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CHICAGO – If the coming weekend will be played for the Chicago Cubs like the start of the week – and as most of the season is over – the Cubs will run out of chess at some point before dusting themselves off to win their third consecutive NL Central title. This has been the theme from 2018 until now.
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"Just winning two tough games like this and our back-to-back games are very much about our guys," said manager Joe Maddon after the Cubs' 3-0 win over the Pittsburgh Pirates on Thursday.
The win followed a 7-6, 10-run win after two defeats against Pittsburgh on Monday and Tuesday. Whenever it seemed that the Cubs were going to be passed by the Milwaukee Brewers, they responded. Usually, the answer came on the mound. On Wednesday, their bats woke up after a second period sleep, and then Thursday, their fall pillar, Jon Lester, pitched six scoreless innings. Now, with a lead of a game before a weekend with the St. Louis Cardinals, the Cubs are alike again.
At least for the moment.
"We are fighting until the end now," Lester said. "We have made the playoffs and no one in this club is happy with that.It is not an arrogance.We are all expecting to win the division."
If they want to win it, they may not be able to participate in these few games, which has frightened Cubs fans all season long. But the Cubs responded every time their collective backs were against the wall. They narrowly kept the best NL record at this stage. Blowing now is not who they are.
Maddon held her annual end-of-season meeting on Thursday, telling her players that the playoffs had already begun. Later in the night, they responded by beating the hottest baseball pitcher, Trevor Williams. So maybe their nature is finally falling behind. It is better to be.
"The stakes are high," said Anthony Rizzo, the first baseman. "We have to win all three games to control our destiny, everything is on the bridge, everything is on the bridge over there. [for St. Louis]. From where they come from, pulling their manager to be in the running for second place, it's unbelievable. You can not discredit what they have done. I hope that they are running out of gas this weekend. "
A series of Cubs-Cardinals to finish the season – the two teams needing victories for playoff purposes – is as juicy as possible. The archrivers have so much at stake that their divisional opponent, the Brewers, can fend for themselves by beating the lowly Detroit Tigers at home. Can the Cubs hang on to what they've been for two years?
"We have a team coming here to fight for their post-season lives," Lester said. "We know the challenges there, we always play them hard and they play us hard, I do not expect explosions, I'm waiting for tight games."
And here's the weird thing about the Cubs' division or bust mentality. Since they do not just win a joker worthy of champagne, they did not celebrate Wednesday when they won a playoff spot. If they give up the division in Milwaukee this weekend, they will not drink either. The Cubs could be the first team in the recent history of baseball not to burst the caps even though they participated in the playoffs. This is something that many players have not even wanted to take into account, so the answer is to beat the Cardinals enough times in the next three games to win the division. Everything is online.
"It should be very hot here," said Maddon, without referring to the weather. "They will be ready, we will be ready."
Baseball is too. It's a juicy way to end the regular season.
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