Chicago Cubs finish regular season at 103-58
CINCINNATI — As far as the regular season goes, Chicago Cubs manager Joe Maddon declared “mission accomplished” Saturday, even with a 7-4 loss to the Cincinnati Reds.
Things went a little better Sunday as the Cubs rallied late to defeat the Reds 7-4 in the regular-season finale at the Great American Ball Park.
Down to their final strike, the Cubs pulled off one more improbable comeback followed by one more wall-shaking party in the clubhouse. The victory gave them a final record of 103-58.
Matt Szczur doubled home 2 runs with two outs in the ninth inning, and Miguel Montero followed with a homer as the Cubs finished one of their most successful seasons with a flourish.
“It's a perfect example of why we've won so many games this year,” Montero said.
With victory No. 103 in the books, the Cubs headed back to Wrigley Field for their first playoff game, Friday against the winner of the NL wild-card game.
The Cubs led the majors with their most victories since 1910. That's no longer the reference point, however. The postseason focus is 1908, the last time they won a World Series.
Just as Jon Lester fell short Saturday in his bid for 20 victories, Kyle Hendricks saw his ERA rise above 2.00 on Sunday as he gave up 4 runs in 5 innings. Hendricks still won the National League ERA crown with a final mark of 2.13.
On Sunday, Maddon said he had several reasons for the declaration of “mission accomplished.”
“The boxes have been checked for the regular season,” he said. “We won our division. The one that was a little bit above and beyond was 100 wins. We stayed relatively healthy. We've played well. We played good baseball. Our pitching and defense have been outstanding.
“With all of the stuff we've talked about in (spring training) camp regarding breaking the target and utilizing the words 'pressure' and 'expectations' in a positive way, I think we've done all those things.
“Give our guys credit, man, because going into camp, a lot of times when you have all those words attached to you, it can lead to a bad result during the season, but our guys have handled it well.”
Maddon's catchwords from the get-go were “embrace the target,” meaning the dual targets of winning the World Series and of the Cubs being the targets of other teams because of them being favored to win the division and beyond.
The Cubs were a bit blah in their final two games against the Reds until the final inning Sunday, but Maddon said he was happy because the relief pitchers got work, the starters didn't overextend their pitch counts, and the team stayed healthy.
Hendricks entered his final start with an ERA of 1.99, putting his name, along with Lester's, into the running for the National League Cy Young Award. He gave up 3 runs in the bottom of the first as he walked one, hit a batter and gave up 3 hits. The Reds scored another in the fourth.
The meaningful statistic now is Hendricks' 1.32 ERA at Wrigley Field this season, the best home ERA in the majors.
“At this point in my career, I never thought I'd be in this situation,” said Hendricks, 26, who is in only his second full season in the majors.
The Cubs scored once in the fourth on an RBI groundout by Anthony Rizzo and once in the fifth on an RBI single by Willson Contreras. Rizzo ended the regular season batting .292 with 32 home runs and 109 RBI. Kris Bryant also finished at .292, with 39 home runs and 102 RBI.
• Associated Press contributed to this report.