The Pittsburgh Pirates season came to a close with a 4-0 loss to the Chicago Cubs last night in the National League Wild Card game. Cubs starter Jake Arrieta dominated the Pirates, pitching a complete-game, four-hit shutout. He did not walk a batter and struck out 11. Dexter Fowler had three hits and scored three times for the Cubs. Kyle Schwarber had a home run and drove in three. The two had five of Chicago’s seven hits in the game. Pirates Andrew McCutchen and Francisco Cervelli managed hits, along with pinch hitters Michael Morse and Travis Snider.
Pirate starter Gerrit Cole allowed all four runs on six hits over five innings. Arrieta hit two Pirate batters, and the benches cleared in the seventh inning when Pirate reliever Tony Watson hit Arrieta in retaliation. It is the second consecutive season the Pirates were defeated in the Wild Card game by one of baseball’s hottest pitchers.
The Cubs move on to face St. Louis in a National League Divisional Series beginning tomorrow night.
The American League Divisional games begin today. Houston is at Kansas City. Texas is at Toronto.
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