For two straight days, the Miami Marlins held the Chicago Cubs out of the NL Playoffs, but Chi-Town's postseason push finally led them to a 2-1, playoff-clinching win on Thursday.

For Chicago, it's their second straight playoff berth and comes on the same day their crosstown rival, the Chicago White Sox, also punched their ticket for an American League October. In the process, Cubs star Pete Crow-Armstrong made history, becoming just the seventh player in Major League Baseball to enter the 40-40 Club, signifying 40 or more in both home runs and stolen bases in the same season.

"It's the best position-player season I've ever seen in my career," Cubs president of baseball operations Jed Hoyer commented following the game, according to the Chicago Sun-Times. "He's going to win the MVP. He's going to win the Hank Aaron Award. He's going to win the Platinum Glove. It's a special season."

The 24-year-old megastar reached the milestone in the first inning. After drawing a leadoff walk from Miami starter Tyler Phillips, Crow-Armstrong swiped second base on the next pitch to Seiya Suzuki, completing the feat in 47 attempts.

Crow-Armstrong joined an exclusive group that includes Shohei Ohtani, Ronald Acuña Jr., Alfonso Soriano, Alex Rodriguez, Barry Bonds, and Jose Canseco, who was the first player to accomplish the feat in 1988.

The Cubs were finally able to pop the champagne bottles for multiple reasons, thanks to a go-ahead hit in the sixth inning that finally put the frustration of the last two days aside. Entering the series, the Cubbies only needed a win, but lost two straight and were unable to vanquish the Arizona Diamondbacks until Game 3. Miami took the first two games, 3-2 

Miami (78-81) grabbed an early lead when Jakob Marsee delivered an RBI single in the third inning. Suzuki tied the game with his 26th homer in the fifth before Ian Happ tripled to open the sixth and scored on Nico Hoerner’s single, putting Chicago ahead for good.

Chicago reached the postseason as a wild card last year, defeating San Diego in the opening round before falling to Milwaukee in the Division Series. Their consecutive postseason appearances mark the first time Chicago has accomplished that feat since making four straight playoff trips from 2015-18, a stretch highlighted by the franchise’s 2016 World Series championship.

For the Marlins, the loss ensures its third consecutive non-winning season. The Fish will try to get back to their winning ways when they return home for their final three games of the year against the Atlanta Braves. If the Fish can somehow sweep the series, they could finish with a .500 record for the year, which would be a solid step forward for the young, emerging team.