CHICAGO – The Chicago Cubs will start a three-game series against the St. Louis Cardinals at Wrigley Field on Friday in a chase to get 103 wins in 2016.
The Cubs and Cardinals play 19 games, spanning six series, this season. This is the final regular season meeting between the two clubs. Chicago aims to win a regular season series against St. Louis for the first time since the 2010 campaign (9-6).
Jake Arrieta will make his 30th start of the season for the Cubs today, marking the second time in his career he has made 30 starts (also last season). He has posted a 2.82 ERA (29 ER/92.2 IP) in 15 home starts compared to a 3.11 ERA (32 ER/92.2 IP) in 14 road starts. Despite the higher road ERA, he is second in the majors with 11 wins road this season (11-2). He ranks among N.L. leaders in wins (17, t-3rd), ERA (2.96, 9th), opponent’s average (.185, 1st), OBP (.271, 6th), slugging (.295, 1st) and OPS (.566, 1st).
Arrieta is 5-1 with a 1.09 ERA (6 ER/49.2 IP) in eight-career regular season starts against St. Louis at Wrigley Field ... has posted a 1.69 ERA (2 ER/10.2 IP) in two starts this season at the Friendly Confines.
The Cardinals will start RHP Mike Leake, who is 9-10 with a 4.54 ERA in 2016.
FLYING THE “W” FLAG OFTEN
The Chicago Cubs, 2016 N.L. Central Division champions, tonight begin their final regular season home series of the season with the first of three games against the St. Louis Cardinals ... Chicago on Wednesday completed a three-game sweep of the Cincinnati Reds with a 9-2 victory to improve to a season-high 42-games over .500 (97-55) for the first time since the end of the 1945 campaign when the club finished 98-46.
• Chicago’s 97 victories match their output from 2015, and are tied for the most single-season victories since winning 98 games in 1945.
• This marks just the 11th time in franchise history the Cubs have reached 97 wins in a season ... the Cubs have recorded at least 97 wins in consecutive campaigns for the first time since a five-season run over 100 years ago from 1906-10.
• The Cubs have 10 games remaining and are on pace for 103 wins this season.
WAY TO GO, JOE!
Joe Maddon has compiled a 194-120 regular season record in his first two campaigns at the helm of the Cubs ... only two managers have reached that many victories with fewer than 120 losses with Chicago: Cap Anson in 1879-82 (194-84) and Frank Chance in 1905-07 (194-73) ... thanks to Ed Hartig.
ON THE SEASON
At 97-55, the Cubs own the best record in MLB, 7.5 games better than the next closest club (Texas, 90-63) ... Washington is next-closest in the N.L. with an 89-63 mark ... the magic number for the Cubs to clinch home field through the N.L. playoffs is two.
• The Cubs have gone 45-20 (.692) in their last 65 games starting July 10, also the best record in all of baseball in that span ... the Cubs have more than doubled their lead in the N.L. Central during this time from 6.5 games to 17.0 games.
• Today is the eighth of a 10-game homestand vs. the Brewers (1-3), the Reds (3-0) and the Cardinals (3 games).
ONE-TWO PUNCH
Kyle Hendricks leads the majors with a 2.06 ERA while Jon Lester is second with a 2.36 ERA ... the Giants Madison Bumgarner is third at 2.57 ... the last time pitchers from the same team finished with the top two ERAs in the majors was in 2005, when the Astros Roger Clemens (1.87) and Andy Pettitte (2.39) turned the trick.
• Hendricks has allowed three or fewer earned runs in each of his last 21 starts dating to May 22 (1.65 ERA), the longest streak by any big league pitcher this season ... he is the fourth Cubs starting pitcher in the last 30 years to allow three earned runs or fewer in 21-straight starts, joining Jake Arrieta (29, 2015-16), Mike Morgan (27, 1992) and Frank Castillo (23, 1994-95).
• Lester’s 18 wins are tied for the N.L. lead and are the most by a Cubs lefty in a single season in 53 years since Dick Ellsworth had 22 victories in 1963.
• Lester has allowed two or fewer runs and two or fewer walks in each of his last 10 starts ... according to Elias, just two other Cubs pitchers since 1893 – the year the pitching mound was set to 60’6” – had such a streak ... Mordecai “Three Finger” Brown had an 11-game streak in 1906 and Jake Arrieta had a 10-game streak spanning 2015-16.
40 x 30
Anthony Rizzo on Monday recorded his 40th double of the season to go along with his 30 homers ... he’s the first left-handed hitter in Cubs history to record 40 doubles and 30 homers in a season, and just the fourth overall ... he joins Rogers Hornsby in 1929, Derrek Lee in 2005 and Alfonso Soriano in 2007.
• Rizzo is just the second left-handed hitter to record multiple 30-homer, 100-RBI seasons in franchise history ... Rizzo, who last season had 31 homers and 101 RBI, joins Billy Williams, who turned the trick three times (1965, 1970 & 1972).
• Rizzo enters today’s contest tied for fifth in the N.L. with 31 home runs(one shy of his career-high 32 in 2014) while his career-high 104 RBI are tied for second in the Senior Circuit with Atlanta’s Matt Kemp and Washington’s Daniel Murphy.
WHAT’S IN AN AGE?
With 21 homers and 93 RBI on the season, Addison Russell is just the second Cub to reach the 20-homer mark in his age 22 season or younger – joining Ron Santo (23 homers in age 21 campaign in 1961).
• Russell is the first shortstop to reach 93 RBI in his age 22 or younger season since Troy Tulowitzki did so at age 22 in 2007 with Colorado (99 RBI).
• Russell’s 93 RBI are tied with Houston’s Carlos Correa for the most by any shortstop this season.
• Russell is the first Cubs shortstop to reach 93 RBI since Ernie Banks logged 117 RBI in 1960 (156 games at shortstop that season).
N.L. CENTRAL CHAMPIONS
Chicago, which appeared in the 2015 postseason as the N.L. Wild Card, will advance to consecutive postseasons for just the fifth time in franchise history ... the club first turned the trick way back in both 1880-82 and 1885-86, and did so again from both 1906-08 and 2007-08.
• The Cubs clinched the division in 146 games, the fewest number of games Chicago has clinched its division in the divisional era (since 1969), as well as the earliest the Cubs have clinched a playoff spot all-time (thanks STATS, Inc.).
• The previous team to clinch a division with 16 or more games remaining in a season was the 2008 Angels ... they clinched the A.L. West with 17 games remaining.
COMFORTS OF HOME
This marks just the fourth season since moving to Wrigley Field in 1916 that Chicago has won at least 55 games at home ... the Cubs won 56 games at Wrigley Field in both 1933 and 1935 and 55 home games in 2008.
• At 55-23 (.705), the Cubs have the best home record in the majors, (Texas and Cleveland are second, both at.667) ... Chicago is 29-9 in its last 38 home games, 22-6 in its last 28 and is 14-4 in its last 18.
CROSSING THE PLATE AT A RAPID RATE
Kris Bryant’s 117 runs scored are tied for the major league lead with Boston’s Mookie Betts ... that’s six ahead of the next-closest N.L. player, Colorado’s Nolan Arenado (111) ... Bryant’s 116 runs scored are the most for any Cub since Derrek Lee scored 120 runs in the 2005 campaign.
• Bryant leads the N.L. and is second in the majors with an 8.1 WAR (Mike Trout leads with an 8.7 mark).
• Bryant’s 38 homers this season are second-most in the N.L. and are tied for the most by a Cub since Aramis Ramirez hit 38 in 2006 ... the last Cub with at least 39 homers in a season is Derrek Lee, who belted 46 in 2005.
LEADING THINGS OFF
Dexter Fowler on September 13 hit his seventh lead-off homer of the season, the most by a Cub in a single campaign since Alfonso Soriano hit a franchise record 12 lead-off blasts in 2007.
• Fowler is hitting .383 (36-for-94) with 13 walks and three HBP in 110 plate appearances (.473OBP) leading off a game this season.
CLOSE IT OUT
Since joining the Cubs on July 26, Aroldis Chapman’s 15 saves are tied for fourth-most in the majors, two behind the Dodgers Kenley Jansen (16) ... the Cubs now have two pitchers with at least 15 saves apiece (Hector Rondon, 18) for the first time since 2009 when Kevin Gregg had 23 saves and Carlos Marmol recorded 15.
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