Wednesday night, the Cubs advanced to the NLDS with their 4-0 Wild Card Game win over the Pirates (box score). Jake Arrieta struck out 11 in the four-hit shutout. He was dominant in the most heavily-attended game in PNC Park history.
40,889 here at PNC, most ever to see a game at this ballpark.
— Sahadev Sharma (@sahadevsharma) October 8, 2015
Here are six things to know about the Wild Card Game.
1. Gerrit Cole has a history of first-inning troubles.
The Pirates’ starter for the wild card game, Gerrit Cole, has evolved into a frontline ace. However, this is what happened to him in the top of the first …
That wouldn’t be the worst inning of Cole’s night, but, as you can see, it staked the peerless-of-late Jake Arrieta to an early lead. As it turns out, this isn’t unusual for Cole. Over the course of his career, he’s pitched to a 4.44 ERA in the first inning while allowing an opponents’ batting line of .304/.363/.429. Overall, he’s got an ERA of 3.07 and an opposing line of .245/.299/.349. The same thing’s going on in this, his breakout season. Here he is in the first inning in 2015: 3.94, .289/.346/.421. And here he is overall in 2015: 2.60, .239/.287/.336.
Arrieta with a lead, no matter how small, is a dangerous thing.
2. Kyle Schwarber has done nothing but hit as a pro.
Schwarber notched that RBI single in the first, and then he announced his presence louder than a bomb …
Yeesh. That’s some devastating pull power right there.
When the Cubs took Schwarber out of Indiana U. with the fourth overall pick in 2014, the choice was widely pilloried as a reach. Well, Schwarber, suffice it to say, has said nay to the naysayers. He put up an OPS of 1.042 across two minor-league seasons despite an aggressive promotion schedule and never put up an OPS lower than .952 at any level. This season, as a 22-year-old rookie, he registered an OPS of .842 against a league-average mark of .721. Schwarber gets a bit lost among all the high-ceiling youngsters on the Cubs roster right now — well, maybe not after what you saw above — but he’s a core talent, without question.
3. Dexter Fowler sets a fine postseason table.
The Cubs leadoff batter had three hits, scored three runs and hit a solo home run that extended the Cubs lead in the fifth. Fowler worked Gerrit Cole for a 3-1 count in the first and delivered a sharp single before scoring the Cubs first run, and had a similar at-bat before singling and later scoring on Kyle Schwarber’s two-run homer in the third.
Here’s his loudest, if not most important, hit:
Fowler has parlayed his healthiest season — he played in a career-high 156 games prior to hitting free agency this offseason — into a key role on a World Series contender. And he made Cubs postseason history in the process:
Dexter Fowler 1st Cubs player in postseason history with a homer, stolen base and at least 3 hits and 3 runs scored in a game.
— Jordan Bastian (@MLBastian) October 8, 2015
He’s like a latter-day Phil Cavaretta!
4. Arrieta was hyper-efficient.
As if throwing 95+ with a filthy slutter wasn’t enough, Jake Arrieta was hyper-efficient Wednesday night. He filled the zone with strikes and was ahead of hitters all night. Arrieta threw a first pitch strike to 20 of 32 batters faced and went to eight two-ball counts. He only went to two three-ball counts all night.
Opposing batters hit .237 with a .360 slugging percentage when Arrieta fell behind in the count this year. But when he got ahead? They hit .114 with a .161 slugging percentage. Arrieta didn’t necessarily pound the zone, he pounded the edges of the zone. There was nothing in the middle of the plate to hit. The Pirates were helpless.
As a result of his aggressive approach, here are Arrieta’s pitch counts by inning: 14, 11, 13, 9, 13, 14, 13, 16, 10. He threw a total of nine balls to the first 10 batters he faced. Total domination, which has become the norm for Arrieta of late. Unhittable pitches and strike after strike after strike.
5. The brawl was silly.
The seventh inning benches-clearing incident was silly and both sides share the blame. Arrieta did hit two batters earlier in the game but they were clearly unintentional — a breaking ball got away and hit Francisco Cervelli in the hand, then Josh Harrison was plunked to bring up Andrew McCutchen with two runners on base — yet Tony Watson took it upon himself for retribution.
Throwing at Arrieta will silly. Also, the entire mess could have been avoided had Arrieta simply walked down to first rather than bark at Watson. The Cubs were up 4-0 and Arrieta was cruising. Why stop to start a fight? The Cubbies had nothing to gain from that. I understand the frustration, but throwing at Arrieta looks petty. Arrieta should have walked down to first as well.
6. The Pirates have been shut out in back-to-back Wild Card games.
Last year it was Madison Bumgarner, this year it was Arrieta. The Pirates have not scored a run in the postseason since Pedro Alvarez singled in Justin Morneau against Adam Wainwright with two outs in the seventh innings of Game 5 of the 2013 NLDS. Both Wild Card games this year were shutouts as well. The Astros shut the Yankees out 3-0 on Tuesday.
Jake Arrieta led the Cubs to a Wild Card win on Wednesday. (USATSI)
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