Cubs coolly repeat as divisional champs
Perfect timing. Perfect place. Perfect positioning.
Almost so perfect as to be corny.
The Cubs clinched their second straight National League Central title Saturday with the team's most senior member on the pitcher's mound facing the team's long-standing tormentors, the St. Louis Cardinals.
Wood fired a 1-0 pitch to Aaron Miles, who lifted a flyball to center field. Waiting for the ball to land was none other than Jim Edmonds, the former Cardinal.
The ball settled into Edmonds' glove, and most in the Wrigley Field crowd of 41,597 celebrated the Cubs' 5-4 victory, which reduced their magic number to zero, ensuring a place in the postseason for the second time in two years and third in six.
"That's probably the most adrenaline I've had all year coming into that game right there," said the 31-year-old Wood, who nailed down his 32nd save of the year and then retreated to a joyous yet under-control Cubs clubhouse."It's a sign of things to come, hopefully."
Wood helped the Cubs to a wild-card berth in his rookie season 10 years ago as a starting pitcher. Edmonds was a longtime Cubs killer.
"I didn't even think about that," Wood said. "I'm sure it felt good to him."
It felt good to a Cubs team that won last year's Central title after digging a huge hole for itself early in the season before furiously rallying to win the division on the final Friday of the season, only to go three-and-out to the Arizona Diamondbacks in the division series.
This year, the Cubs got out in front early and stayed there. The clinching victory was No. 93 against 60 losses.
"You know what I like about this year's team?" asked manager Lou Piniella after enduring numerous champagne showers. "We played ahead all year. You've got to learn to play ahead. It's not easy. And the second thing is our September schedule was a playoff schedule. You're not going to find a rougher schedule than we've been through this September. That's a tough finishing schedule.
"It wasn't easy. That's why I've been preaching caution all along."
It began by looking easy Saturday, as the Cubs took a 3-0 lead in the second inning against Joel Pineiro. Two runs came home on a single by Alfonso Soriano, with the third scoring on left fielder Brian Barton's error. Mark DeRosa doubled home a run in the fourth before pitcher Ted Lilly squeezed home DeRosa, giving the Cubs a 5-0 lead.
But Troy Glaus hit a 3-run homer off Lilly in St. Louis' 4-run seventh, putting the partygoers in a nervous mood, as if the hosts had all of a sudden run out of food and beer.
Lilly pushed on, working a 1-2-3 seventh before giving way to bullpen aces Carlos Marmol and Wood.
"He's a competitor," Piniella said of Lilly. "What a nice squeeze bunt he laid down. He pitches big games. He had the game well in hand. He made one bad pitch to Glaus, but you know what, this guy can hit the ball. He wanted to go out and pitch the seventh, and he did.
"That was big for use because now we had Marmol and Wood to finish it off. But look, it's been a really, really nice year. I'm proud of our team, and now we can start planning for postseason, and hopefully we can give the fans what they want."
That would be nothing less than a World Series title, the first for a Cubs team since 1908. Saturday's victory marked the first consecutive titles of any kind for the Cubs since the 1906-08 teams won NL pennants.
Perhaps that's why the mood in the clubhouse was celebratory yet businesslike.
"We're enjoying it," said Lilly, who reached 16 victories for the first time in his career. "We're celebrating this, kind of giving back to the fans No question they are a big reason why we are here.
"We all want the same thing. You don't have guys who are looking to do anything other than win a championship. So it's a pretty special thing to be a part of."
Pitcher Ryan Dempster, who starts today, agreed that Saturday's victory was only step one.
"It's big," Dempster said. "We wanted this as bad as anything. Step one is winning your division and making the playoffs. We wanted to do that. It hadn't been done in 100 years, to win back-to-back championships in Chicago. These guys here fought long and hard in spring training and got it ready and got it to happen."
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