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Hope For The Hopeful
Harry Caray, Ernie Banks and Ron Santo were smiling down on the Cubs and their faithful tonight, and they liked what they saw. The Cubs earned their first post season win in twelve years. And for the second year in a row, the Pirates were shut out.
Once again, Jake Arrieta dominated as he continued his campaign for the NL Cy Young Award. It is safe to say that tonight’s outing was a resounding success, as Arrieta pitched a complete game shut out. Arrieta’s effort tied Kerry Woods franchise record of eleven strikeouts in the post season in the process.
For the Pirates, Gerrit Cole was tapped to start, and he lasted only five innings. His trouble started early just as Joe Maddon wanted. Dexter Fowler singled to first, and then stole second setting up Kyle Schwarber who then singled to left, and drove in his first RBI of the night. Arrieta allowed one hit in the first, but did not allow another until the bottom of the 6th.
In the third, it was Schwarber and Fowler once again, as Schwarber homered deep to right, driving in Fowler and making the game 3-0. The fourth inning passed with a single hit by the Cubs, but the fifth drove the final dagger through the hearts of the Pirates, and their fans. Dexter Fowler hit a blast deep to right center for a score of 4-0 that held for the rest of the game.
The Dream Is Still Alive
In the bottom of the 6th, Arrieta found himself in a bit of tight spot after hitting Josh Harrison with a pitch (his second hit batter of the night), and eventually loading the bases on Addison Russell’s fielding error; However, Starling Marte grounded out into a double play ending the inning.
For the Cubs, the elation was building and their ever present fans grew louder. But for Pittsburgh, tempers began to flare. Tony Watson came in for the Pirates, and promptly hit Arrieta with a pitch. Arrieta had a few words for the pitcher, and before long both benches were cleared. No punches were thrown, however Pittsburgh utility man Sean Rodriguez was ejected, as he had to be held back by several teammates during the resulting scrum.
When play resumed, Arrieta promptly stole second to become just the fifth pitcher, and the first since Cliff Lee in ‘09 to steal a base in postseason play (mlb.com). On the mound, he allowed only two more hits on his way to shutting out the Pirates with a complete game.
With that, Arrieta became the first pitcher to pitch a postseason shutout while striking out at least 10 batters and walking none. The previous high for strikeouts in a no-walk shutout was nine, set by Cole Hamels in Game 3 of the 2010 NL Division Series. (mlb.com)
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So the Cubs will head home for a brief celebration, but tomorrow they will put their heads back down and get ready for the best team in baseball, the St. Louis Cardinals. For all the times these two teams have faced off against one another, they have never met in the post season.
The Cubs are 8-11 against the Cardinals this year, with the Cards series record of 7-3 at Busch Stadium and 4-5 at Wrigley Field. The starters will be former teammates, and longtime friends John Lackey and Jon Lester for game one at 7:30pm (CST) on Friday in St. Louis.
