Fireworks were not only coming from the arm of Cubs pitcher Jake Arrieta, but also from the Chicago and Pittsburgh benches as well.
During the seventh inning of last night’s NL Wild Card game between the Cubs and Pirates, Pittsburgh reliever Tony Watson plunked Arrieta in the hip causing both benches to empty after the Chicago starter took exception.
Additionally Watson’s bean ball of Arrieta wasn’t totally unfounded. In previous innings, Arrieta hit two Pittsburgh batters which obviously prompted the Pirates to take action later on. Not that it was justified on Pittsburgh’s part. I fail to believe Arrieta would offer free passes to Pittsburgh hitters on the road in a postseason game. This whole incident is simply a case once again of baseball’s tired unwritten rule book that a majority of MLB players still live and die by.
Arrieta went on to get the last laugh though throwing a complete game shutout in a 4-0 win over the Pirates and will move on to face the St. Louis Cardinals in the NLDS. Not only that, Arrieta became the first pitcher in MLB history to record a nine plus inning shutout with no walks and 11-plus strikeouts.
Meanwhile, Pittsburgh’s Sean Rodriguez brought the fight to the water cooler in the Pirates dugout.
https://vine.co/v/e0zi9t7DXtw
