Morning Marquee: Chicago Cubs prepare for N.L. Wild Card showdown

After a long and exciting regular season, it’s time for the Chicago Cubs to prepare themselves for their first postseason trip when they head to Pittsburgh to take on the Pirates in just two more days.

Chicago wrapped up the weekend with a 3-1 win over the Milwaukee Brewers, extending their winning streak to eight games behind another solid outing by Dan Haren and Anthony Rizzo‘s two-run single in the first.

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Not only did the Cubs manage to pull away with game No. 162, but Joe Maddon set a new franchise record with 97 wins in his first year as Chicago’s skipper. Which is a little bit more than what we all expected.

This team has set plenty of records this season as Kris Bryant topped Billy Williams and his rookie home run and RBI record late in the year, finishing one base knock shy of 100 runs batted in.

First baseman Anthony Rizzo’s RBI single gave him RBI No. 100 and 101 for the first time in his big league career.

With awards being handed out later on in the year, Bryant, Rizzo, and Jake Arrieta could make a run for the top three honors in all of baseball including a Golden Glove opportunity when it comes to 44.

Anthony finished the year with a .994 fielding percentage and a handful of spectacular plays which includes him climbing onto the tarp near the visiting dugout and falling into the crowd in order to record an out.

It was a tad bit risky, but he managed to pull it off as everyone watched in awe.

Fans across the globe are pumping themselves up for Wednesday night’s game, including a professor at the University of Illinois who allowed Cubs fans to reschedule their midterm in order to attend the game themselves as reported by NBC Sports.

You already know people are either going to call off of work or take a day off from school to either watch or travel to Pittsburgh for this N.L. Wild Card showdown between two of the best team’s in baseball.

It’ll definitely have a heavyweight title fight feel to it when Jake Arrieta and Gerrit Cole go round-for-round in what could be a low-scoring game.

Here’s more from around the league:

‘Cubbies Crib seeking new staff writers‘ – Cubbies Crib

‘Chicago Cubs: It still comes down to the final day of the year‘ – Cubbies Crib

‘Chicago Cubs: What Wild Card home field advantage means‘ – Cubbies Crib

‘Aramis Ramirez – The one that got away but came back again‘ – Rum Bunter

‘Dee Gordon: Way too early 2016 projections‘ – Fantasy Baseball Crackerjacks

Next: Cubs finish off Brewers with 3-1 win

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