Ostrowski: Chicago Cubs doing it right, controlling division
The Chicago Cubs' magic number to win the National League Central hit 10 Sunday on the same day many Chicago sports fans were calling for No. 10 of the Bears, rookie quarterback Mitchell Trubisky.
Much of the North Side was concerned just a week ago when the Brewers left Clark and Addison following a three-game sweep, outscoring the Cubs 20-3.
The defending champs responded with a hammer, winning the last six games of their homestand. They swept the Mets and Cardinals, scoring an average of 9.2 runs with a margin of victory of 5.8 runs.
The Cubs have a 97-percent chance of winning their division in back-to-back seasons, according to FanGraphs. They now hold a 4-game lead over Milwaukee and a 6-game lead over St. Louis.
In baseball they say just take care of your division. It's usually the best way to ensure a playoff spot without having to deal with the one-shot wild-card game since teams play division opponents 76 times.
The North Siders are 11-4 this season against the Cardinals, nearly putting their postseason hopes to bed Sunday. They're 10-9 vs the Pirates, but a sweep at the end of August pushed Pittsburgh 10 games back. A guaranteed winning record against the Reds at 10-6, with three games left at the end of the regular season.
Milwaukee is the only team in the National League Central that is above .500 against the Cubs, taking 8 of 15. That can change this week at Miller Park in a four-game set.
Just a 7-6 finish in the Cubs' last 13 games means that the Brewers would have to go 11-2 in the last two weeks just to catch them. The pesky team up north has shown it's possible, winning seven of their last nine.
The Los Angeles Dodgers have recovered after dropping 16 of 17 games, so they'll likely finish with the best record in the National League. It feels like just a matter of time before we get the Cubs-Nationals NLDS that we've been waiting for all summer.
There's just one more divisional opponent that the Cubs need to finish off.
• Joe Ostrowski is a co-host of the "Hit & Run" baseball show from 9 a.m. to noon Sundays on WSCR 670-AM The Score with Barry Rozner. Follow him on Twitter@JoeO670.