The 2015 NL Wild Card Game kicks off tonight at 8:00 p.m. ET when the Pittsburgh Pirates battle their fellow NL Central rivals, the Chicago Cubs. The winner will advance to the NLDS to face the St. Louis Cardinals, but first and foremost, tonight's matchup is a historic one.
Scroll to the bottom for the MLB live stream and radio broadcast for the NL Wild Card Game. (Click here for the five things you need to know about tonight's matchup.)
Chicago and Pittsburgh have never met in the postseason. Tonight they'll do so in fashion, when aces Jake Arrieta and Gerrit Cole take the mound in a classic pitcher's duel.
Both right-handers have had great success against tonight's opponent in 2015, so it's expected this game will be won when the bullpens get involved in the later innings. Arrieta is 3-1 with a 0.75 ERA, 0.64 WHIP and 33 strikeouts in five starts (36 innings) against the Pirates and Cole is 2-1 with a 2.14 ERA, 0.95 WHIP and 32 strikeouts in four starts (25 1/3 innings) against the Cubs in 2015.
Check out their overall numbers on the season:
Arrieta: 22-6 with a 1.77 ERA, 0.87 WHIP and 236 strikeouts in 33 starts (229 innings)
Cole: 19-8 with a 2.60 ERA, 1.09 WHIP and 202 strikeouts in 32 starts (208 innings)
This is the Cubs' first postseason appearance since 2008 while the Pirates are hosting their third consecutive NL Wild Card Game. Pittsburgh defeated the Reds back in 2013, but lost to the eventual World Series champion San Francisco Giants.
This game also features a marquee matchup between two of the game's top managers: Joe Maddon and Clint Hurdle.
Both have been to a World Series (Hurdle in 2007 with the Colorado Rockies and Maddon in 2008 with the Tampa Bay Rays), but both fell short. Maddon is 13-17 with the Rays and Hurdle is 10-8 overall (3-4 with the Pirates).
The two are candidates for NL Manager of the Year, but the game plan for tonight is at the forefront of their mind. Hurdle is focused on facilitating some offense against Jake Arrieta in order to avoid falling 4-7 to the Cubs at home this season, while Maddon is preparing to get his young roster ready for a hostile PNC Park with Cole on the mound.
Anthony Rizzo (.278/.387/.512 with 31 home runs and 101 RBIs) and Kris Bryant (.275/.369/.488 with 26 home runs and 99 RBIs) highlight the Cubs offense as they hope to rattle Cole in the early going. On the other hand, Pirates' stars Andrew McCutchen (.292/.401/.488 with 23 home runs and 96 RBIs) and Starling Marte (.287/.337/.444 with 19 home runs and 81 RBIs) look to hand Arrieta his second loss against the Pirates this season.
Click here for tonight's lineups.
Check out the live stream for tonight's game here as well as the live radio broadcast here (PIT) or here (CHC).
