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 Chicago pitcher Jake Arrieta struck out 11 in a complete game
shutout while Kyle Schwarber and Dexter Fowler both blasted home
runs as the Cubs clinched the one-off National League Wild Card
game.
For the Cubs, who have not won the World Series since 1908 - the
longest drought in North American professional sports - their next
opponents will be the St. Louis Cardinals, who they meet in a
best-of-five division series, starting Friday.
The last time the Cubs won a playoff game was in 2003, while the
last time they made the World Series was 1945.
Arrieta, who led the majors with 22 regular season wins, continued
his brilliant form, giving up only four hits at PNC Park in
Pittsburgh in the first postseason game of his career.
He outdueled his counterpart Gerrit Cole, who lasted only five
innings, as the Pirates bowed out in the Wild Card game for the
second successive year.
Arrieta was in trouble only once, in the sixth inning, when
Pittsburgh loaded the bases with one out before left fielder
Starling Marte grounded out into a double play.
Arrieta's most harrowing moment came at the plate, in the seventh
inning, when he was struck in the left hip by Pittsburgh reliever
Tony Watson.
Arrieta had previously struck two Pirates -- accidentally, he said -
and the incident led to a dugout-clearing melee and the ejection of
Pittsburgh first baseman Sean Rodriguez, who appeared to throw a
punch.
Arrieta said afterwards that he expected to be hit in retaliation.
“I hit two guys unintentionally,” Arrieta said afterwards in an
on-field interview. “I’m never trying to hurt or hit anybody … I
expected that. They’re going to take care of their own guys. It’s
understandable.”
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Arrieta, 29, came into the game with a mind-boggling 0.75 ERA since
the All-Star break, and his regular season form proved no fluke as
he focused on keeping the ball in the lower part of the strike zone.
"I'm trying to be as aggressive as I can," he said. "I’ve got some
good movement on my sinking fastball and I rely on that. I just want
to be down (in the strike zone) because I know if I do that I’ll
induce some weak contact."
Arrieta was backed by a sporadic but dangerous offense, led by
Schwarber, whose two-run home run to right field in the third inning
sailed out of the park and traveled an estimated 450-feet.
Fowler hit a solo run in the fifth inning.
The defeat was another bitter pill for Pittsburgh, eliminated
despite posting the second-best regular season record in the majors.
"Sport's hard, life's not fair," said Pirates manager Clint Hurdle.
(Reporting by Andrew Both in Cary, North Carolina; Editing by Julian
Linden/Amlan Chakraborty)
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