The Chicago Cubs haven’t been playing their best baseball after clinching a playoff spot, but the postseason picture is coming into sharper focus.
The Cubs have lost three consecutive games to the Cincinnati Reds, who are breathing down the necks of the New York Mets in the hunt for the third and final wild card spot in the National League, but the Cubs still control their own destiny when it comes to earning home-field advantage in the first round of the postseason.
Here’s where things stand entering action on Sunday.
National League Central Standings:
Milwaukee Brewers – 95-60
Chicago Cubs – 88-67 (7 GB)
National League Wild Card Standings:
Chicago Cubs – 88-67
San Diego Padres – 84-71 (4 GB of Cubs)
New York Mets – 80-75 (4 GB of Padres)
Cincinnati Reds – 79-76 (1 GB of Mets)
Arizona Diamondbacks – 78-77 (2 GB of Mets)
If the Season Ended Today
The Cubs were going to have an uphill climb to try getting back into the top spot in the National League Central regardless, but their current three-game losing streak unquestionably has ended those chances, as the Brewers need just one more win or one more Cubs loss to clinch the division crown.
Instead, the Cubs will have to focus on holding onto the top wild card spot in the National League.
The Cubs’ magic number to clinch that spot is just four, and it appears that they are headed toward a first-round matchup with the Padres.
If the Cubs hold onto the top spot, that best-of-three series would start on Tuesday, September 30 at Wrigley Field.
The Mets are barely hanging onto their wild card spot, with the Reds and the Diamondbacks still in hot pursuit as the season enters its final week. Whichever team earns that third wild card spot will face the division winner with the worst record, which will likely be the Los Angeles Dodgers, as they trail the Phillies by four games.
The winner of the Cubs-Padres series would face the top team in the National League, with the Brewers holding a three-game lead in the race for the top record in the league. The winner of the other series would face the Phillies in the National League Division Series.