Chicago Cubs
After becoming the first team to clinch a division title this season, the Cubs’ goal is to finish with the best record in the National League and have homefield advantage in the division series and, if they advance, the NL Championship Series.
The American League champion will host Games 1 and 2 and, if necessary, Games 6 and 7 of the World Series because the AL won this year’s All-Star Game.
The Cubs did not have homefield advantage in last year’s NLCS, when they were swept in four games by the New York Mets.
“We want to have the best record in baseball, and we do want to have home-field advantage,” manager Joe Maddon said. “Does it matter at the end of the day? We’ll find out.”
Right- handed reliever Pedro Strop threw off a mound Sept. 15 for the first time since going on the disabled list Aug. 11 because of torn meniscus in his left knee. The Cubs hope to have Strop appear in a game or two in the last week of the regular season as a tuneup for postseason play.
The loss to the Milwaukee Brewers on Sept. 14 received a rating of 11.19, the highest in the 12-year history of Comcast Sports Net Chicago for a regular-season game.
Cincinnati Reds
Billy Hamilton’s best major league season has ended early.
The center fielder and leadoff hitter strained a muscle in his left side Sept. 4, and the Reds medical staff determined last week that the muscle would not completely heal before the season ends. They feared Hamilton’s offseason training could be delayed by at least a month if he aggravated the injury.
The four-year veteran posted career bests with a .260 batting average, 58 stolen bases in 66 attempts and a .321 on-base percentage in 119 games.
“You always have to be happy with the improvement part of the game,” Hamilton said. “It’s just something that I don’t want to be satisfied with. I want to continue to build off that.”
Rookie Jose Peraza replaced Hamilton as the leadoff hitter and was expected to get most of the playing time in center field.
Rookie left-hander Cody Reed, who had not pitched since being recalled Sept. 2 from Class AAA Louisville, has been shut down for the season because of lower back spasms.
Reds relievers had given up 94 home runs this season, a major league record, through 149 games. That broke the mark of 92 by the 1964 Kansas City Athletics.
Milwaukee Brewers
After spending the season at Class AAA Colorado Springs and not originally getting a September call-up, Michael Reed could see considerable action in center field after the Brewers lost two players at the position Sept. 16.
Rookie Keon Broxton’s season ended when he broke his right wrist in the third inning by slamming into the brick wall at Wrigley Field while attempting to run down Tommy La Stella’s long fly ball. Broxton was replaced by
Kirk Nieuwenhuis, who left in the seventh inning because of an abdominal strain.
“It’s very disappointing,” Broxton said. “I wanted to finish out the season, keep working, keep getting comfortable and keep getting more experience.”
Right- hander Junior Guerra was shut down for the season when his innings total (majors and minors combined) reached 1481⁄ 3. The 31-year-old rookie was a revelation, going 9-3 with a 2.80 ERA in 20 starts after being claimed off waivers from the Chicago White Sox last October.
uLeft fielder Ryan Braun reached 30 home runs in a season for the first time since he had a career-high 41 in 2012, a year before his 65-game suspension for violating Major League Baseball’s performance-enhancing drug agreement.
Pittsburgh Pirates
Right-hander Gerrit Cole’s injury-marred season ended one start after he was activated from his second disabled list stint of the year.
One day after he was rocked for five runs in two innings in a loss to the Philadelphia Phillies, Cole was placed on the 60-day DL because of a sore elbow.
Cole had just spent 15 days on the DL after battling the same
problem. He also was out from June 11 to July 15 because of a strained triceps and was unable to throw off a mound at the start of spring training because of a muscle strain in his side.
Cole won five of his first eight starts this season but finished 7-10 with a 3.88 ERA in 21 starts. “I’m disappointed,” Cole said. “I just didn’t recover the way I hoped.”
Backup catcher Chris Stewart went on the 60-day DL because of left knee discomfort, which sidelined him from July 2 to Sept. 2. The 34-year-old is facing surgery that could end his 10-year career.
Veteran left-handed reliever Wade LeBlanc was acquired from the Seattle Mariners on Sept. 13 for a player to be named or cash considerations. The Pirates needed help providing stability to what has become a young pitching staff after trades and injuries.
St. Louis Cardinals
With his team scrambling to win one of the two National League wild cards and qualify for the postseason for a sixth consecutive year, manager Mike Math
eny went with youth over experience Sunday when he shuffled his rotation. Rookie right-hander Alex
Reyes started against the San Francisco Giants while left-hander Jaime Garcia shifted to the bullpen. It paid off.
Reyes, who was called up from Class AAA Memphis on Aug. 9, allowed four hits in seven shutout innings as the Cardinals won 3-0. Garcia was 0-4 with a 8.06 ERA in his last five starts.
Right- hander Michael Wacha will work in relief for the rest of the season after being activated from the disabled list Sept. 14. He made 23 starts this season, going 7-7 with a 4.45 ERA, before missing nearly five weeks because of shoulder pain.
Right- hander Trevor Rosenthal, who lost his closer’s job to Seung Hwan Oh at the start of July, returned from the DL on Sept. 15 after being out since July 25 because of shoulder problems. Rosenthal will be used in middle relief.
“It’s always great to go to October. But to go in with a group of guys that you really believe in and that are committed and connected and understand what’s at stake and want so badly to make it happen is great. I wouldn’t trade our 25 for anyone else’s.”
Cubs president of baseball operations Theo Epstein after his team clinched the NL Central title