Sports

Cubs beat Pirates 4-0 behind Arrieta in NL wild card game - Chicago ace Jake Arrieta dominated Pittsburgh on Wednesday night, giving up just four hits in nine scoreless innings as the Cubs defeated the Pirates 4-0 in the National League wild-card game.

Arrieta struck out 11 Pirates and gave up no walks as Chicago advanced to the NL Division Series against the St. Louis Cardinals starting Friday.

In spite of having the second-best record in all of baseball with 98 wins this season, Pittsburgh’s season is over. The Pirates had the misfortune of being in the same division with St. Louis, who won 100 games. The Pirates were therefore relegated to the one-game winner-take-all wild card round for the second straight year.

“I’m exhausted. I haven’t felt this way all year,” said Arrieta, whose 22 regular-season wins led the majors. “This atmosphere, the energy was unbelievable. Tried to use it to the best of my ability. They were loud, they were really loud.”

The Cubs’ Dexter Fowler hit a home run and scored three times, and rookie teammate Kyle Schwarber also hit a homer.

One of baseball’s youngest teams, the Cubs and their ace Arrieta were not rattled by the raucous crowd at Pittsburgh’s PNC Park.

“You don’t think that these guys are 21, 23 years old, because they don’t play like it,” said Arrieta. “They have elevated their play to a level that’s beyond their years, and it’s one of the big reasons we’re here.”

Both benches and bullpens cleared in the seventh when Arrieta was plunked by a pitch from Pirate reliever Tony Watson. Pittsburgh’s Sean Rodriguez was ejected and then proceeded to attack the water cooler in the Pirate dugout.

Arrieta has been unbelievable the past few months. In his last 10 starts he is 9-0 with a 0.24 ERA, lower than any pitcher in major league history over any 10-game stretch.

The Cubs are 14-0 in Arrieta’s last 14 starts. He hasn’t lost a game since July.

And with this game against Pittsburgh, he became the first pitcher to ever throw a postseason shutout with double-digit strikeouts and no walks.

Cubs pitcher Dan Haren, who was traded to Chicago in late July, said of Arrieta “since I got here, he’s given up four earned runs. So it’s not just me who’s never seen anything like this. Nobody has ever seen anything like it.”

Astros shut out Yankees 3-0 in AL wild card game - The Houston Astros went into Yankee Stadium and dominated New York 3-0 behind the stellar pitching of Dallas Keuchel to win the one-game AL wild card matchup and end the Yankees’ season.

Though pitching on three days rest for the first time in his career, Keuchel was nearly unhittable, giving up just three hits in his six innings pitched. In two regular season games against the Yankees, Keuchel had pitched 16 innings of scoreless ball, and this Wild Card game was more of the same.

Colby Rasmus and Carlos Gomez both hit solo home runs to give Keuchel all the support he would need.

The Astros had been one of baseball’s worst teams the past few years, losing 111 games just two years ago. They clinched their spot in today’s winner-take-all AL wild card game on the last day of the regular season.

“Nobody really gave us anything at the start of the year,” said Keuchel following the victory. “And I don’t think anybody gave us a shot at the end of the year.”

Keuchel was the only American League pitcher to win 20 games this year, and is a strong candidate for the Cy Young Award.

The Yankee Stadium crowd was raucous from the start, but the young Astros certainly didn’t look intimidated.

Rasmas tagged Yankee pitcher Masahiro Tanaka’s first pitch of the second inning for a long homer to deep right field for a 1-0 lead. Gomez hit his first pitch of the fourth inning into the seats for a 2-0 Houston lead.

Jose Altuve increased the lead to 3-0 with an RBI single in the seventh off reliever Dellin Betances.

The Yankees’ best chance to score came in the sixth inning when they got two singles and had Alex Rodriguez at the plate, but Keuchel got him to fly out to center field to end the threat.

The Astros’ bullpen pitched lights-out ball, and the boos from the New York crowd grew in the ninth with each out as Luke Gregerson closed for the save.

Houston now advances to the division series against the Kansas City Royals, the defending AL champions, starting Thursday night in Kansas City.