Paced by a young and powerful lineup, they’re trying to reach their first World Series in 70 years and end a championship drought that dates to 1908. Pittsburgh is no stranger to the one-game playoff and is making its third straight trip to the game after winning in 2013 and falling to the eventual World Series-champion San Francisco Giants in the edition. Joe Maddon had a different opinion on his ballclub and he made sure they were not thinking as those analysts. He allowed two runs in five innings, both coming on a second-inning homer by David Freese. This has the potential to be one of the best Wild Card Games since the 2012 when the concept of a one game playoff started. The Chicago Cubs have a risen star, who marvelously dominated teams especially when speaking in terms of his performance down the stretch. Arrieta, though, is just too dominant. Many fans turned away from the team because they were exhausted of seeing so many losses. Lester had previously flourished under Epstein in Boston; the real revelation has been Arrieta, unrecognisable from the journeyman who once flopped with the Baltimore Orioles, putting together a 22-6 season, with an ERA [earned run average] of 1.77. This is not to discredit Pittsburgh starter Gerrit Cole, who has had an impressive season and has a 2.00 era against the Cubs this year. With the Pittsburgh Pirates’ victory, however, they will need to go on the road for the Wild Card game.
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“Because our goal is to bring playoff caliber baseball to PNC Park as many times as we can. Everybody was on us… now it’s ‘Let’s talk about the Cubs”‘.
The Chicago Cubs are headed to the playoffs.
That’s Joe Maddon, a hugely-respected veteran manager who the Cubs nabbed in the off-season thanks to a loophole in his Tampa Bay Rays contract. Dexter Fowler went 3-for-4 with two RBI and Starlin Castro also had three hits. Now this may seem like an odd pick but there’s plenty of evidence for McCutchen’s case. If Jake Arrieta is anything like the Jake Arrieta we’ve seen over the past few months, then that doesn’t bode well for the Pirates. That’s a regular season the Pirates should be proud of. This is exactly why Andrew McCutchen is the Pirates X-Factor for this game.
Williams managed the Nats for two seasons and was voted NL manager of the year in 2014 after the the team finished with the best record in the league. And yet, as a result, the Cubs and Pirates must face off in a one-game, winner-take-all affair. Unfortunately, thanks to a ridiculously stacked NL Central, the Cubs and Pirates have to meet in a victor take all Wild Card game.
Lefties struggle when the pitch is low and inside.
Cole, 25, has a tremendous fastball and wipe-out secondary pitches.
That is not to suggest that the Pirates cannot win this game because they can. 295 with seven homers and 43 RBIs for the Pirates. If the Cubs beat Milwaukee – and the Pirates lose to Cincinnati again – the wild-card showdown would be played at Wrigley Field.
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The Pirates offense scored the fourth most runs in the National League in 2015, which might be surprising looking at their power numbers. “You work so hard to put yourself in position to have these opportunities, and it doesn’t feel any better than going up against the best”. It’s tough to see more than three runs being scored in this game … but here is a cautious, probably wrong, why-does-somebody-have-to-lose? The Cubs have played well there, and hopes are high with Arrieta on the mound. If the Pirates are aggressive early in the count, they will be swinging at a fastball that has been virtually unhittable. The Cubs have been on a mission all season long, and anything is possible when you have that elite pitcher on the mound.
