-28 (.616) at home this year and 42-33 (.560) on the road. The Pirates? They’re 50-25 (.667) at home and 37-34 (.514) on the road. Those are some pretty significant splits. They don’t guarantee anything of course, but ask either team and they’d both say they’d rather play a winner-take-all wild-card game at home.
The Cubs and Pirates will play a three-game series at Wrigley Field next weekend and home-field advantage in the wild-card game could very well be on the line. Chicago was six games back of the Pirates for the first wild-card spot as recently as August 28, so they’ve made up a lot of ground in a short period of time.
The Cubs have strung together a five-game winning streak against the right teams — three wins over the Pirates, two over the Cardinals! — late in the season, improving their chances of taking over the first wild-card spot. Playing that wild-card game in front of the Wrigley faithful is suddenly a very real possibility.
The Cubs won their fifth straight game Saturday afternoon. (USATSI)
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