Chicago Cubs to Battle Rival St. Louis Cardinals in Historic NL Division Series

There were celebrations on the field last night in Pittsburgh—and on the streets of Wrigleyville. But in order have a repeat of those parties, the Cubs now need to get by the 100-win, archrival Cardinals, starting tomorrow night in St. Louis.

The Cups celebrate with a Gatorade shower after Wednesday's wild-card victory in PittsburghThe Cups celebrate with a Gatorade shower after Wednesday's wild-card victory in Pittsburgh How did the Cubs manage to shut-out the Pirates? And what are the chances that they can keep it going all the way to the World Series?

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Joining us to ponder those questions is Lester Munson, a senior writer for ESPN.com.

The Cubs passed their first postseason test on Wednesday with a 4-0 shutout victory over the Pittsburgh Pirates in the National League wild-card game, ending a nine-game Cubs postseason losing streak that dates all the way back to Game 4 of the 2003 NL Championship Series.

Cubs pitching ace Jake Arrieta pitched a nine-inning, four-hit shutout in Wednesday's 4-0 wild-card victory over the PiratesCubs pitching ace Jake Arrieta pitched a nine-inning, four-hit shutout in Wednesday's 4-0 wild-card victory over the Pirates Much like their matchup against the Pirates, the Cubs have never clashed with the Cardinals in the postseason until now, despite having played against each other a total of 2,362 times since 1882.

The Cubs (97-65) finished the regular season just three games behind the Cardinals (100-62) in the National League Central division and went 8-11 against the Cards in the 2015 season series.

The best-of-five NL Division Series between the Cubs and Cardinals begins this Friday at 5:30 p.m. CDT at Busch Stadium in St. Louis, with Cubs pitcher Jon Lester (11-12) facing off against Cardinals pitcher John Lackey (12-10). The two pitchers are certainly no strangers to one another and played as teammates together for the Boston Red Sox when the Red Sox defeated the Cardinals in the 2013 World Series.

Here's the complete NL Division Series schedule for the Chicago Cubs and the St. Louis Cardinals, according to MLB.com. All times listed are CDT and subject to change:

Game 1 Friday, Oct. 9 5:30 p.m. Cubs at Cardinals Lester (11-12) at Lackey (13-10)
Game 2 Saturday, Oct. 10 4:30 p.m. Cubs at Cardinals Hendricks (8-7) at Garcia (10-6)
Game 3 Monday, Oct. 12 TBD Cardinals at Cubs Wacha (17-7) at Arrieta (22-6)
Game 4* Tuesday, Oct. 13 TBD Cardinals at Cubs Lynn (12-11) at Hammel (10-7)
Game 5* Thursday, Oct. 15 TBD Cubs at Cardinals TBD at TBD

* If necessary


Below, MLB video highlights of the Cubs/Pirates NL wild-card game.

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