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The Chicago Cubs will play postseason baseball next week. Feels nice to say. Where those games will be played, however, is still undecided. The Cubs did themselves a favor by bouncing back with a resounding win on Wednesday (and, I guess, thank you, Milwaukee, for beating the Padres?), cutting the magic number to two to host the Wild Card Round.
And this one number, very few people are talking about, makes it very clear: the Cubs need to do whatever it takes to secure home-field advantage next week.
The Cubs are in line to host the wild-card series at Wrigley Field, and Mully believes that's absolutely crucial in the likely matchup against the Padres.
— 670 The Score (@670TheScore) September 25, 2025
"Do you realize the Padres have a losing record on the road?" he says. pic.twitter.com/q4ciQqdFE6
Cubs could put the Padres in a Wild Card Series hole before it even starts
Heading into Thursday's scheduled off-day ahead of their final season of the regular season, the Padres sit at 49-29 at Petco Park - an impressive home record - but a disappointing 38-43 mark on the road, making them a perfect matchup for Craig Counsell's club in the first round.
In six head-to-head games against the Cubs this season? San Diego dropped two of three at Wrigley and then won two of three just one week later at Petco. Now that's a relatively small sample size, but anybody who has tuned into either of the first two games against the Mets this week (weeknight games, at that), the atmosphere in Wrigleyville is already in peak form.
Home-field advantage doesn't matter as much as it once did (at least, according to the data: home teams are 60-64 since the postseason expanded in 2022) - but given the atmosphere at Wrigley in October, not to mention how long it's been since fans saw playoff baseball there (2018), it's hard to think it wouldn't be some sort of factor in a hypothetical Cubs-Padres matchup.
For what it's worth, Chicago is an above-.500 ballclub both at and away from the Friendly Confines. The Cubs enter Thursday at 47-30 at home and 42-39 on the road. Their 42 road wins mark the team's most in a single season since 2018. The focus has obviously been on clinching home-field advantage ahead of the start of postseason play, but given the Padres' road woes, it feels more important than ever.