Bucs trail 2-0. No way we can win this thing. Arrieta may never give up another hit all year. If Bucs play Cubs in WC we are DOOMED. 
Arrieta with perfect game against Bucs thru 6.
- Thread starter fairgambit
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Yes, he's throwing a perfect game, and almost undoubtedly will continue to allow no hits and no walks (making sure I say it out loud enough times to jinx it).
Ugh..this is what we're in store for next Wednesday night... We need Cole to throw 9 shutout innings... It may even take the bullpen throwing a couple shut out innings to get Arrietta out of the game. If he pitches like this he could go 11. Just sucks that once again the Bucs are going to face what is currently far and away the best pitcher in the game in a 1-game playoff.
Ugh..this is what we're in store for next Wednesday night... We need Cole to throw 9 shutout innings... It may even take the bullpen throwing a couple shut out innings to get Arrietta out of the game. If he pitches like this he could go 11. Just sucks that once again the Bucs are going to face what is currently far and away the best pitcher in the game in a 1-game playoff.
Not that it matters......but why is Hurdle always the last guy in the ballpark (or watching on TV) to know when Burnett is "done"?Bucs trail 2-0. No way we can win this thing. Arrieta may never give up another hit all year. If Bucs play Cubs in WC we are DOOMED.
Not that it matters......but why is Hurdle always the last guy in the ballpark (or watching on TV) to know when Burnett is "done"?Bucs trail 2-0. No way we can win this thing. Arrieta may never give up another hit all year. If Bucs play Cubs in WC we are DOOMED.
Not if we sweep St. Louis....
We gotta sweep St Louis and they don't have anyone named Arrietta.
Perfect game and no hitter gone but still 2-0 Cubs in botom 7th.Bucs trail 2-0. No way we can win this thing. Arrieta may never give up another hit all year. If Bucs play Cubs in WC we are DOOMED.
If we face the Cubs in the WC we will find a way to win. I have no doubts. I have no worries. It will happen.
Yeah, it really comes down to that...sweep the Cards and take care of business against the Reds. I just can't imagine anyone beating Arrieta with how he's looked the past 2 months.
It can happen as long as Cole pitches well. The atmosphere at PNC may well get to him. Unfortunately, looks like we'll see.
He's allowed 2 runs in his last 8 starts. It truly is historic. If it weren't for what it means to the Bucs, it'd be a heckuva lot of fun to watch.
Dude, this is the Cubs we're talking about . The CUBS. They have raised losing horribly when it counts to a fine art. Arrieta is not enough to overcome THAT.
Because his numbers are so absurd, some more info:
August and September:
9-0, 75 1/3 innings pitched, 4 earned runs, 73 Ks to 14 BBs, 38 hits allowed. That's a 0.48 ERA and a 0.69 WHIP. Not human.
Oh, and he hasn't given up more than 4 earned runs once this season, and tonight was his 19th consecutive quality start. Again, not human.
August and September:
9-0, 75 1/3 innings pitched, 4 earned runs, 73 Ks to 14 BBs, 38 hits allowed. That's a 0.48 ERA and a 0.69 WHIP. Not human.
Oh, and he hasn't given up more than 4 earned runs once this season, and tonight was his 19th consecutive quality start. Again, not human.
Three games. First one is tonight. Take game one vs the cards. One game at a time.
Sweep this series, then take care of business against the Reds. Only way out. It can be done.
Lance Lynn tonight...not exactly Arrietta. Get it done.
Sweep this series, then take care of business against the Reds. Only way out. It can be done.
Lance Lynn tonight...not exactly Arrietta. Get it done.
The Bucs chances of a sweep got a lot better when Martinez was shut down and bumping Locke from the rotation to bring in Cole for game 3 vs. the Cards...but, I am not liking the Wacha/Morton matchup.
For arguments sake, if St. Louis and the Pirates tie and it goes to game 163 next Monday to determine the division, who do you pitch? Do you throw Cole out there to give your best shot to win the division and not have to face Arrieta in the wild card? Liriano is set to throw on Friday so he wouldn't be ready. Burnett and Happ both go over the weekend, so it seems they would have to throw Cole on Monday vs. the Cards and then go with Liriano vs. the Cubs for the play-in game.
For arguments sake, if St. Louis and the Pirates tie and it goes to game 163 next Monday to determine the division, who do you pitch? Do you throw Cole out there to give your best shot to win the division and not have to face Arrieta in the wild card? Liriano is set to throw on Friday so he wouldn't be ready. Burnett and Happ both go over the weekend, so it seems they would have to throw Cole on Monday vs. the Cards and then go with Liriano vs. the Cubs for the play-in game.
I think you got it with Cole. A division winning game is more valuable than the wild card game, and your odds of beating the Cards are much better than beating Arrieta, so go for broke.
MLB tiebreaking rules are really dumb IMO. If the Pirates and Cards are tied, it should just be decided by head to head record. Between that and the 1-game play-in, baseball needs to add some common sense to its rules.
No question, you would think they could come up with a better system. It's a shame the Pirates and Cubs will likely have the one game to determine their fate simply bc they are unfortunate enough to be in the same division as the Cardinals. And, why they don't go head to head for the division title is beyond my comprehension. To me it penalizes teams for being good enough to be tied for the division title by forcing them to use up pitching just prior to the playoffs...like you said, stupid!
Here's hoping they get to that point and if they don't win against the Cards in that extra game, I hope PNC is rockin' and the crowd can get to Arrieta like they did Cueto two years ago. Madison Bumgarner was unphased last year, but who knows what the playoff atmosphere will bring for Arrieta. Maybe his run is up...it has been amazing, but all good things come to end. Lets hope for the Pirates sake it is sooner (next Wednesday) rather than later.
Hopefully Arrieta would choke. Bumgarner had plenty of postseason experience coming into that game, Arrieta won't. The Cueto comparison doesn't really make me any more optimistic though because Cueto had been hurt and only pitched twice in August and September before facing the Pirates in that wild card game.
Maybe Arrieta can be the next Kershaw. Brilliant all season, awful in the postseason...
This might be more technical than you're looking for, but it seems to accurately answer your question. CLICK HERE for the FiveThrirtyEight article.
Arrietta relies HEAVILY on getting strike calls from umpires on border line pitches...if he doesn't get an umpire that gives him that next Wednesday, all bets are off.
Lets see what happens tonight with St Louis: I have a feeling the Bucs are going to take this one tonight and tighten it up,,,then find a way to scratch out a few against Wacha and send tomorrows game to the bull pen.
Lets see what happens tonight with St Louis: I have a feeling the Bucs are going to take this one tonight and tighten it up,,,then find a way to scratch out a few against Wacha and send tomorrows game to the bull pen.
Good article, wish I hadn't typed the same thing nearly word for word before I saw someone had already written about it and you linked it!
To expand a little bit, his movement is great, but most importantly he's improved his command dramatically. The guy just doesn't make bad throws. He's painting the inside and outside at will. You're only going to get a few opportunities per game to hit a pitch that misses its spot against him, so you better take complete advantage.
Tonight is huge. If we can get to Lynn, I think Happ can keep that lineup limited to a run or two. We gotta have game one, obviously, but taking this first one sets the tone.
