Cubs clinch October berth as Crow-Armstrong reaches 40-40 in 2-1 win

The Cubs closed their Wrigley Field regular season with the win they needed. Chicago beat Miami 2-1 on Thursday to clinch a postseason place, ending a two-game skid against the Marlins and assuring the club of a second straight October appearance. The same afternoon, Pete Crow-Armstrong stole his 40th base to go with 45 home runs, becoming the seventh player in MLB history with a 40-40 season. The playoff berth and milestone belong to one game story, with the final National League Wild Card seed still undecided.

Miami went ahead in the third on Jakob Marsee’s RBI single, but Matthew Boyd kept the deficit at one. The left-hander worked seven innings, allowing five hits and one run with three strikeouts and two walks. Seiya Suzuki tied it with a solo home run in the fifth, his 26th of the season. In the sixth, Ian Happ tripled to open the inning and Nico Hoerner singled him home for the lead. The Chicago Sun-Times reported that Boyd’s length also protected the bullpen before Friday’s doubleheader in Boston.

Daniel Palencia held Miami scoreless in the eighth, and Ryan Zeferjahn retired the side in the ninth for his seventh save. MLB’s official video of the final out shows Griffin Conine grounding back to Zeferjahn as the Cubs secured the berth. MLB also has Crow-Armstrong’s first-inning steal and Hoerner’s go-ahead hit. Those clips are from Thursday’s game; the video remains on MLB’s site.

The win settles participation, not placement. As the Sun-Times explained, Chicago entered Thursday in a tightly packed Wild Card race where a top Wild Card seed would mean hosting the opening series, while a lower seed would send the Cubs on the road. The Cubs finish the regular season against the Red Sox, with Sunday’s scheduled finale moved into a Friday doubleheader because of the Boston weather forecast. Chicago can now play those remaining games to improve its seed rather than to secure its place.