One team is down and eight more are left to be eliminated before the 2015 MLB playoffs can crown a World Series champion.
The first one to bite the dust came Tuesday night, as the Houston Astros eliminated the New York Yankees from the postseason in a 3-0 AL Wild Card Game victory in the Bronx. The victory pushes Houston forward to the American League Division Series, where three division winners are waiting.
Two NL powerhouses have to go at it in Wednesday's Wild Card Game before we can officially move forward, but it's never too early to take a look at what's to come. Let's do that below.
NL Wild Card Game
Matchup: Chicago Cubs at Pittsburgh Pirates
Date/Time: Wednesday, Oct. 7 at 8 p.m. ET
TV: TBS
Live Stream: TBS.com
ALDS Schedule
Live streaming available at Fox Sports Go.
NL Wild Card: Chicago Cubs at Pittsburgh Pirates
If this were the NBA, both the Chicago Cubs and Pittsburgh Pirates would be sitting pretty with a high playoff seed and some sort of home-field advantage. Instead, they face a winner-take-all contest to decide who will stay alive.
Thanks to the St. Louis Cardinals tearing through baseball for 162 games, the Cubs and the Pirates had no choice but to take this game as their lifeline into the postseason.
As Cubs manager Joe Maddon put it, neither team should be able to believe they're in this position after incredible seasons, per Bob Nightengale of USA Today:
If the Cubs' magical 2015 season is going to continue, it will come down to the arm of their most trusted ace. Pitcher Jake Arrieta is on the heels of a breakout season that has garnered him considerable momentum for a potential Cy Young Award.
The Pirates bats have a lot on their plate in facing one of the best pitchers in baseball, but the Bucs sound ready, per Paul Zeise of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette:
“You’ve got to assume he’s going to be as good as advertised,” Pirates second baseman Neil Walker said. “We have to do a good job of taking advantage of situations. We have to be really smart about how we’re going about our at-bats, knowing the situations and what he’s trying to do."
Pittsburgh will have to hope that Arrieta reverts to the struggles that previously plagued his career. Before his incredible 2015 season, Arrieta's career record was just 34-32, and he hadn't truly produced consistent play on the mound.
Considering he's 16-1 since the middle of June, it's hard to envision that form of Arrieta emerging Wednesday with the Cubs' season on the line.
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