CHICAGO – It’s safe to say that the Cubs have been playing spoilers for a while in the 2022 season since their hopes to make the National League playoffs were wiped out by a bad first half.
But the teams that they’ve done the most damage to over the course of 2022 season have been from a very competitive National League Eastern division, where three teams could make the postseason. That continued on Thursday when the team made a little bit of random franchise history as they began the final week of their season.
With a 2-0 win over the Phillies at Wrigley Field, the Cubs improved to 21-10 against the NL East in 2022, with their .677 winning percentage against that division being the best team history. The Cubs were a part of that division from 1969-1993 before moving to the new NL Central in 1994 after the addition of a Wild Card team.
The Cubs had the most success against the team they faced the last three days as victories in all of those games improved the club to 6-0 against Philadelphia. Per the Cubs and team historian Ed Hartig, it’s the fifth time the Cubs have swept a National League opponent in team history and the first time they’ve done so since they went 7-0 against the Mets in 2015.
In the process of continuing their winning ways against the NL East, the Cubs also made things difficult for the Phillies as they are currently in the race for the last Wild Card spot. As of Thursday evening, Philadelphia is currently tied with the Brewers for that position.
Here are the Cubs’ records against each NL East opponent this season, including the playoff-bound Braves and Mets:
Braves – 3-3
Mets – 4-3
Phillies – 6-0
Marlins – 4-2
Nationals – 4-2
To get the sweep of the Phillies on Thursday, the Cubs used the strong pitching efforts of starter Javier Assad (5 innings), Michael Rucker (1 inning), and Keegan Thompson (3 innings) to get the victory.
Patrick Wisdom’s first inning double and Ian Happ’s fifth inning single brought home the only runs the Cubs would need as they closed out a historic run against the NL East.