Levine: Jake Arrieta Outduels Gerrit Cole In Cubs' First Wild-Card Win
By Bruce Levine--
PITTSBURGH (CBS) -- The Chicago Cubs are moving on to the National League Division Series in St Louis. The two best second- and third-place teams in recent memory battled one out on Wednesday evening, and it was Cubs ace Jake Arrieta leading his team to a 4-0 win in the NL wild-card game at PNC Park.
Both clubs knew going in that one of the three best teams in baseball was going away with hurt feelings and a bad taste in its mouth. It will be Pirates ace Gerrit Cole and Co. who will have a long offseason to think about what could have been.
A great matchup on any day during the 162-game grind, Arrieta-Cole was even more compelling in the one-and-done format. The Cubs struck first, as a base hit and stolen base by Dexter Fowler helped create a run driven in by a Kyle Schwarber RBI single in the top of the first.
The game plan was clear for the Cubs offense: Make Cole work up the pitch count and get the one ball to hit. Fowler and Schwarber did it again in the third, as Fowler had a base hit and Schwarber followed with a monster home run into the river. The Ruthian blast went was estimated at 449 feet, and it gave Chicago a 3-0 lead.
Fowler went deep to lead off the fifth, giving the Cubs the 4-0 lead that would hold up.
Fowler was a one-man wrecking crew against Cole, scoring three times. He had been just 3-of-14 against Cole. A free agent-to-be, Fowler may have added a couple of million and an extra year onto a new deal in November.
The Pirates mounted their first threat in the sixth inning. They loaded the bases on a hit, hit batter and error by Addison Russell. The error was on a potential double-play grounder. All Arrieta did was induce another grounder to short, and Russell converted this one into a 6-4-3 twin killing.
Taking the crowd out of the game early was the key for Maddon and the Cubs. Arrieta was hit by a pitch in the seventh by Tony Watson, as both benches emptied. Arrieta had hit two Pirate hitters, though neither was intentional considering the way he was mowing down hitters. Arrieta stole second base as his answer to the blow-up. Arrieta induced yet another double play to end the seventh, as the crowd and the Bucs went silent.
Arrieta finished with a complete-game shutout, allowing just four hits and striking out 11. He hit two batters but didn't walk anyone while firing 113 pitches.
The weak response by the Pirates was one of frustration. Winning 98 games and being eliminated in one game is a tough pill to swallow. Meanwhile, the hot Cubs have won nine straight games and are playing their best baseball at the right time.
Jon Lester will be the Game 1 starter for the Cubs in the division series against the Cardinals on Friday. The Cubs and Cards will play their first post season games in the long history of their rivalry.
Bruce Levine covers the Cubs and White Sox for 670 The Score and CBSChicago.com. Follow him on Twitter @MLBBruceLevine.