Chicago Secures Second Straight Postseason Appearance
The Chicago Cubs clinched a postseason berth Thursday with a 2-1 victory over the Miami Marlins, securing one of the National League’s three wild-card spots while Pete Crow-Armstrong made history by joining baseball’s exclusive 40-40 club.
Crow-Armstrong reached 40 stolen bases to go with his major league-leading 45 home runs, becoming just the seventh player in MLB history to record at least 40 homers and 40 steals in a single season. The 24-year-old accomplished the feat when he drew a leadoff walk from Miami starter Tyler Phillips in the first inning and stole second base on the next pitch to Seiya Suzuki.
Fans at Wrigley Field responded with chants of “MVP” as the stadium video board celebrated Crow-Armstrong’s accomplishment. Crow-Armstrong’s 45 home runs are already a career high, with his latest homer coming Sunday during Chicago’s 9-1 victory over Cincinnati. His 40th stolen base came on his 47th attempt of the season.
Crow-Armstrong is the seventh player to join the 40-40 club, following Shohei Ohtani, Ronald Acuña Jr., Jose Canseco, Alfonso Soriano, Alex Rodriguez and Barry Bonds. Ohtani previously accomplished the feat in 2024 with the Los Angeles Dodgers, hitting 54 home runs and stealing 59 bases. Acuña hit 41 homers and stole 73 bases for the Atlanta Braves in 2023.
Canseco was the first player to reach the milestone, doing so with the Oakland Athletics in 1988. Soriano reached it with Washington in 2006, Rodriguez with Seattle in 1998 and Bonds with San Francisco in 1996.
Cubs Rally Behind Matthew Boyd
While Crow-Armstrong provided the historic moment, Chicago’s pitching and timely hitting secured the victory. Matthew Boyd improved to 10-5 after allowing one run on five hits and two walks over seven innings. Ryan Zeferjahn then worked a perfect ninth inning to earn his seventh save, completing a five-hitter for the Cubs.
Miami opened the scoring in the third inning when Jakob Marsee delivered an RBI single. Chicago answered in the fifth when Suzuki launched his 26th home run of the season off Jack Ralston to tie the game.
The Cubs took the lead in the sixth. Ian Happ opened the inning with a triple against Ralston and scored three pitches later when Nico Hoerner lined a single, giving Chicago a 2-1 advantage. Ralston took the loss and fell to 0-2.
Chicago Returns to October
The Cubs improved to 88-71 and secured consecutive postseason appearances for the first time since making four straight playoff trips from 2015 through 2018. That stretch included Chicago’s historic 2016 World Series championship, which ended a 108 year title drought dating to 1908.
Chicago also reached the postseason last year as a wild card team, defeating the San Diego Padres in the first round before falling to the Milwaukee Brewers in the National League Division Series.
The Cubs clinched their playoff spot shortly after the Chicago White Sox secured their own postseason berth with a 9-1 victory over Kansas City. For Miami, the loss dropped the Marlins to 78-81 and assured them of their third consecutive non winning season.
Final Series of the Season
The Marlins return to Miami on Friday to begin a season ending three-game series against the Atlanta Braves. The Cubs will travel to Boston for a day night doubleheader Friday against the Red Sox. Major League Baseball moved the opener from Friday to Sunday because of a forecast for a storm.
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