Morning Marquee: Chicago Cubs return home following a huge NLDS win

Following a huge 6-3 win over the St. Louis Cardinals this past Saturday, Joe Maddon and the rest of this young Chicago Cubs squad return to Wrigley Field with the opportunity of taking a one-game lead in this NLDS.

So far this postseason, we’ve seen plenty of surprises across the board including Clayton Kershaw taking an opening series loss at the hands of the New York Mets who also managed to take Zack Greinke deep in Game 2.

More from Chicago Cubs News

• Cubs starting pitching has been thriving on the North Side
• Make no mistake: the Cubs are very much about power hitters
• Cubs: It’s time to start thinking about potential September call-ups
• Cubs: P.J. Higgins deserves to be in the lineup on a daily basis
• Cubs might start to limit Justin Steele’s workload soon

While the Dodgers managed to rally to even up their series with the Mets, Dallas Keuchel of the Houston Astros slipped up early but settled in and eventually evened the odds against the reigning American League Champions Kansas City Royals.

Like the Cubs, the Astros are a young team with several veterans on their roster to help even things out. Led by Carlos Correa and Keuchel, the former N.L. Central rival made a huge impact this season, were close to winning the A.L. West until the Texas Rangers surged ahead with a two-game lead, clinching just days before postseason play.

Texas pulled two games ahead of this best-of-five series against a team who was a heavy World Series favorite, the Toronto Blue Jays. Former Cub and soon-to-be MVP of the American League, Josh Donaldson, went 2-for-3 with a run scored in yesterday’s 5-1 win over the Rangers.

Both teams will go head-to-head in Arlington, Texas later on today, just hours before Jake Arrieta and the Cubs take the field. So here’s to hoping this game wraps up rather quickly.

More from Cubbies Crib

• Cubs starting pitching has been thriving on the North Side
• Make no mistake: the Cubs are very much about power hitters
• Cubs are giving pitcher Javier Assad a deserved shot
• Cubs: It’s time to start thinking about potential September call-ups
• Cubs: P.J. Higgins deserves to be in the lineup on a daily basis

Today’s crowd will surely be rocking considering this is the first time the Cubs have hosted a postseason game since 2008. This time around, the North Siders have the opportunity of taking a 2-1 advantage and a shot at advancing to the National League Championship Series with a win in front of their own crowd.

All they need to do is hold off the Cardinals, who will not go down without a fight.

Everyone, including Arrieta, will need to bring their very best to the table if they have any hopes of jumping ahead by one game. Luckily, Kris Bryant loves hitting at Wrigley Field and is bound to snap his 0-for-11 which was set across three postseason road games vs the Pirates and Cardinals.

It’ll be interesting to see what Joe’s lineup will look like once it’s released. Either Kyle Schwarber or Jorge Soler will be picking up a start in right field with Michael Wacha on the mound.

Here’s more from around the league:

‘Chicago Cubs: The resurgence of Trevor Cahill‘ – Cubbies Crib

‘Chicago Cubs: Time to be confident, not arrogant‘ – Cubbies Crib

‘Chicago Cubs: Kris Bryant will be a key player as NLDS returns to Wrigley‘ – Cubbies Crib

‘Pittsburgh Pirates Minor League Minute‘ – Rum Bunter

‘Boston Red Sox Report Card: Hanley Ramirez‘ – BoSox Injection

Next: Cubs in wake of Utley suspension