The Chicago Cubs will at least share the best record in the National League and have home-field advantage in both the Division and Championship Series after the Washington Nationals lost to the Pittsburgh Pirates on Friday night.
That Nationals loss, coupled with a Cubs 5-0 win over the St. Louis Cardinals, means that the Cubs will get to open both of their first two playoff series at Wrigley Field if they advance in the playoffs. By virtue of the American League’s win in the All-Star Game, the Cubs will not have home-field advantage in the World Series, however.
The Cubs can now finish no worse than in a tie with the Nationals for best record in the National League. The Cubs hold a tiebreaker over Washington for home-field advantage, as they won the season series between the two teams by a 5-2 margin.
Friday’s game was a great one for the Cubs all-around, as Jake Arrieta struck out 10 Cardinals batters and Anthony Rizzo smoked a pair of doubles in the team’s 98th win of the season. If the Cubs can win two more contests, they will win 100 games for the first time since the 1935 season, when they advanced to the World Series and were defeated by the Detroit Tigers.
