By Salem Chicago News Staff
September 26, 2026
The Chicago Cubs clinched a National League Wild Card berth Thursday, securing a second consecutive trip to the postseason and setting up a rematch with the San Diego Padres in the opening round.
Chicago’s place in the playoff bracket was sealed late Saturday night when the Padres defeated the Arizona Diamondbacks and the Philadelphia Phillies lost to the Tampa Bay Rays. The Cubs are locked into the second NL Wild Card spot and will travel to San Diego for the best-of-three series beginning Tuesday.
The Cubs hold tiebreakers over both the Phillies and Diamondbacks after winning each season series. Manager Craig Counsell said the team will use Sunday’s regular-season finale at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg to set up its pitching staff for the Wild Card round.
“Don’t worry about who’s going to start,” Counsell said Friday. “Worry about how we’re going to get 27 outs.”
The finale was relocated from Boston due to a major nor’easter threatening the region. The Cubs and Red Sox scrambled to play a doubleheader Friday at Fenway Park before flying south to the neutral site.
Chicago dropped both games of Friday’s twin bill, falling 4-3 in the opener and 2-0 in the nightcap. But the losses had little impact on the Cubs’ postseason positioning.
The Cubs’ rotation options for the Wild Card Series include veteran lefty Matthew Boyd, who started Thursday’s clincher against the Marlins, as well as Shota Imanaga, Clay Holmes and David Peterson. The status of righty Kevin Gausman remains uncertain after he injured his left shoulder on a defensive play in his most recent start.
“I think we’re in a good spot,” Holmes said. “There’s a lot of different looks. There’s a lot of options and a lot of really good pitchers.”
Third baseman Alex Bregman, who returned to the lineup Friday after sustaining facial fractures from a foul ball last Sunday in Cincinnati, called the postseason baseball’s highest stage.
“Everyone’s goal is to get to the postseason and make a deep run,” Bregman said at Fenway Park. “You grow up as a kid watching playoff baseball, and it’s the best kind of baseball there is.”
Last October, the Cubs defeated the Padres in two of three games at Wrigley Field in the Wild Card round before falling to the Milwaukee Brewers in the NL Division Series. Milwaukee, which clinched the NL Central on Sept. 15, again awaits the winner of the Cubs-Padres rematch.
The Wild Card Series opens Tuesday in San Diego, with Game 2 on Wednesday and a potential Game 3 on Thursday.
