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Cubs kick party up a notch after advancing
- Updated: October 12, 2016
SAN FRANCISCO — After each win this year, the Cubs celebrated. They danced and shouted and splashed each other with water 103 times during the regular season and two more times at Wrigley Field last weekend. But Tuesday night’s party was different.
The Cubs moved on to the National League Championship Series for the second year in a row — the first time they’ve ever gone in back-to-back seasons — by beating the Giants, 6-5, at AT&T Park. Then they retreated to the visitors’ clubhouse, where the wild celebration surpassed any of their previous 105 victory parties. How?
“We got this and this,” Jon Lester said, raising a Champagne bottle in his right hand and a beer bottle in his left. “The other ones, we got water.”
Game Date Matchup TV/Highlights Gm 1 Oct. 7 CHC 1, SF 0 Gm 2 Oct. 8 CHC 5, SF 2 Gm 3 Oct. 10 SF 6, CHC, 5 (13) Gm 4 Oct. 11 CHC 6, SF 5 • Giants vs. Cubs NLDS coverageShop for postseason gear: Cubs | Giants
A victory in the NL Division Series was expected of the Cubs. They marched into the postseason as baseball’s best team, no longer a surprising contender as they were a year ago. Even against an even-year Giants club, a defeat this early would have been disappointing — and a return to Wrigley Field on Thursday would have been nerve-wracking.
The Cubs wanted to finish it Tuesday night, so they rallied in the ninth for four runs against five Giants relievers and watched Aroldis Chapman close it out. Then, for the 106th time this season, the celebration was on.
“It feels like this is what this team does. It’s just going to be extended,” Ben Zobrist said. “It’s usually for like 10 minutes. Now it’s going to be an hour, two hours, into tonight on the plane. That’s a fun thing.”
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