Pirates/MLB
Pittsburgh Pirates
ARRIETA, CUBS SILENCE PIRATES IN WILD CARD WIN
TBS could have ran a re-run of the Pirates – Giants Wildcard game in 2014 for the first five innings of tonight’s wildcard game.
Pirates in 2014 vs Madison Bumgarner after five innings: 1 Hit, 7 strikeouts, trailed 4-0.
Pirates tonight vs Jake Arrieta after five innings: 1 hit, 8 strikeouts, trailed 4-0.
The Pirates for the second straight wildcard game were shutout in a 4-0 loss to the Chicago Cubs.
Despite going up against a pitcher who was the most dominant in Major League history after the All-Star break, the Pirates felt this year was going to be different.
They were the more experienced team and unlike last year when they had Edinson Volquez on the mound, they were putting their ace on the mound in Gerrit Cole this time around.
The problem is Gerrit Cole’s a front of the rotation starter but not a No. 1 type pitcher like an Arrieta, Kershaw or Greinke. Cole is very good but not great like that bunch.
The script for Clint Hurdle’s Pirates’ tonight was have Cole go out and match Arrieta, play great defense, and get a timely hit or two. Get the bounces and win a low scoring game.
The Cubs script laid out by Joe Maddon was go out and get an early lead as orchestrated by Maddon’s lineup decisions in putting his best hitting lineup on the field and call it good night by the fifth or six inning with Arrieta on the mound.
The Pirates were forced to go off script and it started with Cole who missed his spots early in the first inning and not getting ahead. The dreaded scenario happened in the first inning with the Cubs going up 1-0 and then the dagger was Cole giving up a 2-run homer to Kyle Schwarber in the third inning that gave Chicago a commanding 3-0 lead with Arrieta on the mound.
The Cubs getting out to the early 3-0 lead had Hurdle rattled and going off script by pulling Sean Rodriguez before he took one at-bat and having Pedro Alvarez bat in the bottom of the third. All of the fuss about Alvarez not starting became a bunch of nothing and by the way Alvarez went 0-3 with three strikeouts.
Once the Cubs went up 3-0 in the third, it should have been the end of Cole’s night and Hurdle go into mode of pretty much using a DH the rest of the game in the No. 9 spot.
Yet after Alvarez strikes out to open the bottom half of the inning, Cole stays in to bat and pitches the next two innings.
Cole would throw a clean fourth but then Dexter Fowler homered in the fifth off Cole as it was game over.
Fowler and Schwarber went a combined 5-6 with 2 home runs, 4 RBIs vs Cole who exited after five innings. The rest of the Cubs vs Cole, 1-14.
On the Cubs side Joe Maddon was making all the right moves, going to a more defensive alignment in the sixth inning by moving Kris Bryant from left field to his normal position of third base.
Bryant came up with a key out in the sixth on a Gregory Polanco 107 mph line drive. The Pirates threatened Arrieta in the sixth but Arrieta got Starling Marte to hit into a 6-4-3 inning ending double play. In the seventh Bryant made another great play at third on a hard grounder hit by Aramis Ramirez for a double play to end the inning.
“At the end of the day everything we tried got shut down or pushed back,” Pirates manager Clint Hurdle said.
Two of the four Pirates’ hits came from bench players, Travis Snider and Michael Morse.
It was that type of night for the Pirates with the biggest highlight being Sean Rodriguez obliterating a gatorade cooler after the benches cleared in the seventh.
For the Pirates Clint Hurdle’s lineup decisions were always going to be secondary and matter more for talks shows than anything.
The Pirates’ chances tonight were always going to be about Gerrit Cole and whether he had in him to strike some fear into the Cubs and Jake Arrieta.
Cole made it an easy night for Arrieta to just go out and do what he does.
Pirates will never be good enough.
Yeah but could have been avoided.
i agree that hurdle threw some stupid lineups in late in the season and the pirates blew some games for sure. saying that, it’s hard to say a team with 98 wins should have been better. it was a bad luck year and that is all there is too it. to win 98 and not win the division, you got to be kidding me! to get in the wild card game and face the best pitcher ever…what bad luck. i feel bad for the bucs. not to mention arrieta was getting strikes called that were 6 inches out of the… Read more »
Best pitcher ever!
over the last few months, there is no pitcher in the history of MLB who has ever pitched as good as Arrieta.
That doesn’t equate to “best pitcher ever.” The best pitchers ever do it over time – not a few months.
Its ridiculous the team with the 2nd best record in baseball plays a do or die game.
Jesus christ. 20 years ago, they’d have been golfing yesterday. Win the division.
Win your division and avoid this scenario. Play better in April and May and for God’s sake beat some teams in your division. The Pirates have no one to blame but themselves.
The script didn’t matter. Their pitcher was the only thing that mattered and everybody knew that. It has everything to do with Arrieta and not much else
I agree jpaha but by Hurdle basically just conceding that Arrieta was going to be great and not field a lineup that could threaten him it was made much easier for him. Maddon understood that the key to beating a good pitcher was to try to get him off his game early by getting a big hit or 2, not by conceding that you weren’t going to score and match him 0-0. Maddon fielded a dangerous lineup that had Cole uneasy from the start, Hurdle pretty much told Arrieta that they weren’t even going to try to score against him… Read more »
Yes Yoda, and yes Zack….. In the theme of being good sports…. Congrats, and best of luck. I don’t want to sound like a sore loser but, you guys have a tough road to hoe. You have one…. Lights out, win the WC ace…. That’s it! The Mets and Dodgers have 2-3 a piece. You will beat the Cardinals, but then watch NY or LA keep your streak in tact…. But look at the bright side…. At least you play more than one game after winning 97. Pirates can’t say the same. Furthermore, no offense Zack, but in a 3-5… Read more »
I agree with you to an extent, although Jon Lester is just as good of a number 2 pitcher as most have, save for LA. I think the Cubs and Pirates are dead even honestly. If they had 10 best of 3 series’ they’d both win 5 a piece. And at this point while I’d obviously like the Cubs to keep winning, I’m just happy they got this far. I’m not expecting much from here on out.
Good job guys. Sucks either team had to lose this early.
What bad luck for the pirates to have to face the best pitchers ever in the last 2 wildcard games. That franchise is cursed.
Best pitchers ever! 100 years of baseball and the two best ever are playing in consecutive years!