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The Chicago Cubs defeated the Pittsburgh Pirates 4-0 in the National League Wild Card game on Wednesday.
Cubs pitcher Jake Arrieta shined as he struck out 11 and gave up just four hits in throwing the shutout.
But in the process of this performance, Arrieta hit two Pirates, Francisco Cervelli and Josh Harrison claiming it was unintentional. Seeing this, Pirates reliever Tony Watson retaliated by hitting Arrieta with a pitch. Benches then cleared with a punch being thrown by Pittsburgh first baseman Sean Rodriguez who was ejected and then proceeded to take out his frustration by beating up the Pirates’ water cooler.
“I anticipated that,” Arrieta said. “It’s one of those situations where you expect for Tony to protect his guys.”
Cubs outfielder Dexter Fowler and catcher Kyle Schwarber were on point from the gate on offense. In the first inning, Fowler scored off of a Schwarber single to left. Then in the third, Schwarber brought home Fowler again with a two run homer. Fowler raked his own home run in the fifth, ending the scoring spree for the duo and the game.
“Great feeling, great team win,” said Schwarber. “We ended up with the victory; we’re going to enjoy this one a little bit but we got to be focused on St. Louis.”
As Schwarber hinted, the Cubs will now face the St. Louis Cardinals in the NDLS. The Cardinals will be a challenge for Chicago, as they have the most wins in the MLB.
Cubs fans are excited and celebrated in the streets of Chicago as this win was the first for the Cubs since 2003.
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