Arrieta pitches Cubs to victory

Pittsburgh still needs a win Sunday or a Cubs loss to host the one-game playoff Wednesday night.

Pittsburgh topped Cincinnati, 4-0, ensuring it will host the Cubs.

On the season, Arrieta has made five starts against the Pirates, going 3-1 and giving up just three earned runs in 36.0 innings.

Anthony Rizzo tacked on in the fourth inning with his 31st home run of the season to make the score 2-0. The Brewers have scored seven runs in their last three games and four or more runs in five of their last 10 games. Jackson’s ninth home run this season was his first since August 30, at which time he was a member of the Seattle Mariners.

Let’s look at more team numbers from this incredible, magical Cubs regular season.

Keuchel (20-8) gave up two runs on six hits in six innings, becoming the Astros’ first 20-game victor since Roy Oswalt went 20-12 in 2005.

Arrieta is now the first Cubs pitcher to finish a season with an ERA lower than 2.00 since Grover Cleveland Alexander posted a 1.91 ERA in 1920.

The Cubs went 23-9 from September 1 through the end of the season.

Fans across the globe are pumping themselves up for Wednesday night’s game, including a professor at the University of Illinois who allowed Cubs fans to reschedule their midterm in order to attend the game themselves as reported by NBC Sports. We have the information you need to know to get your postseason off to a hot start.

The Tigers learned before the game that manager Brad Ausmus and his staff would be returning to their jobs in 2016, ending speculation they would not survive the transition in general managers from Dave Dombrowski to Al Avila.

It got kicked up another notch in the offseason when the Cubs brought in Maddon and Jon Lester, signaling they felt they were ready to contend. And it reached another level this season.

Lester is a valuable No. 2 behind Jake Arrieta, providing a formidable one-two punch if needed for the National League wild-card game against the Pirates and throughout the postseason if the Cubs can extend things. “Doing what I worked on”, Davis said. This is Wagner’s first career game against the Cubs.

“Just being a positive person by nature, I was accused of being too positive, which I really find hysterical”.

Drafted by the Cubs as a catcher with the No. 4 overall pick in the 2014 Major League Baseball June Amateur Draft, Schwarber has played mostly left field in recent weeks.

So the Cubs are 95-65, and get to beat up on the Brewers for two more games.

“We had a couple opportunities this year where we’ve had extra rest, and I thought we’ve used those to our advantage quite well”.