HOLY COW! The Cubs downed the Cards in St. Louis on Monday 4-1, dropping the magic number to 3! Kyle Hendricks was brilliant and the Cubs offense hit two HRs to back him.
But did we mention Kyle Hendricks?!? His line: 8 IP, 1 H, 7 K, 2 BB, and 1 ER as he no-hit the Cards for 8 innings before giving up a solo HR to start the 9th. Joe Maddon artfully bought Chapman some time to warm up and Aroldis preserved the one-hitter to pick up the save.
Hendricks lowered his MLB-leading ERA to 2.03 and the MLB-best Cubs climbed to 41 games over .500. The Cubs' lead over the Cards is now a full 17 games.
But did we mention Kyle Hendricks?!? His line: 8 IP, 1 H, 7 K, 2 BB, and 1 ER as he no-hit the Cards for 8 innings before giving up a solo HR to start the 9th. Joe Maddon artfully bought Chapman some time to warm up and Aroldis preserved the one-hitter to pick up the save.
Hendricks lowered his MLB-leading ERA to 2.03 and the MLB-best Cubs climbed to 41 games over .500. The Cubs' lead over the Cards is now a full 17 games.
The series continues Tuesday at Busch Stadium.
Let's go!
Games Left
Playoff Berth Magic Number
18
Playoff Berth Magic Number
3
Home Field Advantage Magic Number
14 comments :
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=LVfe6rdHRKI
Kendricks pitched a heck of a game and I hope he gets the nod as the preseason ace he deserves it
Post season ;) but we get you
Magic number is for making the playoffs actually 2. The Cards and Giants play 4 games so it is not possible for them to both win out obviously. The Cubs clinch at least a playoff spot with a win tonight!!!!!!!
If the Cubs win tonight, then lose all the rest of their games, SL wins out, the Mets win out, and SF wins all of the non SL games they play the records are:
Cubs 93-69
SL 93-69
SF 92-70
Mets 94-68
This results in Cubs and SL in playoff for the division with the loser a wild card.
Thus - the magic number is 2 - there is no scenario where with any combination of 2 Cubs wins or SL losses that the Cubs miss the playoffs.
WIN TONIGHT AND WE ARE IN - WOOOOHOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
That's not how the magic number calculation works.
Steve, I like your enthusiasm, but you are wrong.
Of course it is - The definition of a magic number is the number of your wins and your opponents losses it takes to clinch. The fact that this site chooses to not factor in the play between the teams chasing the Cubs does not change the fact that if the Cubs win tonight they clinch a playoff birth, and that there is no scenario where with a combination of 2 Cubs wins or Cardinals losses the Cubs miss the playoffs means the magic number is 2.
The alternative is silly - that is that the Cubs still have a magic number of 1 to make the playoffs at the end of the season but are still in.
If a magic number is going to be presented it should be the right one.
Mac - I appreciate your feedback - If I am wrong, lay out the scenario where there is a combination of 2 Cubs wins or Cards losses where the Cubs miss the playoffs then.
The magic number here is for winning the division, the Giants are not in the Cubs' division.
We use the same magic number math that MLB does. That's why the Cardinals' elimination number is 3. I stick with the MLB over you, Steve. :)
Why are you even discussing this scenario? Cubs still need to clinch home field so the odds that they only win 93 games is the same as Wrigley having a Steve Bartman bobble head day.
Why are you even discussing this scenario? Cubs still need to clinch home field so the odds that they only win 93 games is the same as Wrigley having a Steve Bartman bobble head day.
Steve E - under your scenario, if my math is correct, the Cubs and Giants or the Cubs and Cards would finish the regular season with identical records. Then there would be a one-game playoff to see who gets the second wild card berth, which would add 1 tg the Cubs' playoff berth magic number, bringing it back to 3.
Let's hope that all of this is meaningless by the weekend!
Go Cubs!
What is wrong with Hammel/ Maybe he should be left off the playoff roster
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