The Cubs’ 20-10 August had given them a 5½-game lead in the NL East, and they had extended that lead by two games with an 8-4 start to September.
Still, the pesky Mets nagged at the Cubs’ heels, and as they came to town for a three-game series September 14, the Mets trailed by 7½ games and the Cubs’ magic number for clinching the division had been reduced to nine. The Mets had lost six of their last 10 coming into this series, so the Cubs were looking for anything they could do to get closer to the division title.