Cubs clinch playoff spot for 1st time since 2020
The Chicago Cubs punched their ticket to the postseason with an 8-4 win over the Pittsburgh Pirates on Wednesday.
HEY OCTOBER, WHADDYA SAY?! pic.twitter.com/C65y9zVSn4
— Chicago Cubs (@Cubs) September 17, 2025
Chicago will be participating in the playoffs for the first time since the pandemic-shortened 2020 campaign. The club hasn't played October baseball during a full season since 2018.
Outfielder Ian Happ acknowledged he felt emotional after the achievement following near misses in 2023 and 2024.
"The group of guys here - through some tough years - through some really close calls over the last couple of years, " Happ said on the field postgame, according to MLB on FOX. "I know all the work they've put in (and) all the work we've put in since Day 1."
The Cubs join the Philadelphia Phillies and Milwaukee Brewers as the only MLB teams to have clinched postseason berths this season.
Chicago will likely enter the playoffs as the NL's top wild-card seed, setting the club up for a potential collision course to play the San Diego Padres in the first round.
The wild-card series begins Sept. 30.