Voice of the 'Fan

It's an even-numbered year, but the San Francisco Giants won't be in the World Series.

The Giants' October magic ran out on them shortly after midnight (ET) as the NL Central champion Chicago Cubs punched their ticket to their 2nd straight NLCS, eliminating the Giants in 4 games. Joe Maddon's club now awaits the winner of Thursday's NLDS finale between Washington & Los Angeles, as the Dodgers forced a game 5 with a 6-5 win earlier Tuesday.

The Cubs knew what they were doing when they traded for Aroldis Chapman over the summer. They needed a shutdown closer of Chapman's caliber, despite the legal issues he dealt with in the offseason, as arguably the last piece of the puzzle to get them to the World Series for the first time in decades. They have come so close (1984, 2003, 2015), only to fall short of reaching the fall classic.

The Cubs might feel the Giants did them a favor in beating the Mets last week in the Wild Card round, as New York upset Chicago, 4-0, in last year's NLCS, but the mission is clear. The Nationals have shown that the Dodgers, beyond Clayton Kershaw, are flawed in their starting rotation. On the other hand, the Nats don't have much besides Max Scherzer in their rotation with Stephen Strasburg out. Gio Gonzalez is on the downside of his career, even if he doesn't realize it yet. Letting Jordan Zimmermann go to Detroit could still prove to be costly. The Cubs have the pitching depth that the Nats & Dodgers are both missing at the moment.

For Chicago, the next step is about to be taken. The torch has been passed to them as the leaders of the National League. That's all it really is now. One step at a time before the top of the mountain.