Wild Cards, 2 Home Teams Shut Out: Cubs Blank Pirates To Advance

The Cardinals (100-62) will play host to Games 1 and 2 of the NLDS on Friday and Saturday. As the NL Central eats its own, only one team from baseball’s best division in ages will be able to advance to the National League Championship Series.

“I have nothing but respect for the Pirate organization, always have”, Maddon said.

“I’m exhausted. I haven’t felt this way all year”, said Arrieta, who led the majors with 22 wins. “That was the mindset”. A double play and Arrieta and the Cubs were pumping their fists on the way back to the dugout. Schwarber went 2-for-3 with three RBIs.

Cole vs Arrieta was the prime time matchup we heard about days on end, but is it that surprising that the Cubs “rocket arm” dominated? “Dex got on base pretty much every time up expect once”.

“You’ve got a pitcher that’s dotting everything up, throwing four pitches for strikes and Cervelli gets pitched hot up top, so I don’t think anybody was a fan of that”, Hurdle said.

He surrendered only a combined three earned runs behind five hits, including two big flies in 11 innings.

Chicago ended the regular season by capping a three-game sweep in Milwaukee. “It’s definitely hard to swallow”. Sean Rodriguez was ejected from the contest for his actions during the sequence. Kang sustained a torn medial collateral ligament in his left knee and a broken left tibia. Cubs first baseman Anthony Rizzo reached on the error charged to Walker, but failed to score. Ross said it was happenstance, and not that he was trying to choke Rodriguez. Rodriguez threw a combination of punches at a water cooler in the Pirates’ dugout before heading to the clubhouse. “One loss, granted we’re out of it. It doesn’t mean we didn’t do a lot of things well this year, 98 wins is really, really good”.

In the bottom of the 6th inning, the Pirates loaded the bases and gave fans a scare – especially when the shortstop bobbled a hard-hit ball in – but the Cubs turned a double play to get out of the inning. By then Fowler added a solo homer of Cole to put the Cubs ahead by four runs.

Schwarber, who had recorded a couple of putouts in limited action in two previous games in right field, said he’s open to the move. The one-out drive, estimated at 449 feet, came after a single by Fowler. After Cole struck Arrieta out to start the inning, Fowler singled to right and Schwarber followed that up with a titanic home run to make it 3-0 Chicago.

Jake Arrieta, who threw a complete-game shutout, jawas at Tony Watson after the Pirates reliever hit him with a pitch.

The budding rivalry between the Cubs and Pirates began to grow heated when Chicago’s Chris Coghlan injured Pittsburgh infielder Jung Ho Kang on a takeout slide in a game at PNC Park on September 17. There were a few attempted swings by at least one Pirate, but – as was the case most of the evening – more misses than hits.