CHICAGO — With an early game today, Manager Joe Maddon figured the only way he would find out if the Chicago Cubs clinched a playoff spot was if he got up to go to the bathroom in the middle of the night.
Well, the Cubs are in. And if Maddon slept through the night, he woke up to a nice surprise.
Chicago could have wrapped it up Friday afternoon with a victory over the Pittsburgh Pirates, except Gerrit Cole outpitched Jon Lester and a late rally fell short in a 3-2 loss.
San Francisco then lost to Oakland 5-4, and that means Chicago is headed to the postseason for the first time since 2008.
With a 12:05 p.m. start today, Maddon said the only way he would check the score was “probably when I get up to go to the bathroom at night.”
The road back to the playoffs was a long one for the Cubs, who endured five straight losing seasons and a painful top-to-bottom overhaul under Theo Epstein.
He began loading up the minor league system almost as soon as he was hired in October 2011, and it paid off in a big way.
Young players started to make their way to the majors last season. The Cubs then made it clear they were serious about winning when they hired Maddon and signed Lester in the offseason.
Kris Bryant, who had two hits and scored Friday, debuted this season, as did Kyle Schwarber. Both players made big impacts.
“We’ll hopefully celebrate tomorrow and have a good time,” said Lester, who like Maddon was not planning to stay up. “These guys have never experienced this. We’ll enjoy it.”
On Friday, the Pirates hung on for their seventh consecutive victory and increased their lead for the NL’s top wild card to 4 1/2 games over the Cubs.
Cole (18-8) and Lester (10-12) each lasted seven innings, and Mark Melancon held on in the ninth for his major league-leading 51st save in 53 chances.
Chris Denorfia led off the ninth with a double and scored on Starlin Castro’s one-out triple to right as the Cubs closed within a run and excited the crowd of 40,432.
Melancon then struck out Jorge Soler and Javier Baez on knuckle curves in the dirt.
Cole’s 18 victories are the most for a Pirates pitcher since John Smiley went 20-8 in 1991. He gave up 2 runs and 5 hits, struck out 8 and walked 2 while improving to 7-1 in 9 starts against Chicago.
He also drove in the game’s first run with a single in the third.
Michael Morse put Pittsburgh ahead 2-1 with an RBI single off Lester in the seventh. The Pirates added a run in the eighth against Pedro Strop when Jordy Mercer reached on a wild pitch as he struck out leading off and scored from third on a grounder by Starling Marte.
Lester allowed two runs and five hits.
The Cubs had runners on first and second in the eighth, but Tony Watson struck out Anthony Rizzo to end the threat.
Cole gave the Pirates a 1-0 lead in the third with a single past a diving shortstop Addison Russell after Jordy Mercer doubled.
The Cubs tied it in the fourth when Bryant led off with a single and scored from third on a force by Addison Russell.
It stayed that way until the seventh, when former Cub Aramis Ramirez led off with a double and scored on Morse’s one-out single. Morse, who was running on the pitch, then got doubled off on Josh Harrison’s pop fly to first to end the inning.
NATIONAL LEAGUE
BREWERS 4, CARDINALS 3 Khris Davis homered off Trevor Rosenthal leading off the ninth inning and visiting Milwaukee beat St. Louis. The loss cut the Cardinals’ NL Central lead to three games over Pittsburgh with eight games remaining.
MARLINS 12, BRAVES 11 Jose Fernandez became the first pitcher in the modern era to win his first 17 career home decisions, overcoming a rough start to help host Miami beat Atlanta.
PHILLIES 8, NATIONALS 2 Rookie Aaron Altherr had four hits, including an inside-the-park grand slam and a solo home run, and visiting Philadelphia beat Washington in what might have been Jordan Zimmermann’s home farewell. Zimmermann (13-9), who will be a free agent this offseason, exited after allowing 6 earned runs on 6 hits over 5 innings and suffered his first loss since Aug. 12.
METS 12, REDS 5 Lucas Duda hit a pair of three-run home runs and Noah Syndergaard dominated with his 99-mph fastball while pitching into the eighth inning, leading New York to a victory over host Cincinnati that moved it to the verge of its first playoff spot since 2006.
ROCKIES 7, DODGERS 4 Corey Dickerson hit one of Colorado’s three solo home runs in the fourth inning and the Rockies beat visiting Los Angeles, preventing the Dodgers from moving a step closer to clinching their third consecutive NL West title.
AMERICAN LEAGUE
RANGERS 6, ASTROS 2 Shin-Soo Choo homered and drove in three runs as Texas beat host Houston for the eighth consecutive time to extend their AL West lead over the Astros to 4½ games. Houston star second baseman Jose Altuve exited early after being hurt in a collision with shortstop Carlos Correa while chasing a popup. There was no immediate word on Altuve’s condition.
INDIANS 6, ROYALS 0 Carlos Carrasco pitched a one-hitter, allowing only a seventh-inning single, and struck out a career-high 15 to lead visiting Cleveland over Kansas City.
RED SOX 7, ORIOLES 0 Rich Hill kept up his startling comeback, pitching a two-hitter and striking out 10 as host Boston beat Baltimore.
TIGERS 6, TWINS 4 Rajai Davis hit a tworun home run in the eighth inning, and Detroit rallied for a victory over visiting Minnesota. Alex Wilson (3-3) got the victory in relief, and Neftali Feliz pitched the ninth for his third save. The Tigers outhit Minnesota 13-2.
BLUE JAYS 5, RAYS 3 R.A. Dickey pitched seven innings to earn his 100th career victory, Josh Donaldson hit his 40th home run and host Toronto moved closer to clinching its first playoff berth in 22 years with a victory over Tampa Bay.
WHITE SOX 5, YANKEES 2 CC Sabathia gave up two costly home runs in the seventh inning and prized rookie Carlos Rodon pitched out of trouble all night as visiting Chicago damaged New York’s playoff drive.