CHICAGO -- With one blow on a perfect early autumn night, a Francisco Lindor blast made all kinds of history. For the Mets , though, there remains only one kind of history to make -- the one that lands them in the postseason.

The Mets helped themselves in that regard in knocking off the Cubs 8-5 on Thursday behind another veteranlike outing from dynamic rookie righty Nolan McLean , who struck out a career-high 11 batters and scattered five Chicago runs while pitching with a sizable lead. New York escaped the key series at Wrigley Field with a big series win.

Still, with three games to go, the Mets haven't locked down anything.

"We've got to go out there and take care of business," Lindor said. "The teams that are out there fighting for the playoffs are really good teams, so we

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