The Chicago Cubs have dropped each of the first two games of their series against the Miami Marlins at one of the most critical points of the regular season.
They now enter Thursday afternoon's series finale against Miami sitting at 87-71 overall, which has them in the Wild Card, holding a three-game cushion over the first team out, the Arizona Diamondbacks .
Ahead of Thursday's matchup, Cubs manager Craig Counsell didn't make any major changes to his starting lineup, but he did make a change at the bottom of the order involving shortstop Dansby Swanson .
Since returning to the lineup on Sept. 18 after spending weeks on the IL with an oblique injury, Swanson has recorded four hits in four games. He's also fit seamlessly back into the middle infield.
Counsell has kept him near the bottom of the order, and after batting eighth on Wednesday, Swanson will hit ninth in Thursday's game.
Here's the full Cubs lineup:
Via Underdog MLB : "Cubs 9/24 P. Crow-Armstrong CF S. Suzuki RF M. Busch 1B M. Conforto DH I. Happ LF N. Hoerner 2B P. Ramírez 3B C. Kelly C D. Swanson SS M. Boyd SP."
Already in his 11th MLB season, Swanson has remained a key piece to the Cubs' success in 2026.
He's appeared in 123 games and is hitting .218 across 418 at-bats, with 81 runs, 91 hits, 19 home runs, and 69 RBIs while slugging .407 with a .708 OPS.
After Thursday, the Cubs will play one more series against the Boston Red Sox on Friday and Saturday, with one of those days expected to feature a doubleheader.
Chicago currently sits on track to play in the Wild Card Series next week, but the team would have to travel for the best-of-three set. If the Cubs secure the top Wild Card spot, they'll host the series at Wrigley Field.
This article was originally published on HEAVY
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