The Cubs tied the series at a win apiece on Wednesday.
The Cubs and the Mets both had a lot to play for as they filed into their respective dugouts before the game Wednesday at Wrigley Field.
“This is a great week for a baseball fan, it really is,” Cubs manager Craig Counsell said before the Cubs’ 10-3 win. “Three weeks in the schedule left, you were like, I don’t know how this is going to end. And now, you’re like, wow.”
Entering play Wednesday, only two division races had been decided, the NL Central (Brewers) and NL East (Phillies). The Wild Card races were tight in both leagues.
In the National League, only one spot was up for grabs, with the Mets, Diamondbacks and Reds all within one game of one another.
Though the Cubs were guaranteed a wild card spot, they were still fighting for home-field advantage for the best-of-three series, likely against the Padres.
The Padres, who currently sit in the second NL wild-card spot, behind the Cubs, lost 3-1 to the Brewers on Wednesday. So, the Cubs’ win put a 2.5-game gap between the two teams, with four games left on the Cubs’ schedule.
They trimmed their magic number for claiming the top NL wild-card spot down to two.
