Jake Arrieta’s Last Loss Was Against the Phillies

Inside and out, nothing feels the same about these Cubs. The last time the team won the National League pennant, they were playing the Detroit Tigers in the World Series when a bar owner named Billy Sianis was asked to leave the game because of his pet goat’s odor.

Kristen Anderson received her degree in psychology from the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater, which hasn’t helped her erase all of the heartbreaking near misses and memories as a lifelong Chicago Cubs fan.

The playoff game will played on the stadium’s brand new HD video board under the lights, according to the Iowa Cubs. If relievers Pedro Strop, Justin Grimm, Travis Wood and closer Hector Rondon can all do their part and shut down opposing offenses, I don’t see why the Cubs bullpen couldn’t compete with the Pirates and Cardinals. Superstition for me has no place in Cubs history or tradition. Maddon calling the shots in the dugout and keeping everyone loose with antics such as making the rookies dress as Disney princesses for the final road trip of the season. A one-game playoff isn’t even a matchup between the Pirates and the Cubs, exactly.

We’re closing in on the final games of the 2015 regular season and the Chicago Cubs are doing the very best they can in order to earn home-field advantage in next week’s N.L. Wild Card playoff against the Pittsburgh Pirates. Greinke is scheduled to pitch Saturday night for the Los Angeles Dodgers against San Diego.

If there’s a cause for concern with the Cubs, it’s their propensity for striking out. But he still has that blister of knowing the Phillies beat him and may end up as the last team in 2015 to do so.

But, Maddon has a few historical perspective on his side, too. “I don’t want them to get caught up in something that really doesn’t matter”. Well, Cole has pitched six-plus innings and allowed zero or one runs in 10 starts this year, including starts against the Cardinals, Mets and Cubs. The following year, Chicago slipped from 96-56 to 77-84. Let’s say Arrieta’s great, and he holds the Pirates to one run. Perhaps a bad start from one of them can make this Cy Young race a bit more clear, but if they keep pitching like their usual selves, it’s going to remain a tight one.

This Cubs team is youthful throughout, led by the 23-year-old Bryant and 25-year-old Rizzo.

If anything, this team has arrived sooner than expected. The team has not won a World Series championship since 1908, while having not played in one since 1945.

Of course, there’s no need to take any chances.

Clinching a playoff berth with several days remaining in the season affords Maddon and his staff time to consider more critical decisions like how many pitchers to carry on the postseason roster and who his No. 2 pitcher would be in the wild card game if a change was needed early.