Cubs Enter Week Looking To Knock Magic Number Down To Zero For NL Playoff Berth

The Chicago Cubs had everything go their way on Sunday as they moved closer to making the National League playoffs.

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The Chicago Cubs enter this week with an eye on knocking their magic number down to zero to claim their first National League playoff berth in five years.

The Cubs (85-64) defeated the Tampa Bay Rays, 4-3, on Sunday at Wrigley Field, the final game at home before a six-game road swing, which is their last road trip of the season. If things go well, Chicago will return home for its final homestand with a playoff berth already in hand.

The Cubs rallied from a 3-1 deficit to win the contest, with a solo home run from Ian Happ in the sixth and a two RBI double by Nico Hoerner in the seventh to push Chicago to the victory. That helped Javier Assad to his third win of the season. It also cut the Cubs’ magic number to clinch a playoff berth to five. But that wasn’t all.

Cubs Playoff Berth in Sight

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Chicago has two ways to cut that magic number. The first is to win, as the Cubs did on Sunday. The second is when the fourth-place team in the NL wild card place loses, as the San Francisco Giants did on Sunday.

The Giants fell to the Los Angeles Dodgers, 10-2, on Sunday, their second straight loss to their arch-rivals. With the loss, San Francisco fell 1.5 games behind the final wild card berth, held by the New York Mets, and helped trim Chicago’s magic number to four.

The NL Central race tightened, too. The Milwaukee Brewers lost to the St. Louis Cardinals, 3-2, holding the Brewers’ magic number to win the NL Central in place at eight. The Cubs are now 5.5 games out of first place. A late surge to win the division is probably out of the question. But Chicago is making Milwaukee sweat it out.

The Cubs are trying to get to the playoffs for the first time since 2020, when they won the NL Central title during the COVID-shortened 2020 season. That ended a run of five playoff berths in six seasons, which included the 2016 World Series title, the franchise’s first championship in more than a century.

Chicago Cubs Magic Number Watch

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Magic Number to Clinch Playoff Berth: 4

Chicago Cubs Games Remaining: 12

Chicago Cubs Remaining Schedule: Sept. 15-17, at Pittsburgh; Sept. 18-21, at Cincinnati; Sept. 23-25 vs. New York Mets; Sept. 26-28, vs. St. Louis.

NL Wild Card Race (after Sept. 14)

Chicago Cubs: 85-64 (8.5 games ahead)

San Diego Padres: 82-68 (5.0 games ahead)

New York Mets: 77-73 (last wild card berth)

San Francisco Giants: 75-74 (1.5 games behind final berth)

NL Central Update

Milwaukee Brewers: 91-59

Chicago Cubs: 85-64 (5.5 games behind)

Brewers Magic Number to clinch NL Central: 8

Brewers Games Remaining: 12

Milwaukee Brewers Remaining Schedule: Sept. 16-18, vs. Los Angeles Angels; Sept. 19-21, at St. Louis; Sept. 22-24 at San Diego; Sept. 26-28, vs. Cincinnati.