The Cubs played another excellent game to defeat the Pirates 4-0 and advance to the next round, a best of five series against the Cardinals. This should be a helluva ride.
As for the Wild Card Playoff, once the Cubs got out in front, there was little doubt the Pirates were in trouble, given that the Cubs starter, Jake Arrieta, had given up barely enough runs in the final two months of the season to count on your fingers. Actually, to my mind, the Pirates were in trouble as soon as they turned in the starting lineup. Clint Hurdle decided to sit two of his biggest offensive threats, Aramis Ramirez and Pedro Alvarez, presumably to put a better defensive team on the field.
The problem there is that you are basically telling your team and the opposing pitcher you are not going to score any runs and that you haven't a hope of hitting the ball. The Cubs, on the other hand, packed their lineup with hitters, left-handed hitters, to be precise, as four of the first five batters hit from the left side. What Maddon was saying is, yeah, this guy Cole is good, but we can take a shot at him early and bring in defense later on.
Which, of course, is what they did. Fowler singled to leadoff and before the dust had settled, aggressively stole second base. Schwarber followed with an opposite field single, a beautiful piece of hitting that scored the first run. After that, Cole was left to pitch defensively, always straining to measure up to the seemingly invincible Arrieta. Sooner or later, the Cubs, who again worked the count to their advantage, were going to pounce on a mistake. In this case, two mistakes that led to a Schwarber two-run homer in the third and a solo home run by Fowler in the fifth.
Meanwhile, Arrieta coasted along in the driver's seat as the Pirates tried desperately to get back in the game. Even in the sixth and seventh innings when he was missing his spots, he managed to reach back and get the big outs he needed.
I have to say I am kind of intrigued by the philosophical Maddon and especially his post-game analyses. Most of what he says is pretty simple and logical, but somehow he has managed to teach an almost Zen-like focus on the moment to a bunch of really young players and get them to buy in. Almost reminds you of the last philosopher-coach to reign in Chicago, Phil Jackson.
Anyway, the Cubs have a real shot at the NL title in the coming weeks. St. Louis is a big hurdle, but they have not played well down the stretch and the Cubs are pretty hot. The Lester game Friday will tell us a lot. A win there, and the series comes back to Chicago with the teams even or the Cubs getting a shot to clinch with Arrieta potentially on the mound. Whoever wins this series is likely to take the NLCS.
The series might be pretty wild in terms of brawls as well. The Pirates game was marked by trouble when Watson plunked Arrieta, obviously on purpose. Remember all the head-hunting in the last Cardinals series at Wrigley Field and you have some real potential for trouble.
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