Cubs hope dips are behind them as they get ready for Cardinals

CHICAGO -- If the weekend plays out for the Chicago Cubs like the beginning of the week did -- and the way much of the season has gone, for that matter -- then the Cubs will look down-and-out at some point before they dust themselves off to take their third consecutive NL Central title. That has been the theme of 2018.

"Just to win two tough games like this, back-to-back, speaks a lot for our fellas," manager Joe Maddon said after the Cubs' 3-0 win over the Pittsburgh Pirates on Thursday.

The victory followed a 7-6, 10-inning win, which came after two losses to Pittsburgh on Monday and Tuesday. Every time it has looked like the Cubs would be passed by the Milwaukee Brewers, they've responded. Usually, the response has come on the mound. On Wednesday, their bats woke up from a second-half slumber, then on Thursday, their fall stalwart, Jon Lester, pitched six scoreless innings without anything close to his best stuff. Now, with a one-game lead heading into a weekend showdown with the St. Louis Cardinals, the Cubs look like themselves again.

At least for now.

"We're fighting down to the end now," Lester said. "We've made the playoffs, and no one in that clubhouse is satisfied with that. That's not an arrogance. We all kind of expect to win the division."

If they're going to win it, they might not be able to afford that every-few-games dip, which has scared Cubs fans throughout the season. But the Cubs have responded every time their collective backs have been against the wall. They've narrowly held on to the best record in the NL; blowing it now just isn't who they are.

Maddon held his annual late-season pregame meeting on Thursday, telling his team the playoffs have already started. Later that night, the players responded in kind, beating the hottest pitcher in baseball, Trevor Williams. So perhaps their up-and-down nature finally is behind them.

"Stakes are high," first baseman Anthony Rizzo said. "We need to win all three games to control our destiny. It's all hands on deck. It's all hands on deck over there [for St. Louis]. Where they've come from, firing their manager to being in contention for the second wild-card spot, it's unbelievable. You can't discredit what they've done. Hopefully, they run out of gas this weekend."

A Cubs-Cardinals series to end the season -- with both teams needing wins for postseason purposes -- is as juicy as it gets. The archrivals have so much at stake facing each other, and another other division foe, the Brewers, can take care of business by beating the lowly Detroit Tigers at home. Can the Cubs hold on to what's been theirs for two years?

"We have a team coming in here that's fighting for their postseason lives," Lester said. "We know the challenges there. We always play them tough and they play us tough. I don't expect any blowouts. I expect close games."

And here's the quirky thing about the Cubs' division-or-bust mentality. Since they don't view simply earning a wild-card berth worthy of popping champagne, they didn't celebrate Wednesday when they clinched a playoff spot. If they cede the division to Milwaukee this weekend, they won't be drinking any bubbly either. The Cubs could be the first team in recent baseball history not to pop corks even though they've made the postseason. It's something several players didn't even want to consider, so the answer is beating the Cardinals enough times over the next three games to clinch the division. Everything is on the line.

"Should be pretty hot around here," Maddon said, without referring to the weather. "They're going to be ready, we're going to be ready."

So is baseball. This is a juicy way to end the regular season.