After getting hot late in the 2015 MLB season only to be disappointed by the Mets in the NL Championship series, expectations for the Chicago Cubs were higher than ever. The young team with the average age of 28.1 barely had any roadblocks through the 2016 season, only surrendering the division lead once.

Come Thursday night, all of Chicagoland was buzzing. Their magic number was cut down to just one and they would be playing the Milwaukee Brewers, a team that had already been eliminated from all playoff contention in front of a sellout crowd at Wrigley Field. After dropping a recent series to the Brewers in early September at Miller Park, the Brewers once again shocked the Chicago Cubs. After Jorge Soler hit a two run home run to left field in the second, the Brewers runs began to pile on in the fourth. Keon Broxton of the Milwaukee Brewers hit a solo home run to center field, followed by a two run double from Orlando Arcia. Later in the top of the seventh, pinch hitter Scooter Gennett doubled to score two more Brewers players which giving them a 5-3 lead that they wouldn’t relinquish. The game ended when Ben Zobrist grounded into a force out with the game concluding in a 5-4 Milwaukee Brewers victory. Even though the Cubs lost in a disheartening fashion, many optimistic Cubs fans turned their attention to the west coast where the St. Louis Cardinals were taking on the San Francisco Giants.

Before Thursday night’s game in San Francisco, the Cubs’ NL Central rivals, the St. Louis Cardinals, sat 16.5 games behind the Cubs in the standings. One more win for the Cubs or one more loss for the Cardinals would mean that the Cubs would clinch the division. The Cardinals competition, the San Francisco Giants, were working to hold their position atop the NL Wild Card chase. After a brutal start to the month of September, they needed every win that they could get.

The Giants came out firing as Hunter Pence hit a line drive two run home run to right field in the first to give the San Francisco an early advantage. Later on in the fourth Giants pitcher Johnny Cueto hit a sacrifice fly to score Brandon Belt as the run total for the continued to build up throughout the game to six runs. Giants pitcher Johnny Cueto was continuously blocking scoring chances for the Cardinals on the defensive end. Cueto was dominant, pitching a complete game with a total of 105 pitches, resulting in a resilient victory for the Giants.

It may not have been the ideal way to win the division for the Cubs, but it had to happen eventually. The Cubs are now the first team to officially make it to the postseason in 2016. Chicago will be in full swing of Cubs spirit knowing that they now own the Central Division. Come October 7th, however, the Cubs and the rest of Chicago will switch gears as a new quest will be on the horizon for the Cubs. This time it will be the quest to become champions of the world for the first time since 1908.