The Cubs have already clinched a playoff spot, but their seeding still has to be settled. They can secure the No. 4 seed and home-field advantage in the wild-card round with either one win or one loss by the San Diego Padres in the final two games of the regular season.

The Cubs did a lot well on Wednesday. The offense provided an early lead in the third inning. The Cubs scored five times with three singles, two doubles, a walk and a sacrifice fly. They continued to tack on, with efforts including homers from Matt Shaw, who had a three-hit night, and Michael Busch, who also recorded a double and a walk.

The under-pressure New York Mets will face the Chicago Cubs in Game 3, hoping to keep their postseason dreams alive.

"Whatever backlash comes is OK," Shaw told reporters after he missed the Cubs' game Sunday against the Cincinnati Reds to attend Kirk's service in Arizona.

Cubs manager Craig Counsell confirms 3B Matt Shaw wasn't with team for 1-0 loss in Cincinnati to attend a friend's funeral, but will return Tuesday.

Reminder: Heroes and Goats are determined by WPA scores and are in no way subjective. Superhero: Michael Busch (.493). 4-4, 2 HR, 3B, 2B, IBB, 4 RBI, 2 R; 6th best WPA game by a Cub player this season. Hero: Jameson Taillon (.215). 6 IP, 22 BF, 3 H, 2 BB, ER, 8 K (W 11-7) Goat: Nico Hoerner (-.078). 0-5

Seiya Suzuki homered in his fourth straight game, Javier Assad pitched shutout ball into the sixth inning and the playoff-bound Chicago Cubs beat the St.

In their 92 wins, the Cubs outscored their opponents by 384 runs, an average of 4.17. They have had a larger margin in their wins in only two seasons of the Modern Era: 4.33, in 2023, and 4.30, in 1970. They won by 4.15 in 1929, 4.11 in 2019, 4.10 in 2016 and 4.00 in 1935 and 2017.