Boom. Pow. Bang. Smash. Zap. Pew. Nork. Quing.
The Cubs beat up on the Brewers in a four-game series that meant a whole lot more to the Brewers than it did to the Cubs, and in so doing, virtually eliminated them (and the Cardinals) from contention in the NL Central. Pretty different from the last weekend series the two teams played, eh?
After yesterday’s win, the Cubs are even more prohibitively favorited to close out the Central, with a 5.5-game lead on the Brewers, and a 6.0-game lead on the Cardinals.
That’s especially true because the Cardinals also lost yesterday, meaning that the movement in the magic number occurred on both fronts, and is the same for the Cardinals and the Brewers.
The magic number will take you back to a less successful time:
HELLO. pic.twitter.com/e5X2EgUBcJ
— Brett Taylor (@BleacherNation) September 24, 2017
Another way to look at what that magic number means:
Cubs beat the Brewers, Cardinals lose. All over but the shouting in the Central. pic.twitter.com/IUtDzLVsbO
— Rian Watt (@rianwatt) September 24, 2017
The Cubs go to St. Louis tonight to begin a four-game series. The Cubs need win only ONE of those four games to eliminate the Cardinals from the NL Central race. The Cubs need to win only two games in their final seven to eliminate the Brewers.
The Brewers are off today, which means the Cubs cannot clinch the NL Central tonight, even if they win. The soonest they could do it is tomorrow night.
Meanwhile, in the Wild Card race, the Rockies are doing the bare minimum to hang onto that WC2 slot, winning yesterday to push the Brewers back to 2.0 games out, and the Cardinals to 2.5 games out. The Rockies host the Marlins tonight.