The Pittsburgh Pirates had an outstanding season with a 98-64 record. That’s
the second best record in baseball, yet the Pirates didn’t win their division, and were
forced to play the Cubs. The Cubs also had an incredible season, going 97-65 (the
third best record in baseball). The wild Card playoff game was played on October 7 at PNC Park.
The Buccos were starting their ace, but inconsistent pitcher Gerrit Cole. The
Cubs were starting their ace pitcher Jake Arrietta, the nightmare of all Pirate fans.
Cole didn’t get off to such a great start, giving up the first run of the game in the first
inning. It all went down hill from there. Arrietta seemed to be unhittable meanwhile
Cole seemed just the opposite. Cole gave up four earned runs, which was too many to
come back from in a game like that. The Pirates were angry with the score, but they
were even angrier at Jake Arrietta’s behavior. He ended up hitting two batters at the
plate, Francisco Cervelli and Josh Harrison. In revenge, when Arrietta was up at bat,
relief pitcher Tony Watson plunked him with the ball. This intensified the game.
Both teams cleared the benches and nearly had an all out brawl. The game was filled with
emotion. Later in the game, Pirates’ starting first baseman Sean Rodriguez was
caught on camera punching a Gatorade cooler out of pure anger. He was later
thrown out of the game. It was definitely exciting. In the end, the final score was 4-0 and the Pirates victorious season was over.