The Cubs took care of business on Wednesday afternoon, shutting out the Cardinals in a 7-0 win behind eight strong innings from Jon Lester. David Ross homered once and Anthony Rizzo drilled a pair of dingers to help improve the Cubs’ record to 93-52.
With Wednesday’s win, the Cubs’ magic number is down to one. That means, with one more Cubs win or Cardinals loss, the Cubs will clinch the NL Central title. It’ll be their first first-place finish since 2008. The Cubs open up a four-game set with the fourth-place Brewers starting on Thursday and then move on to face the Reds for three.
It is almost certain that the Cubs will end up playing the winner of the NL Wild Card play-in game, which is a scary thought for the Giants, Mets, and Cardinals.