Five straight games came and went and five straight times the St. Louis Cardinals emerged victorious over the up-and-coming division rival Chicago Cubs. This is an all-too-familiar story for the Cubs as they’ve been dominated in the division by the Cardinals and others since 2008.

Even while competing for a Wild Card spot in 2015, the Cubs still seemed like they were content to play “little brother” to the rival Cardinals again. After all, St. Louis has more veterans and more experience. This Cubs team is different, though. This Cubs team has found ways to step up and make things happen where other Cubs teams wouldn’t have in the past.

Coming into their doubleheader against the Cardinals on Tuesday, the Cubs had to just be hoping for a split in the two games given their struggles with St. Louis in the past. The first game of the two seemed like a prime opportunity for Chicago to once again bow to their rivals.

The Cubs had a comfortable 3-0 lead entering the seventh inning when St. Louis scratched across two runs to cut the lead to one run. It seemed like the game was following a familiar script with the Cubs jumping out to a lead before conceding it to the Cardinals. However, in the eighth inning, the Cubs exploded for four runs including an Anthony Rizzo two-run homer.

Even though the Cardinals scored two runs in the ninth, the Cubs still escaped with the win.

With minor leaguer Dallas Beeler making the start in the night game, hopes weren’t exactly high. When the Cubs went down 2-1 late in the game, the outlook was even worse. However, the team rallied for four runs down the stretch, with the biggest RBI hit coming off the bat of a struggling Addison Russell.

Even though it was just two games, the two wins should provide quite the boost for the Cubs psychologically. They pulled off a doubleheader sweep, which is rare in itself, much less against a superior division rival.

This young team once again looks like it’s playing with some confidence. Equipped with that confidence and within striking distance of their rivals in the division race, the Cubs might finally be done playing the role of “little brother” in the rivalry.