New | Can they break the longest sporting drought in history? Chicago Cubs in hunt for World Series baseball title

The Major League Baseball postseason opens this week with no shortage of intrigue as the Chicago Cubs try to snap the longest title drought in professional sports history while Boston Red Sox slugger David Ortiz seeks a storybook ending to his career.

The Cubs, who over the years have endured plenty of heartache, boast a stacked lineup and rock-solid pitching that have made them the odds-on favourite to shed their “lovable losers” image and win their first World Series title since 1908.

Chicago, who were the only baseball team to reach the 100-win mark this year, open their playoff campaign at home on Friday in a best-of-five National League Division Series versus the winner of Wednesday’s one-game wild card showdown between the San Francisco Giants and New York Mets.

The Cubs checked all the boxes they set out to achieve during the regular season, and even went beyond one goal by winning 103 games, and as a result have no plans to change their approach for the postseason.

“There’s nothing different to do right now except play the game,” said Cubs manager Joe Maddon. “It’s about whether your pitcher pitches better, if we catch the ball. I don’t want us to do anything differently.”

The other National League matchup will see a pitching-rich Los Angeles Dodgers team that tore though the second half of the 162-game regular season battle the Washington Nationals.