CHICAGO — Wrigley Field was different the last two days.

There was a buzz at the Friendly Confines. The Chicago Cubs players felt it.

“I haven’t been in the playoffs but guys that have been in the playoffs, they say this is kind of like a playoff environment,” catcher Miguel Amaya said after Tuesday’s win. “So I love playing in [a] playoff environment.”

What he means is every moment felt impactful. Amaya’s game-tying blast on Tuesday sent Wrigley Field into pandemonium. The roar was a bit louder after Pete Crow-Armstrong’s home run on Wednesday. And “Go Cubs Go” echoed a decibel louder after a two-game series sweep over the Los Angeles Dodgers that gave the Cubs the season series victory.

[Cubs takeaways: What we learned as Cubs complete sweep of Dodgers]

Wrigley Field is different when the Cubs are good, eh?

“I’m not sure, but that was Tuesday night in April last night,” Cubs manager Craig Counsell said before Wednesday night’s win. “Tuesday night in April – that was as fun as you’re going to have at a baseball field, right? And there’s not many places you can do that at.

“I don’t know if it has anything to do with the Cubs are good or whatever. But I think what we all experienced together last night – fans, players, you all – was just a lot of fun. And I think that’s what being a Cub and playing at Wrigley offers.”

That was repeated Wednesday night. The crowd erupted when Porter Hodge – the defacto closer after Ryan Pressly had his right knee drained on Tuesday night – struck out the game’s most fearsome hitter, Shohei Ohtani.

The noise levels were only topped minutes later when Crow-Armstrong – the man who has been crushing the Dodgers this season – caught a Mookie Betts flyball to end the game.

This isn’t a statement win. It’s an exclamation point on a torrid start for the Cubs, one that could have easily gone a different way. The schedule to start the year was absolutely daunting: the World Champion Dodgers seven times; six games against the San Diego Padres, who pushed the Dodgers to the brink in the National League Division Series last fall; six games against the Arizona Diamondbacks, another playoff contender and Major League Baseball’s best offense in 2024; oh, and three games against the 2023 World Series champion Texas Rangers.

The Cubs have rattled off a 16-10 start and flashed what this team is capable of.

But it doesn’t mean they’re clearing their Octobers, either.

“That’s the reason why I signed here and that’s the reason what we all believe like – is to dream big in that sense,” Wednesday’s starter Matthew Boyd said. “It’s like, yeah, we want to be a team that is playing at the end of October. Now, there’s a lot to do until then, right?”

He’s right – and it’s a cautionary tale, too. The Cubs were 17-9 to start the 2024 season and then the wheels fell apart in May. They were 13-9 in 2023 and finished 83-79 and a game out of the playoffs.

The two-game series against the Dodgers was different and they hope that’s just the start of a fun summer at the intersection of Clark and Addison.

“You dream big, and you put your vision on that, but you get back to what’s the goal today,” Boyd said. “We got to do that and there’s a lot of baseball to be played until then. But we believe in what we have in this clubhouse and that’s what matters.

“And we’ll take on the next day when it comes, and we’ll stack that together one after another. That’s our goal.”