Cubs celebrate separately after late clinch

CHICAGO — Manager Joe Maddon was talking to his wife, Jaye, late Thursday. Albert Almora Jr. was playing with his new baby. Aroldis Chapman was asleep, and David Ross was walking back to his apartment when they found out that Giants had beat the Cardinals and the Cubs were the National League Central champions.

“I grabbed a glass of wine and toasted with my wife,” pitcher Travis Wood said on Friday.

The Cubs lost to the Brewers on Thursday night, but the Giants’ 6-2 win over the Cardinals helped Chicago secure the division for the first time since 2008. It’s the earliest clinch by a club in the NL Central since it was created in 1994.

“We didn’t get it done on the field last night, but we played a good game overall and we get it based on 93 wins on Sept. 15,” Maddon said Friday. “That’s really unusual. That’s the part I’ve been downplaying, but it’s hard to wrap my mind around it that you get it done that soon, based on everything we talked about last offseason, Spring Training, this season, rolling through a tough All-Star break. It’s just taken off.

“That’s really …

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