IT COMES DOWN TO TODAY — OR MONDAY
Cubs’ loss, Brewers’ win create tie atop Central on last day
The Cubs will play a decisive game Sunday at Wrigley Field and hope to avoid doing the same Monday and Tuesday.
They left the ballpark Saturday afternoon a half-game ahead of the Brewers in the National League Central after falling 2-1 to the Cardinals, whose playoff hopes were extinguished when the Dodgers beat the Giants later in the day.
Depending on the outcome of games on Sunday, the Cubs could win the division outright, be forced into a tiebreaker Monday or finish in second place and settle for a wild card.
“We all obviously know the situation,” said presumptive Game 1 playoff starter Jon Lester, who would pitch on his natural fifth day Tuesday if tapped for a wild-card game. “At the same time, you can’t worry about it. We’ve got to worry about tomorrow now.” Here’s how it could all shake out: If the Cubs win Sunday and the Brewers lose, the Cubs would win the Central title outright for the third consecutive year. They’d head straight to Thursday’s NL Division Series and face the winner of the wild-card game between the Brewers and the Rockies or Dodgers.
A Cubs loss Sunday coupled with a Brewers win — after Milwaukee took care of business Saturday night with its sixth straight victory, a 6-5 win against the Tigers — would make the Brewers the Central champs for the first time since 2011. The Cubs would then head to a wild-card game Tuesday against the Dodgers or Rockies.
If the Cubs and Brewers finish the regular season tied, they’d play a tiebreaker Monday at Wrigley. The Cubs earned home-field advantage thanks to their 11-8 record against the Brewers. Jose Quintana, the likely tiebreaker starter, is 4-1 against Milwaukee this year with a 2.17 ERA.
The winner of the tiebreaker would win the Central title and move on to Thursday’s NLDS. The loser would host the wild-card game Tuesday.
The Cubs have had the best record in the league since Aug. 1 and would have home-field advantage in the playoffs if they can hang on to the division title.
“We would just like to continue to have the best record in the league after tomorrow,” manager Joe Maddon said. “There’s nothing to lament with our guys. They’ve been playing very hard for a long period of time. Our route has been a little bit different than everybody else. We’ll come back ready to play tomorrow and see how it falls.”
The Cubs claimed a gift of a run in the first inning when Cardinals second baseman Yairo Munoz dropped a two-out pop fly in shallow right field, allowing Ben Zobrist to score.
Cardinals starter Miles Mikolas only allowed one other baserunner to even reach second base. Mikolas allowed five hits and one unearned run in eight innings for his 20th quality start. He walked none and struck out six.
Cole Hamels was perfect through three innings before leadoff batter Matt Carpenter reached on catcher’s interference in the fourth. He scored on Paul DeJong’s single.
Hamels hit Harrison Bader with an 0-2 pitch the next inning, and the leadoff baserunner again came around to score.
The game featured a playoff atmosphere and plenty of noise in front of 40,784. The Cubs can expect that for all their remaining games — however many that ends up being.
“It’s a special moment to be able to see that type of intensity that comes with meaningful games and that sort of playoff atmosphere,” Hamels said. “It’s a little bit better when you win.”