The Chicago Cubs didn’t mess around with the Pittsburgh Pirates on Monday night and, as a result, they’re another day closer to clinching a playoff berth.

Home runs by Michael Busch and Pete Crow-Armstrong fueled a 4-0 win. Jameson Taillon spun six innings of scoreless baseball for the win. Cubs pitching allowed just three hits.

The Cubs (86-64) could leave with a playoff berth in hand before the series with the Pirates ends on Wednesday afternoon.

Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images

Chicago had a magic number of four going into Monday’s game. That’s a combination of Cubs wins and San Francisco Giants losses. The Giants are the first team out of the wild card race as of Monday’s action. San Francisco was in action on the west coast against Arizona.

When the Cubs beat the Pirates, that dropped their magic number to three. The Cubs were probably fast asleep when the Giants and Diamondbacks wrapped things up in Arizona on Monday night.

The Giants lost to the Diamondbacks, 8-1, on Monday. San Francisco was the first team out of the wild card playoffs and with the loss, Chicago’s number should have dropped to two. The one nuance is that with the win, Arizona moved into the first spot out of the playoffs.

That gives Chicago the chance to clinch as early as Tuesday.

The rest of the teams involved in the wild card race were off on Monday, including San Diego and the New York Mets. The Padres are four games back of the Cubs for the top wild card spot. So, once Chicago has its playoff ticket punched, the next job is to secure that No. 4 seed, which comes with a home playoff series in the wild card round.

As for the National League Central race, the Cubs gained a half-game on the Milwaukee Brewers with the win on Monday. The Brewers were off, so Chicago will be five games behind in the division race going into Tuesday’s action. It’s still quite the long shot. But Milwaukee’s magic number to clinch the division (eight) is bigger than Chicago’s to clinch the playoff berth.

The Cubs are trying to get to the playoffs for the first time since 2020, when they won the NL Central title during the COVID-shortened 2020 season. That ended a run of five playoff berths in six seasons, which included the 2016 World Series title, the franchise’s first championship in more than a century.

Chicago Cubs Magic Number Watch

Magic Number to Clinch Playoff Berth: 2

Chicago Cubs Games Remaining: 12

Chicago Cubs Remaining Schedule: Sept. 16-17, at Pittsburgh; Sept. 18-21, at Cincinnati; Sept. 23-25 vs. New York Mets; Sept. 26-28, vs. St. Louis.

NL Wild Card Race (after Sept. 15)

Chicago Cubs: 86-64 (9.0 games ahead)

San Diego Padres: 82-68 (5.0 games ahead)

New York Mets: 77-73 (last wild card berth)

Arizona Diamondbacks: 76-75 (1.5 games behind final berth)

San Francisco Giants: 75-75 (2.0 games behind final berth)

NL Central Update

Milwaukee Brewers: 91-59 (clinched playoff berth)

Chicago Cubs: 86-64 (5.0 games behind)

Brewers Magic Number to clinch NL Central: 8

Brewers Games Remaining: 12

Milwaukee Brewers Remaining Schedule (12 games): Sept. 16-18, vs. Los Angeles Angels; Sept. 19-21, at St. Louis; Sept. 22-24 at San Diego; Sept. 26-28, vs. Cincinnati.

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