Finishing as the second best team in Major League Baseball is nothing to be ashamed of. The only problem with this is, the best and third best teams both happen to be in the same division as the Buccs. The Cardinals finished with one-hundred wins, which is a rare event in baseball. The Pirates have finished with ninety-eight wins, which is an outstanding accomplishment within itself and would normally win any division. The Pirates played a mediocre week with three wins and four losses, which was short of what they needed to take down the Cards. In the series with the Cardinals, the Pirates dropped two of three, which sealed the 1st place position for the Cardinals. Luckily, the Cubs, who astonishingly won their last eight in a row, finished short of 2nd place with ninety-seven wins. 

     All of this boils down to a Pirates vs Cubs one game play-in at PNC park on Wednesday at 8pm. The Cubs’s ace, Jake Arrieta, has shown the Pirates a tough time this season. Arrieta has torn up the Pirates and other teams, pitching with a 0.80 ERA in the second half of the season. Luckily, the Pirates have their ace, Gerrit Cole, to dampen the Cubs hot bats as well. 

    The Pirates have two consecutive years experience in Wild Card Games, and PNC park fans have made huge differences in these games. The 2013 Wild Card Game featured the loudest and biggest audience that PNC Park had ever seen. Fans rattled veteran Reds pitcher Johnny Cueto enough to force him to drop the ball before a pitch, and give up a home run on the next pitch. Hopefully, Pirates fans will be able to rattle the younger, Jake Arrieta in his first playoff game of his career. Whether Arrieta is great or not so great, Gerrit Cole will allow the Pirates to keep the game close.