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With the St. Louis Cardinals earning a split in yesterday’s doubleheader with the Pittsburgh Pirates, the Chicago Cubs still have the opportunity of hosting next Wednesday’s N.L. Wild Card game.
In case you missed it, it was reported by CBS Sports that the organization had to put their original plan of hosting a showing of the one-game playoff at Wrigley Field on hold. Which came across as a disappointment to those who were hoping to attend the event with other fans.
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Still, wrapping up the trip to Cincinnati with a three-game sweep is absolutely huge for this club who are now only two games behind the Pirates for home field advantage next week.
In order for Chicago to become the host, the struggling Reds are going to need to take at least two of three from Pittsburgh while the Cubs handle their business against the Milwaukee Brewers starting tonight.
Right-handed ace pitcher Jake Arrieta will be on the mound for the Cubs who have themselves a five-game winning streak following today’s 5-3 win, so things could be looking up.
Milwaukee is 5-5 in their previous 10 games, dropping the series finale to the San Diego Padres by the final score of 3-1 yesterday.
These two clubs met up just last week in what appeared to be another sweep for the Cubs until the Brewers pulled away with a 4-1 victory.
Taking the mound opposite Arrieta in tomorrow’s final regular-season road trip will be 26-year-old Ariel Pena who carries a 2-0 record with a 3.91 earned run average since debuting at the beginning of the month.
Saturday will put Kyle Hendricks up against 24-year-old Tyler Wagner who got his first taste of major league action back on May 31 while hosting the Arizona Diamondbacks but was tagged for five earned runs in a short outing.
Finally, Daren Haren rounds out the regular season but will have to go through what appears to be a promising right-hander in 22-year-old Jorge Lopez.
Lopez recorded the win for his club in his very first appearance just three days ago in San Diego. He gave up three earned runs on eight hits while issuing only two walks and punching out six batters in only five innings of work.
Hopefully, he doesn’t bite Chicago like Zach Davies did in their previous series finale.
Here’s more from around the league:
‘Cubbies Crib seeks new writers, Cubs fans‘ – Cubbies Crib
‘Chicago Cubs: Who’s the No. 3 starter if they advance?‘ – Cubbies Crib
‘Chicago Cubs: Should team consider Jeff Samardzija this winter?‘ – Cubbies Crib
‘Why the Los Angeles Dodgers won the West‘ – Dodgers Way
‘Phillies trying to make best of the worst‘ – That Balls Outta Here