Cubs Clinch Playoff Berth 🏆 | Chicago Cubs vs. Miami Marlins | MLB Highlights (9/24/2026)

Hey, welcome back. We got Marlins and Cubs. The Cubs can clinch a postseason berth with a win here this afternoon. And we welcome you inside the broadcast booth. John Chambi, Taylor McGregor, and Jim Deshaies. All right, you're the reporter. We have breaking news, don't we? We do have breaking news. All right, let the people have it. I'm gonna try to get through this without crying. But today is my last broadcast with Marquee and the Cubs. I am leaving to take a full-time role with ESPN. And there's so much that I want to say and I will say eventually, but this has been the ride of a lifetime. This is my seventh season with the Cubs and every day was a joy. And it was a really hard decision to come to this. But ultimately, I just felt like it was the best move for me personally and everything that I want, both professionally and personally. So I have loved my time in Chicago and to everybody who watched our broadcast every single night, I just want to say thank you. Thank you for welcoming me into your living room. When I started, I was a very green reporter with a lot blonder hair. And you know, I feel like I've kind of grown up on the air here at Marquee. So it's been just a joy from Japan to Mesa and everywhere in between. I'm really thankful to you two. You guys both know how much I love you. Everybody in the truck. You know, Nick Steger, Colin Faulkner, who've been supportive of me. I mean, I could shout out everybody, but I'm gonna say Mike Leary and Mike Fox. I love you guys. This has just been an amazing seven years. I love all of you guys. And again, to all the fans who watch, I always kind of say fans doesn't feel like an endearing of enough term because we're in this together. And I love all you guys. I appreciate your kindness to me throughout the years and I look forward to still seeing you. I'm gonna stay in Chicago and I'll still be around Wrigley Field. So hopefully I can come say hi to you guys every now and again, and I just thank you for everything. We love you. We're gonna miss you. Big time. Come back and sing the stretch. Come back and hang out with us. Please. And good luck. Best of luck. Back at Wrigley, PCA to start things off. One bag from a 40-40 season. 45 home runs, 39 stolen bases. And a guy that more than likely will end up being the National League MVP. Phillips ready. Here it comes. And that's ball four. And PCA is aboard to start the bottom of the first. Well, the bleacher giveaway today is a flag with MVP on it. A nice homage from the home fans to PCA for an absolutely amazing season. There he goes. Pitch is inside. For the soon to be MVP. Pete Crow Armstrong. Drink it in, Pete. Drink it in. What a moment. The fans were with him every step of the way once he broke. You could hear him rise. What a year. And we have all been really treated to watch this, listen to this. They're not gonna stop. I love how plugged into the bleachers he is. His first reaction is always to look for the folks out center. Forcing fastball off the change-up against the right-handed hitters. Backdoor curveball. Steal a strike. 0-0 with that pitch. Slice to center. And that's a base hit. And they're gonna send the runner. Pete's throw to the plate. Off line. Run comes in to score. And the Marlins have the lead. Well, now base is empty. Suzuki in the air. Out towards left center. It's back. And that is gone. Well, it had been a home run drought just three of his last 32. And they needed that. In the air to the bleachers. And we're tied up at one. That's what's been lacking, right? To right center. And it's gonna roll. And it pops out ahead to third. And he has got himself a triple. Knocks in half. But the Cubs have the lead. Exhale. There's that knock for the man in scoring position we've been looking for. The 0-1. Up the middle. Swanson is there. Two down. And the fans rise. One strike away. Zephyr John. Back to the mound. This will do it. Cubs win it. They're back in the playoffs. They clinch a wild card berth. And it's on to the postseason. Checked a couple of big boxes here today. PCA gets to 40-40. The Cubs guarantee their spot in the postseason. And it's time to sing, folks. Oh, finally. J.D., it was an excruciating couple of days against the Marlins. And here today, the W and the Cubs clinch a postseason berth for the second straight year. Yeah, they'll take some of the heat off. Obviously, the series did not go the way they wanted to. A couple of rough days here at the ballpark. And a tough one here today. But they managed to eke out this 2-1 win. And now they can celebrate here this afternoon. And then turn their attention to that final weekend in Boston. Still with the hopes of claiming home field advantage in that wild card round. But for now, let's celebrate another run to the postseason. All right. Well, one of the things we got to see today, a 40-40 season. Pete Crow Armstrong standing by with Taylor McGregor. An incredible season. An incredible day. 40-40, Pete. How long had you been thinking about that? Probably since Adam Jones brought it up last year right after the break. I've probably been thinking about it since then. That it's at least achievable. I'm glad it happened. Standing on second base. The crowd went crazy. What was going through your mind? Don't cry on the baseball field. Not that that's not okay. That's emotional stuff. I've gotten so much love. And I'm so lucky for that. It's something I'm grateful for every day. It was definitely pretty emotional. Look around right now. Everybody on their feet. Your teammates behind you. What is the best part about clinching a spot in the postseason? That we all deserve this. We all showed up. Everybody. All of us. Frustrating last couple of days, but it doesn't really matter how you get done. A chance is all we need. We've got to go in these next three games. We've got to come back here. If not, so be it. We'll go to anybody's house. What excites you the most about what lies ahead now in October? Anybody's game. And I'm just very confident in this team. And our ability to play baseball and play complete baseball. Just a turn up in the postseason. It's fun. Awesome stuff, Pete. Congratulations. Pete Crow Armstrong. A 40-40 season. Celebration on the field. And the Cubs are in. What better place to do it. Yeah, so good they were able to do it here at home in front of these fans. That have packed this ballpark on a daily basis. They take that team photo down there. It's one of the really cool things that's happened in recent years. Teams taking that photo out on the mound when they get to the postseason. And this, obviously, the big W flags. Yeah, they earned it. And the Cubs here today with the victory. Number 88 does the trick. And we've got to beat all the circumstances in front of us, right? We've got a crazy-ass weekend ahead of us. And that's the fun of this, man. Because this is fun, but all the circumstances are getting crazy. The next one's more fun, and the next one's more fun after that. So enjoy this one, and let's do some more. Let's go. What has the day been like for you? Emotional. Really emotional. It's ten years in this place. And with those fans. And my family was here. And just a lot of memories. And a lot of emotions flooding in. And how special this place is. And you see it, it's a Wednesday day game in September. And there's 40,000 people here. I went eight years without getting to do this. You think that it's always going to happen the next year. It's just a reflection of the hard work, the perseverance of this group. It didn't come easy. We had a lot of ups and downs in terms of just, I mean, every team deals with it. But, you know, it's been fun to persevere. We believe our best is ahead of us. You know, those characteristics that, you know, got us to this point, we know are going to carry us on and our best is ahead of us. I've been through a lot of seasons. This one felt long and trying. A lot of injuries, a lot of things went against us. Craig and the coaching staff were amazing. And by the way, this is a celebration of being resilient. And it starts with these guys. So really impressive. How often do you get to spray your boss in the face, Craig? I don't know if I'm going to do that yet. Not yet. Woo! Yeah! Thanks for watching Cubs in 15 presented by Felco.