The Chicago Cubs will have their second chance to clinch a playoff spot on Wednesday when they host the Miami Marlins for the second of their three-game set.
Manager Craig Counsell’s team will need to recover quickly from an 8-2 loss in 12 innings to the Marlins (77-80) on Tuesday. The Cubs (87-70) had opportunities to secure a National League wild-card spot but went just 1-for-18 with runners in scoring position. That included going 0-for-9 and walking three times (twice intentionally) in extra innings.
“You’re not going to win many games with that. … We had opportunities. We didn’t get a hit. It’s pretty simple,” Counsell said.
While the Cubs are the highest-scoring team in the majors with 837 runs and have the sixth-best average at .251, their .246 average with men in scoring position ranks 18th among the 30 teams.
Chicago can clinch its second straight postseason appearance by beating the Marlins or by the Colorado Rockies defeating the Arizona Diamondbacks. Arizona staved off elimination Tuesday with a 7-2 win over the Rockies in Denver.
There may be more history taking place Wednesday than the Cubs clinching a postseason spot for just the 23rd time in 120 years. Pete Crow-Armstrong, the team’s center fielder and prohibitive NL Most Valuable Player favorite, can become the seventh player to join the 40-40 club. He stole his 39th base in Tuesday’s loss, to go with his 45 home runs, which are tied for the major league lead.
Kevin Gausman (9-12, 4.55 ERA) is Chicago’s scheduled starter for Wednesday. A trade-deadline acquisition from Toronto, the veteran right-hander is 4-2 with a 5.04 ERA in eight starts since joining the Cubs on Aug. 2.
Gausman has fared well against the Marlins, going 4-2 with a 2.41 ERA in 10 games (nine starts). On May 27, he threw five innings and allowed Miami just one run on six hits and two walks. He did not get a decision in the Blue Jays’ 2-1 home win as he recorded five strikeouts.
The Marlins will counter with Ryan Gusto (1-5, 4.14), who took the loss in the Cubs’ 6-5 win in Miami on Sept. 5. Gusto lasted 4 2/3 innings, allowing five runs on 10 hits and two walks. In his only other appearance against the Cubs, he allowed four runs on seven hits over four innings of relief for the Houston Astros in a 12-3 Cubs win on June 28, 2025.
While Miami won’t make the playoffs this season, manager Clayton McCullough is hoping his young team will end the final week of the campaign on a high note. One player doing just that is Javier Sanoja, who made a game-extending play at second base to end a Cubs threat in the 10th inning and added an RBI single in the six-run 12th inning.
After going 2-for-5 on Tuesday, Sanoja, who has played every position except first base and catcher this season, is hitting .350 (35-for-100) in his last 25 games, bringing his season average to .293. He has also reached safely in each of his last 20 games, a career high for the 24-year-old.
“Sanoja just continues to come through,” McCullough said.
–Field Level Media
