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Home Stretch – Latest on the Cubs & White Sox | Chicago Sports Tonight
Sam Panayotovich and ESPN’s Jesse Rogers chat the latest on the Cubs and White Sox as the teams head toward the home stretch of the MLB season. Can the White Sox rebound and recapture 1st place in the AL Central? Also, who does Jesse trust more the Cubs or White Sox? Plus, PCA continues to set records and will he win the MVP?
It could be a day of celebrations for the Chicago Cubs.
If everything goes the Cubs' way on Sunday, they'll be popping bottles in Cincinnati as they celebrate another trip to the MLB postseason. But, the Northsiders do need some help.
Here is Sunday's MLB playoff clinching scenario for the Cubs.
Clinching Scenario:
The Cubs took the season series against the Diamondbacks, which is the key here. This means the Cubs hold the tiebreaker over Arizona and have the edge getting into the playoffs if the two teams finish the season with the same regular season records.
This leads us to Sunday.
There's one clinching scenario today for the Cubs. The Cubs officially clinch a playoff spot if they beat the Reds in Sunday's series finale and if the Diamondbacks lose to the New York Yankees later on Sunday. The D-backs play the Yankees at 3:10 p.m. CT, which means the Cubs will have their game wrapped up by the time first pitch happens in Arizona.
If the Cubs lose on Sunday, they'll haver a three-game series at home against the Marlins where the Cubs can clinch a playoff spot at Wrigley Field surrounded by about 30,000 to 40,000 of their closest friends.
Dig deeper:
If the Cubs clinch on Sunday, it's not over yet. There's still plenty to play for.
Namely, the Cubs will be in a three-team race with the Padres and Phillies for the NL's top wild card spot. This would give the Cubs' homefield in the Wild Card round, just like they had last season in their 2-1 series win over the Padres to advance to the NLDS.
The Phillies would then travel to Atlanta for a three-game series against the Braves.
If the season ended today and the Cubs clinched the top Wild Card spot, they would advance to play the Milwaukee Brewers in the NLDS again if they won their Wild Card series. However, the Brewers could lose the top seed in the NL to the Dodgers before the season ends. Milwaukee is two games ahead of Los Angeles.
The Source: Information on MLB clinching scenarios are from Major League Baseball.