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On a night dedicated to the 2001 World Series champions, the Arizona Diamondbacks fittingly walked off the Aaron Judge-less New York Yankees. That win, paired with a Chicago Cubs victory over the Cincinnati Reds, has the Cubs' magic number to clinch a playoff spot at just 2 with a week to go in the regular season.
That means any combination of two Cubs' wins and Diamondbacks' losses punches the former's playoff ticket, sending Chicago back to the postseason for the second consecutive season. It would take a catastrophic turn of events for that to not happen at this point. But the Cubs have their sights set on a higher prize: the #4 seed and home-field advantage in the Wild Card Series.
Home-field advantage is critical for the three teams ahead of Arizona in the wild-card standings. The Cubs and Padres enter Sunday tied for the first spot at 86-69 and the Phillies are hot on their heels at 85-70. Wodering why getting that top spot is so important? Just look at each team's home record:
- Cubs: 45-33
- Padres: 48-29
- Phillies: 41-34
Home-field advantage is critical to Cubs' World Series aspirations
Last postseason, the Cubs went 4-1 at Wrigley Field, taking down the Padres in the Wild Card Series and winning both of the games against Milwaukee in Chicago, as well. What they don't want to do is have to go to Philly or San Diego as the road team. The Padres are cooking at Petco Park of late, winning 22 of 27.
The Cubs go for a series win over the Reds on Sunday afternoon, then have a scheduled off-day Monday before returning home for the final home series of the regular season - a three-game set against Miami. Chicago then heads to Boston to close out the year against the Red Sox.
Looking at the rest of the NL playoff picture, the Brewers already locked up a fourth consecutive NL Central title and the Dodgers have won the NL West. Atlanta is knocking on the door of a division crown in the National League East, so it'll be all eyes on the wild-card race as the 2026 regular season draws to a close.
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