Cards can finish 7-3 at Wrigley this year with a Sunday night victory
CHICAGO -- The National League Central champion Chicago Cubs have lost just 24 of their 80 home games this season.
The St. Louis Cardinals have delivered six of those losses. They're 6-3 at Wrigley Field this year.
The Cardinals can steal another victory Sunday night when they play the rubber match of their three-game series against the Cubs.
Watch the Cardinals Live pregame and postgame shows before and after every St. Louis Cardinals game on FOX Sports Midwest.
With their unlikely success at the famed ballpark, the Cardinals (81-73) remain focused on the NL wild-card race. Entering Saturday, they were 1 1/2 games behind the New York Mets for the first wild card and a half-game behind the San Francisco Giants for the second wild card.
"The records and all that don't mean that much," said Cardinals manager Mike Matheny, whose team is 9-9 against the Cubs. "We've got a whole lot of fighting left to do."
Catcher Yadier Molina echoed that sentiment.
"We don't think about numbers," he said. "We just come here and try to win games. Obviously, we know what kind of team they are. They're obviously the best team in the league. We respect that, but at the same time, we come here thinking about winning."
The Cubs have their own goals in mind. After securing home-field advantage in the NL playoffs, the team is aiming for 100 victories.
The Cubs are 98-56 after falling 10-4 to the Cardinals on Saturday. The Cubs last won 99 games in 1935, when they reached 100 victories.
"When you start the year, you think 90 wins; that should get you to the dance pretty much," said Cubs manager Joe Maddon, who won 97 in 2008 with Tampa and last year with Chicago. "When you get a chance to do 100, that is special.
"First of all, you have to be good. Then second of all, you do have to really approach the day properly. Because we have rested our guys, everybody has played. We've been fortunate with our starting pitching that they've been able to get their normal turn. That's probably the most important thing."
Left-hander Jon Lester, who is scheduled to start Sunday, and the rest of the Cubs rotation have been able to stay relatively healthy.
"The biggest surprise overall is health, general health," Maddon said.
"When you get a starting group that has a chance to pitch 1,000 innings or close to it among five pitchers, that's the part that's really special."
Lester (18-4, 2.36 ERA) posted his league-leading 18th victory on Tuesday when he held the Cincinnati Reds to one run in seven innings.
His ERA ranks second in the majors behind teammate -- and fellow NL Cy Young contender -- Kyle Hendricks' 2.06.
"It's a huge, huge honor to even be in consideration," Lester told reporters.
Lester also owns a nine-game winning streak and is 9-2 with a 1.86 ERA at Wrigley this season. In eight career starts against the Cardinals, he owns a 2.22 ERA. With Lester and 2015 NL Cy Young winner Jake Arrieta, the Cubs are the first NL team with two 18-game winners since the 2004 Astros and first Cubs team with such a pair since 1989.
For St. Louis, right-hander Carlos Martinez (15-8, 3.16) is scheduled to start Sunday. In his last outing, he allowed two runs in five innings against Colorado. The right-hander is 3-2 with a 4.85 ERA in 18 career games, including eight starts, against the Cubs.
