Playoff Reset: The NL Wild Card Game - MLB

One one-and-done game down, one to go. Tonight the National League takes center stage and, once again, we’re in Pittsburgh for the proceedings. Let’s break it all down:

The Game: Chicago Cubs vs. Pittsburgh Pirates, National League Wild Card Game
The Time: 8:08 PM Eastern.
The Place: PNC Park, Pittsburgh
The Channel: TBS
The Starters: Jake Arrieta vs. Gerrit Cole

The Upshot:

If you forget for a moment that they’re really just a fun gimmick, Wild Card games are supposed to be the penalty imposed on good-but-less-than-great teams for not winning their division. It’s a pretty tough penalty here, however, given that the Pirates and the Cubs won 98 and 97 games, respectively. We’ve had wild card teams with as many or more wins than that in the past — the 2001 A’s (102 wins); 2002 Angels (99); 2004 Red Sox (98); and 1999 Mets (97) — but we’ve never had it in the four years of the expanded, two-wild-card-team era. These are some strong clubs, either of which would seem to deserve a longer playoff series, but them’s the breaks.
The focus here, of course, is the pitching matchup. Jake Arrieta is a decent bet to win the NL Cy Young Award after a 22-6, 1.77 ERA 236 K, 229 IP season. Gerrit Cole is an ace too, of course, and he just had a year that would be Cy Young-worthy in a lot of seasons (19-8, 2.60 ERA, 202 Ks in 208 IP). Arrieta’s second half has been astoundingly good and he’s been fantastic against the Pirates this year, going 3-1 with a 0.75 ERA in 36 innings over five starts vs. the Buccos. Cole has four starts against Chicago this season, going 2-1 with a 2.13 ERA in 25 and a third. If you’re anxious for that Mets-Dodgers series to get going because of all the pitching porn you’re going to see there, this is a nice appetizer.
As for lineups, Joe Maddon’s big guns are great, particularly the potent duo of Anthiny Rizzo and Kris Bryant, but the Cubs have all kinds of options up and down the lineup and, particularly in the second half, have been using any number of combinations given their strong bench. The Pirates have all-everything Andrew McCutchen leading the way, but the bottom half of the order has been scuffling in the past month or so and losing Jung Ho Kang for the season depleted the team’s depth. Overall the Pirates had a better offense than the Cubs this year but it’s hard to say, at this moment, the Cubs don’t have the better bats.
The Cubs in general and Arrieta in particular have been a good road team this year. Late-date trolling the Cubs over not calling up Kris Bryant earlier and thereby dooming the Cubs to playing this game at PNC Park may be fun, but it’s sorta beside the point here.
The start time, adjusted for CDT and military time is 19:08. Or 1908. Are you freaking out right now? Because you should TOTALLY be freaking out right now. [scary music plays].

The Astros and Yankees were interesting enough I suppose, but they were two teams sort of struggling their way into the playoffs. This, in contrast, is gonna be a hell of a lot of fun. Two of the best pitchers in baseball and two of the best teams in baseball facing off in front of a crowd that is likely to be insanely pumped.

I’ll make a wild guess and say the Cubs have the edge, but that’s really me flipping a coin and thinking about storylines and crap like that more than anything else. There is no obvious favorite here.

ATLANTA – Given a seven-run lead in the first inning, Atlanta right-hander Spencer Strider could relax and keep adding to his majors-leading strikeout total.

“That game felt like it was over pretty quick,” Strider said.

Ronald Acuña Jr. drove in three runs with four hits, including a two-run single in Atlanta’s seven-run first inning, and the Braves beat the Philadelphia Phillies 11-4 on Sunday night to split the four-game series.

“Getting a lead first is big, especially when you get that big of a lead,” Strider said. “… When we’re putting up runs, my job isn’t to be perfect. My job is to get outs.”

Following the game, Braves manager Brian Snitker announced right-hander Michael Soroka will be recalled to make his first start since the 2020 season on Monday night at Oakland.

Matt Olson hit a pair of two-run homers for Atlanta, and Strider became the fastest pitcher in modern history to reach 100 strikeouts in a season.

“It’s incredible,” said Acuña through a translator of Strider. “Every time he goes out to pitch it seems like he’s going to strike everybody out.”

Acuña hit a run-scoring triple in the fifth before Olson’s second homer to center. Acuña had two singles in the first when the Braves sent 11 batters to the plate, collected seven hits and opened a 7-0 lead. Led by Acuña and Olson, who had three hits, the Braves set a season high with 20 hits.

Strider (5-2) struck out nine while pitching six innings of two-run ball. The right-hander fired a called third strike past Nick Castellanos for the first out of the fourth, giving him 100 strikeouts in 61 innings and topping Jacob deGrom‘s 61 2/3 innings in 2021 as the fastest to 100 in the modern era.

“It’s cool,” Strider said, adding “hopefully it’ll keep going.”

Olson followed Acuña’s leadoff single with a 464-foot homer to right-center. Austin Riley added another homer before Ozzie Albies and Acuña had two-run singles in the long first inning.

Phillies shortstop Trea Turner and left fielder Kyle Schwarber each committed an error on a grounder by Orlando Arcia, setting up two unearned runs in the inning.

Strider walked Kody Clemens to open the third. Brandon Marsh followed with a two-run homer for the Phillies’ first hit. Schwarber hit a two-run homer off Collin McHugh in the seventh.

LEAPING CATCH

Michael Harris II celebrated the one-year anniversary of his major league debut by robbing Schwarber of a homer with a leaping catch at the center-field wall in the second. As Harris shook his head to say “No!” after coming down with the ball on the warning track, Strider pumped his fist in approval on the mound – after realizing Harris had the ball.

“He put me through an emotional roller coaster for a moment,” Strider said.

SOROKA RETURNING TO ROTATION

Soroka was scratched from his scheduled start at Triple-A Gwinnett on Sunday, setting the stage for his final step in his comeback from two torn Achilles tendons.

“To get back is really a feather in that kid’s cap,” Snitker said.

Soroka will be making his first start in the majors since Aug. 3, 2020, against the New York Mets when he suffered a torn right Achilles tendon. Following a setback which required a follow-up surgery, he suffered another tear of the same Achilles tendon midway through the 2021 season.

Soroka suffered another complication in his comeback when a hamstring injury slowed his progress this spring.

Acuña said he was “super happy, super excited for him, super proud of him” and added “I’m just hoping for continued good health.”

Soroka looked like an emerging ace when he finished 13-4 with a 2.68 ERA in 2019 and placed second in the NL Rookie of the Year voting and sixth in the NL Cy Young voting.

The Braves are 0-3 in bullpen committee games as they attempt to overcome losing two key starters, Max Fried (strained left forearm) and Kyle Wright (right shoulder inflammation) to the injured list in early May. Each is expected to miss at least two months.

RHP Dereck Rodriguez, who gave up one hit in two scoreless innings, was optioned to Gwinnett after the game to clear a roster spot for Soroka.

QUICK EXIT

Phillies right-hander Dylan Covey (0-1), claimed off waivers from the Los Angeles Dodgers on May 20, didn’t make it through the first inning. Covey allowed seven runs, five earned, and six hits, including the homers by Olson and Riley.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Phillies: 3B Alex Bohm was held out with hamstring tightness. … LHP José Alvarado (left elbow inflammation) threw the bullpen session originally scheduled for Saturday. Manager Rob Thomson said there was no report that Alvarado, who was placed on the injured list on May 10, had any difficulty.

UP NEXT

Phillies: Following an off day, LHP Ranger Suárez (0-1, 9.82 ERA) is scheduled to face Mets RHP Kodai Senga (4-3, 3.94 ERA) in Tuesday night’s opener of a three-game series in New York.

Braves: Soroka was 1-2 with a 4.33 ERA in eight games with Triple-A Gwinnett. He allowed a combined four hits and two runs over 10 2/3 innings in his last two starts. RHP Paul Blackburn (7-6, 4.28 ERA in 2022) is scheduled to make his 2023 debut for Oakland as he returns from a finger injury.