Cubs Take Down Pirates, Cardinals Up Next

Chicago Cubs Jake Arrieta celebrates win over Pittsburgh Wednesday.

Maybe it's time to stop treating the Chicago Cubs like they're too young to be here. The stage they seemingly weren't ready for now seems hardly big enough to contain them. Not with Jake Arrieta dealing. Not with a group of 20-somethings in the field that play with swagger and confidence. Not with a manager adept at keeping the minds of his rapidly maturing team decidedly clutter-free.

Watch out baseball, the Cubs -- yes, the Cubs -- are ahead of schedule. And the timetable only seems to be picking up speed for Joe Maddon's bunch.

Arrieta allowed four hits in nine dominant innings, and Chicago rolled to a 4-0 win over the Pittsburgh Pirates in the NL wild-card game on Wednesday night.

Arrieta struck out 11 without a walk to lead the Cubs to the NL Division Series in St. Louis starting on Friday. He also dusted himself off after getting plunked by Pittsburgh reliever Tony Watson.

"I'm exhausted. I haven't felt this way all year," said Arrieta, who led the majors with 22 wins. "This atmosphere, the energy was unbelievable. Tried to use it to the best of my ability. They were loud, they were really loud."

Dexter Fowler homered and scored three times for the Cubs. Kyle Schwarber, a rookie who began his season in Double-A, added a towering two-run shot off Pittsburgh starter Gerrit Cole as Chicago raced to an early lead and let Arrieta do the rest.

"Jake told me when we talked last night, he said, 'You give me a few runs, I'm good,'" Fowler said. "And I said, 'All right, bro, we'll see what we can do.'"

The largest crowd ever at PNC Park failed to rattle Arrieta, 29, or one of baseball's youngest teams, one that looked right at home while snapping a nine-game playoff losing streak that dated to the 2003 NL Championship Series.

"You don't think that these guys are 21, 23 years old, because they don't play like it," Arrieta said. "They have elevated their play to a level that's beyond their years, and it's one of the big reasons we're here."

Thursday, October 8 (Time Central)

Texas at Toronto, 2:37 p.m.

ALDS - GAME 1

Houston at Kansas City, 6:37 p.m.

ALDS - GAME 1

Friday, October 9 (Time Central)

Chicago Cubs at St. Louis Cardinals, 5:30 p.m.

NLDS - GAME 1

New York Mets at Los Angeles Dodgers, 8:45 p.m.

NLDS - GAME 1

Texas at Toronto, 11:45 a.m.

ALDS - GAME 2

Houston at Kansas City, 2:45 p.m.

ALDS - GAME 2

Saturday, October 10 (Time Central)

Chicago Cubs at St. Louis Cardinals, 4:30 p.m.

NLDS - GAME 2

New York at Los Angeles, 8:07 p.m.

NLDS - GAME 2

Sunday, October 11 (Time Central)

Kansas City at Houston, 3:10 p.m.

ALDS - GAME 3

Toronto at Texas, 7:10 p.m.

ALDS - GAME 3